Tag Archives: reenactment

Impressions and photos from “Kampen om Als”

This is a guest post by Iulian who has lived in Sønderborg for three years and has a blog in Romanian about social media for non-profits.

After spending the whole weekend surrounded by gunpowder smell and a lot of soldiers from a century and a half ago I think it might be interesting, for those of you that didn’t participate, to see what happened and why you shouldn’t miss it the next time.

First of all, is the night battle. Around 2:30 in the morning the things start moving in the camp. People gather close to the water where the Prussians are expected to attack. Boat movements, cannon fire, rifles and a lot of tension in the air. This happens in semi-darkness, only enough for the human eye to distinguish the flow of the events. During all the events, there is a narrator that makes the things even more interesting by giving background insights.

Then I remarked the authenticity. The people are dressed in the old costumes, they live in the army tents, they eat and drink from the old dishes and food is served by the army regiment from an army car attachment. Some of the cooking ladies even have an old outdoor stove or a fireplace in the ground for preparing the food. What’s the interesting part is that you can also be part of the people living in the camp, taking part in all the activities.

There are often demonstrations of the weapons, military activities and costumes. You can see cannons firing from 2 metres, battle simulations with a big number of soldiers, different weapons in actions, costumes of the people from that age, horse presentations. It seemed that there is always something happening there.

Besides the activities, there are also small exhibitions with the equipment and tools used at war. If you’re a fan of old weaponry, this is the right place to come. Not only will you get to put your hands on the old rifles (by the way, one was around 4 kg) but you can even talk with the owners and they can astonish you with some nice stories. I could see old weapons and aspects of the military but there were also exhibited utensils used by paramedics, showing the progress that medicine has made in 150 years.

The people scale the event. As I said, they are very happy to exchange some words with you. For example, this man from Norway was amazing. He explained for hours to all the curious people what was “his” purpose in the battle. How technologically advanced was his weapon. What equipment did he carry, what are the symbols on the hat that made him recognizable as part of a specific regiment, what is the decoration on his collar and how year by year he needs to regain it. There were also some Czech guys that were in the party mood and they seemed to have some prohibited alcohol in the camp, without their commander knowing it. That was probably the fun of taking part in the event as a participant and not only as a spectator. And they seemed to have the most of it.

After such a long tour of the camp, before going home a bit smokey from the fire and gunpowder, you can try the desserts in one of the tents. This old style sweet, made without cooking, was very good. Don’t miss it next year! And if you have proofs that you’ve been around the events, just post them here.

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The Battle of Als (Kampen om Als) 2014

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During the coming weekend Sonderborg will be awash with memories of 1864. We asked Ditte Kock, a historian working at Historiecenter Dybbøl Banke, to tell us a bit more about what the event is and what will happen. Here is what she said:

As you may have noticed, the war in 1864 is very important here in Sønderborg. The battle on Dybbøl hill on the 18th of April is the most famous event of the war and it is marked with a military ceremony every year. The assault on Dybbøl led to a peace conference in London, which led to nothing. The war broke out again and on the 29th of june, Prussia attacked Als. The battle was a crushing defeat for Denmark and it has largely been forgotten since.

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This weekend, Historiecenter Dybbøl Banke reenacts the battle. We begin Saturday at 11.00 with a parade from the castle through Perlegade and up to Rønhave plads. There will be Danish and Prussian soldiers, horses dragging canons and women in beautiful dresses. At 14.00-19.00 the soldiers camp (drive to Burger King and follow the signs) opens. There will be stories about the war and the people who participated, battle demonstrations and much much more. Sunday morning at 03.00 we reenact the battle at the historically correct time. Prussian soldiers sail across the water and defeat the Danish army. This is a spectacular experience that you should not miss. Again, drive to Burger King and follow the signs. The soldiers camp opens again Sunday 10.00-19.00. Entrance for the entire weekend is 50 kr. I hope to see you there!

At the same time, Sønderborg city hosts a new event called 1864dage. The city will return to 1864 and there will be a market and several other 1864 events. It should be very fun and much less formal than the ceremony on the 18th of April.

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The Battle of Als is a yearly reenactment, although this year will be a particularly special event with it being 150 years since the events. You can read more about our experience last year. You can also read more about this year’s programme here.

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The Battle of Als/Kampen om Als

1864 is a significant year in the history of the region, with an influence that is still trickling down to the present day. This is the year of the second Schleswig-Holstein war, when Denmark fought Prussia for control of the duchies in this region.

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One of the most well-known battles from this war is the Battle of Dybbol on the 18th of June. However, for Als the defining moment is the 29th of June, when the Prussian army crossed Als Sound in the early hours of the morning and managed to take over Als. Als remained part of the Prussian/Germany lands up to the referendum of 1920.

For a long time the wounds from this war cut quite deep to the people living in the region. However, over the years the wounds of this war have abated such that the region is finding it in itself to commemorate the happenings. One of the ways this is done is by the now yearly ‘Kampen Om Als/Battle of Als‘ reenactment.

Kampen om Als was first held last year in order to promote interest in this event that helped define the Danish lands. The reenactment consists of the setting up of a historical soldier camp on the last weekend of June, with a reenactment of the crossing of Als sound.

The Soldier Camp

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The soldier camp is set up on Kær peninsula on Als. This year there were plenty of activities going on in combination with the camp for people like us who were not actively participating in the reenactment. There was food to taste, gunpowder to smell, soldier tents to see and loud bangs from firing guns and cannons to be heard. This being the second year the size of the camp is not too big. Therefore, you can get the time to enjoy every aspect without feeling overwhelmed by it all.

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The Crossing of Als Sound

This was the highlight of the reenactment for us and, probably, most of the participants. We arrived on site around 2:30am, waiting for the crossing to occur at the historically accurate time of 3am. In preparation for the crossing pictures from the time were beamed onto a sheet, setting the atmosphere for the 300 or so observers. Soon after Bjørn Østergaard started a commentary about the events of the day, what we were going to participate in and what we were seeing that continued throughout the whole event.This was probably what made the reenactment for me as it helped me understand what I was seeing and why it was significant (even with my basic Danish!).

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At 3 am boats ‘Prussian troops’ started crossing over towards Als. It was still dark so they were very hard to spot. No wonder they managed to over run Als! Once they were spotted the shooting extravaganza started. There was shooting at the boats, a battle between the Danish and Prussian on land, and the arrival of the Danish navy boat Rolf Krake. The real army, who was responsible for letting off the explosions, together with sounds and flashes, sure seemed to have had a great time preparing for this!

What next?

Next year is the 150 anniversary of 1864. This means bigger (and better things). It is already expected that next year will see around 3 times more reenactors than this year. Do keep an eye out on the website to hear about plans for next year. We will also be writing more about the event as we get closer to the date. In the meantime, if you are interested in the 1864 war, do keep an eye out on the 1864live twitter account, which is publishing short snippets about the 1864 war as they happened – with a 150 year delay.