Ærø's past and history

PASSAGE GRAVE AT LINDSBJERG

STONE AGE You will find fascinating traces of ancient times in many places on Ærø . Giant burial mounds, galley graves and dolmens testify to the presence of our forefathers over a period measured in thousands of years . For example, next to Rise Church stands a large Stone Age dolmen in the shape of a ship, while Lindsbjerg and Kragnæs are the site of well-preserved galley graves . THE VIKING AGE Until just a few years ago, the Viking Age was an almost unexplored chapter in the history of Ærø, but the discovery of an ancient trading post at Havsmarken on the south-east coast of the island has shed new light on this period . The discovery clearly positions Ærø as a key point on the most important trading route in the world at that time . In 2021, archaeologists from Langeland Museum began another excavation in Havsmarken, where finds indicate that shipbuilding was already an industry on Ærø in Viking times . At Vejsnæs Nakke, you can still see traces of St . Albert’s Church . The re-created installation consists of a 3-metre-deep trench and a sturdy earthwork emplacement which has been dated to the Viking Age, around 1000 AD . The location took on a new function in the 1300s, when a church was built on the site . Around 50 graves have been unearthed in the immediate vicinity of the church, including a great many children’s graves .

MORE RECENT HISTORY From the fourteenth century to 1864, Ærø was variously united and divided into a series of enclaves under German duchy rule . Ærø was positioned outside the toll limits of the Danish realm, which created a fertile basis for a smuggling industry that was actually the way of life for a large number of Ærø residents . Ærø was unified as a single administrative unit in 1750, and a memorial stone at Olde Mølle mill marks the unification .

SØBY VOLDE (EMBANKMENT)

WANT TO FIND OUT MORE? Visit the island museums and read more at visitaeroe .com/prehistoric .