The Hjejlen steamer
Sailing since 1861, the finest way to arrive in summer.
CC BY-SA 3.0 · Creator:Peter Lorents Fangel — Public domain · Peter Elfelt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jens Cederskjold — CC BY 3.0
Its name means **«the Sky Mountain»**, and it is **147 metres** high — and that contradiction is half the reason it is famous. For decades it was believed to be the highest point in Denmark, until modern surveying measured other hills and found them higher by a few metres. The name and the standing survived, because its importance was never geographical. In the nineteenth century it became a **romantic national symbol**: the site of huge political gatherings demanding a constitution and democracy, and the subject of poems, songs and paintings. In 1875 a **memorial tower** was built on its summit to King Frederik VII, who signed Denmark's first constitution. The tower is climbed by an internal stair, and from it comes the actual view: the connected **lakes of the Silkeborg district** and dense forest running to the horizon — the greenest and most fertile scenery in Denmark. The finest way to arrive is not by car but on the **steamer "Hjejlen»** from Silkeborg, running since 1861 and still sailing in summer.
Sailing since 1861, the finest way to arrive in summer.
The Silkeborg lake chain and forest to the horizon.
An internal stair to the highest point you can stand on.
Himmelbjergvej 11, Ry, about 40 km west of Aarhus
The area between **Silkeborg**, **Ry** and **Skanderborg**, called the highlands locally even though nothing there exceeds 170 metres. It is worth a day because it is **Denmark's most varied region**: a connected chain of lakes you can sail, the country's largest forests, its longest river (the Gudenå), and genuine walking trails. A good order: train or car to **Silkeborg** in the morning, then the **Hjejlen steamer** to Himmelbjerget, climb the tower and walk around it, and return by boat. Anyone who prefers history should add **Silkeborg Museum** and its **Tollund Man** — a 2,400-year-old bog body with the face fully preserved.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.