Bornholm

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. It also refers to Bornholm Regional Municipality, the municipality (Danish, kommune) which covers the entire island, and has county privileges.

History

In early centuries AD its name was Burgundaholm = "the island of the Burgundians", who were a Germanic tribe which moved west when the western Roman Empire collapsed, and occupied and named Burgundy in France.

Related Topics:
Burgundians - Germanic tribe - Roman Empire - Burgundy - France

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Bornholm, as a part of Denmark, was captured by Germany relatively early in the Second World War, and served as a lookout post and listening station during the war. The island's perfect central position in the Baltic Sea meant that is was an important "natural fortress" between Germany and Sweden, effectively keeping submarines and destroyers away from Nazi occupied waters. Several concrete coastal installations were built during the war, some of which had tremendous range, but none of them were ever used, and only a single test shot was fired during the occupation. These remnants of Nazi rule has since then fallen into disrepair and are mostly regarded as a novelty. Many tourists visit the ruins each year, providing a useful supplement income to the tourist industry.

Related Topics:
Denmark - Second World War - Baltic Sea - Germany - Sweden

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As it was true about the rest of Denmark, the inhabitants of Bornholm quickly came to accept the Germans. "They don't bother us, we don't bother them" was the unspoken rule of the agreement between commoners and soldiers. German soldiers acted more like tourists than occupants during their stay, and the rough German discipline meant that only few incidents of violence was reported on the island. (No noteworthy resistance from the natives was ever reported by the German officials)

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Bornholm was heavily bombarded by Soviet forces near the end of the war. Von Kamft, the German superior officer in charge of the island garrison refused to surrender to Soviet forces. Instead the Germans sent several telegrams to Copenhagen requesting that at least one single British soldier should be transferred to Bornholm, so that the Germans could surrender to the western allied forces instead of the Russians. When Von Kamft failed to provide a written capitulation as demanded by Russian HQ, Soviet aircraft relentlessly bombed and destroyed more than 800 civilian houses, with roughly 3000 more being seriously damaged on the 7th and 8th of May 1945. Eventually, the German garrison did surrender to the Soviet forces, which occupied the island until April 5, 1946. As a result, quite a few natives of Bornholm to this day regard Russians with some suspicion and contempt. As the Russian forces made their presence felt for a whole year while looting and ravaging the Bornholm countryside.

Related Topics:
Soviet forces - Von Kamft - Copenhagen - April 5 - 1946

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In newer times NATO radar installations have been placed on the island.

Related Topics:
NATO - Radar

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