Saturday Sept. 22 Ruins of Hammerhus Castle, Bornholm Island
“Stop! Let me out!”
Today’s car tour takes us from home base in Roenne northward through the towns of Hasle, Teglkas, Vang, Slotslyngen Forest and finally Sandvig where we make a long stop to visit the ruins of Hammershus Castle. Once more we hug the coastline as we travel and once more I have to say, “Stop! Let me out! I have to see this.” This is the 2nd day of strong winds and the waves are pounding against the rocks. I cannot bear to just “drive by.” I have to see this and feel this. I have to hear this. I can’t get enough of it. My comrades are very patient with me! The little cluster of colorful houses against the back drop of the pounding sea takes my breath away. After a few minutes I sigh and climb back into the car.
We are moving now steadily toward the place that is considered the number one and main attraction on Bornholm Island. It is the place everyone wants to see and it is the ruins of Hammerhus Castle high up on the cliff looking down over the Baltic Sea. We see huge sections of broken stone structures which are testaments to what has gone on here over the years and that has been plenty! Let your imagination run wild and you are probably correct. The history of this castle is the stuff of mystery stories; dark doings in dark places. We park the car and walk towards the castle as if hypnotized.
We enter the new modern visitor’s center which is light and airy and pleasant in every way. Finding the main room we walk the perimeter of the circular room viewing the picture murals and the explanations. We are being told the history of Hammerhus Castle through these murals. Finally we sit in the center of the room and view the silent movie of the castle as it used to look in years past. The mood is dark, disturbing and mysterious as unidentified shadows move in and out.
The history of this castle is hard to believe. It was believed to have been built in the mid thirteenth century by the Bishop of Lund, but recent findings of old tiles in the ruin, have put back the date another 50 years. The evidence seems to suggest that Hammershus was erected at the command of King Valdemar Sejr at the time of the Danish Crusades, the early 12th century. There has been fearsome battles at the castle where blood has flowed…flowed down the steep cliff sides. There was a prison here, the most famous inmates being Princess Leonora Christina and her husband Corfitz Ulfelt. They were held captive inside the castle, tortured and suffered for 17 months within its walls from 1660-1661. One night the pair made an escape and frantically climbed down the walls and cliffs, reaching the sea…but the escape failed. In 1743 Hammershus was finally abandoned as a stronghold and the people of Bornholm were free to gather building materials from the site until 1822. It was then the ruins were put on the national historic register.
Jorgen and I take a short walk to the old bridge, but we do not go all the way up the steep and winding path to the top of the cliff to view the castle ruins. The winds are strong. The cliffs are steep, the rocks are jagged and far below…
We drive on down the east coast through the town of Allinge and pause at Saene Harbor. Continuing down the coast we come the most beautiful little town of Gudhjem with the red tiled roofs and colorful exteriors. This town is nestled into the hills with its inviting winding streets calling my name. We descend to the sea where we park. As I get out of the car, Jette smiles broadly at me saying in a loud voice, “Maren, now you can have time to walk the streets of the town and see the old buildings!” Jette knows I have been waiting for this moment and this town! Jorgen buys an ice cream cone at his favorite ice cream parlour and together we walk through this lovely old town up one street and down another. Jette and I walk arm in arm. We are happy and at peace. We poke into a couple of shops but mostly we just walk and feel and sense. It is a walk for the soul.
Reluctantly we leave this town and take a center road back over to the west side of the island and back to the town of Hasle where we were the day before. This time we stop for a meal at the Fish Market and Restaurant. You have to go inside and see this yourself to believe it. The showcase is filled with a large variety of smoked fish. Which kind to choose? We sit at a table for four and we are surrounded by framed black and white photos of workers showing the process of preserving and smoking the fish. We all order fish and together we consume smoked mackerel, herring and salmon with sides of bread, radishes and onions. It is a meal to remember for sure.
We drive on back to Roenne where much later we sit down to one last big meal made by Jette. The candles are lit and the moon is full. We are treated to a steak dinner complete with potatoes, gravy, a salad of shredded asparagus and a yogurt dessert. I don’t know what gets into me but I begin sharing family stories buried inside me that seem to want to come to the light. I share one story after another…they seem to come pouring out. These are experiences I had growing up in Leonia, NJ with my parents and sister Kris. These are also stories I heard my mother and father tell me…on and on I go. I tell of the time my father introduces the newfangled invention of the whipped cream squirt can at a dinner party. He shows his guests how to use it. Then he passes the can around. Doug Beucler picks up the can and turns it sideways instead of pointing it downwards. He presses the nozzle and out comes the cream shooting sideways under the nose of his wife and onto my mother’s Williamsburg wallpaper! I tell of one Halloween when the front doorbell rings. Upon opening the door I see a large witch wearing a tall black hat! “Boo!” she cries. It is my grandmother! I run off the find my mother…
I tell of the time I am home alone when again the front doorbell rings. This time it is two neighbors I recognize all dressed up in suits with matching hats and shoes. They brush past me ignoring me and sit on our couch talking to each other. Finally one of them turns to me and says, “Maren, where is your mother?” “She’s is in town shopping,” I answer. At that the two visitors jump up and run out the front door saying, “We must have the wrong day.” I talk about the time in 1958 my parents take me and Kris to visit our Belgium cousins in Antwerp. We sit at a long diner table filled with relatives. All of a sudden one of the guests accidentally spills her wine glass. Then the hostess immediately spills her own wine glass on purpose! It’s tradition! It was at this same dinner table and party that a butler comes to each dinner guest and hold out a tray of small bites of food. “Don’t take any,” my father warns me. “These are appetizers. Later they will bring out the main meal. If we eat this we will not have enough room for our dinner!” The butler keeps coming around again and again. Again and again my father and I decline saying, “No thank you.” Then the butler stops coming around and that is all there is. There is not main meal. The meal is over! After the party on the way back to our hotel, my father and I feel “starved.” We are truly hungry. Back at the hotel dad and I find the hotel restaurant and order a late supper!
“I tell about the time my father was a little boy living in New York City. His mother puts him in the children’s choir of the Lutheran Church. During a rehearsal the choir director stops the choir and says, “Someone is singing a wrong note. I will find out who this is.” She goes through the choir row by row. First she asks the whole row to sing the music line. When she gets to the row where she hears the wrong note, she makes each child sing the music line alone. When she gets to my father’s row she listens to my father sing. “You are the one singing the wrong notes,” she tells my father. “You may sing in the choir but when we sing in church just pretend to sing. Do not make one sound.” After many such stories I glance at my watch,…and glance again. It is midnight!
We finally say our good nights and I feel embarrassed I have talked so much at the table. I do not sleep well this night.
Next Day of Journey