Rødbyhavn

History

Until work began on constructing a harbour in 1908, this part of the dyke featured only a few small farmsteads. The dyke had been constructed in 1872 following storm floods, and on its outer side, at Syltholm, a harbour for fishing and commerce was opened in 1912. With the emergence of a new settlement to support the activities of the harbour, the name of Syltholm was changed to "Rødbyhavn". 1916 saw the construction of a first shipyard, but by the 1920s, the shipbuilding business at Rødbyhavn ran into bankruptcy, and activity in the harbour stagnated. In 1920, the harbour installations were expanded on the landward side. In 1941, work began to prepare for the expansion of the harbour in order to support a ferry connection between Rødbyhavn and Puttgarden. The work came to a halt during the immediate post-war years, but was resumed in 1958. Finally, on 14 May 1963, the "Vogelfluglinie" ferry connection was inaugurated. The resulting transport boom created jobs and drew in immigrants, and the population of Rødbyhavn more than doubled.