Jan S. Krogh's Geosite: Germany (DE) – Denmark (DK)
Wilmkjer (DE) – Vilmkær
(DK) border
Vilmkærgård
farm is located 2,3 km west of the Danish-German border at E45 highway.After
the demarcation in 1920 the border was still patrolled by foot,
but
in 1955 the border control became more mobile. First motorcycles, then
car patrols. In 1969 the systematic surveillance of the hinterland was
established, with among other video
surveillance,
thermal image cameras, motion detectors and infra-red cameras.
In
particular one farmer was monitored in Vilmkær. He was counted to Denmark upon personal
request in the
1920
demarcation
process. Unfortunately the road to his house became German, and he had
to use the border crossing every time he drove from his farm. As there
was no barrier here, the customs officials anxiously waited for
smugglers, and examined the Farmer and his visitors at every
opportunity. The Schengen Acquis came into effect
here on 25 March 200125 March 2001.
We
regret some photos are unsharp due to lack of daylight at the visit.
Unfortunately
the road to the farm remained
on
German side of the boundary.
This
was a problem for the
farmer
because the customs frontier now lay in front of the door. When
he harvested
his corntake
it into
Denmark. Therefore,
in 1927 he built a barn on the German side. There
were
their meals because they did not have permission to cross the border for
lunch. It
happened thatnot
even the horses that stood in the Danish stables
were allowed to
work on the German fields.
The
guests to
the farm were
unfortunately often controlled very carefully. The
remote Vilmkær evolved namely, for lack
of anofficial
crossing point,
a popular smuggling route.
The yard of the farmer is
still divided by the boundary. The post box is clearly located in
Germany.
The trees seem to stand more
or less on the boundary line.