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| Denmark–Germany border | |
|---|---|
 Border marking stone | |
| Characteristics | |
| Entities |  Denmark Germany |
| Length | 68 km (42 mi) |
| History | |
| Established | 1920 |
TheDenmark–Germany border (Danish:Grænsen mellem Danmark og Tyskland;German:Grenze zwischen Dänemark und Deutschland) is a land and maritimeborder between the modern countries ofDenmark andGermany. It includes one of Denmark's two land borders (the other being the border with Canada onHans Island). The land border with Germany is 68 kilometres (42 mi) long.
In thetreaty of Heiligen in 811, theEider river was recognized as a border between Denmark and theFrankish Empire.[citation needed] As a swampy river, it formed a natural border. In the highest area near the watershed, it was drier. The ancient travel route ofHærvejen went there, and a defense wall,Danevirke, was built there. Later the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein arose. Before 1864Schleswig was a fiefdom of Denmark, whileHolstein was a fief of theHoly Roman Empire (until 1806) and a member of theGerman Confederation (after 1815). Both territories were ruled by the Danish king in his additional role as Duke of Schleswig and Duke of Holstein (occasionally together with other Dukes, like the Gottorp Dukes). The border between the Danish fief of Schleswig and the German fief of Holstein still ran along the Eider river, the boundary between the duchies and the Kingdom of Denmark ran along theKongeå watercourse, and the southern boundary of the Danish monarchy (≈Helstaten) ran along theElbe.
In 1864, Schleswig-Holstein was conquered byPrussia, and so an international border was created between Denmark and Germany/Schleswig-Holstein. It went from a place at the coast 5 kilometres (3 mi) south ofRibe, rounded Ribe on 5 kilometres (3 mi) distance, then went eastbound just south ofVamdrup, and just north ofChristiansfeld to the Baltic Sea.
In 1920, the border was moved about 50 kilometres (31 mi) southward to the present position, as determined by theSchleswig referendum in 1920. This approximately followed the not clearly defined language border.
In 2001, all border controls were removed based on theSchengen Agreement.
In response to the Swedish border control due to theEuropean migrant crisis, border checks were temporarily introduced starting January 4, 2016. Prime ministerLars Løkke Rasmussen cited fear of accumulation of illegal migrants inCopenhagen as one of the reasons for this decision.[1] It was reported that the border controls at the German border cost the Danish tax payers 1.25 billion DKK (€167 million) from 2016 until mid-2019.[2] They were never fully ended before theCOVID-19 pandemic in early 2020,[3] which caused renewed border closures throughout Europe.
To pass the border, an approvedtravel document is needed. This is mainly a passport. But also anational identity card from the European Economic Area is acceptable, although Denmark does not issue such cards, so a passport is needed for Danes for crossing back into Denmark.[4]
In January 2019, the Danish government began constructing a fence along the border to keepwild boar, which can carryAfrican swine fever virus, from crossing into Denmark. The 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) high, nearly 70 kilometres (43 mi) long fence—spanning the entire land border—was completed in December 2019 at an estimated cost of 30.4 millionDanish kroner.[5][6][7] The fence has created some protests. In May 2019 a volleyball tournament was held over the fence as a publicity event which was given some media attention.[8] After completion there was a decision to raise it by adding wires over it, because animals like deer have been killed after being injured because of jumping over the fence.[9]
There are two railway lines across the land border:
A third route, theVogelfluglinie (lit. 'bird flight line' in German), which included atrain ferry over the countries' maritime border (betweenRødby andPuttgarden), closed in December 2019. Until then, this route carried EuroCity andICE services.
TheFehmarn Belt Fixed Link is a planned rail and road tunnel across theFehmarnbelt.
