The eastern coast of theJutland Peninsula, consisting ofDanishJutland andGermanSchleswig-Holstein features a type of narrow bay calledFörde (plural:Förden) inGerman andfjord (pluralfjorde) inDanish. These bays are of glacial origin, but the glacial mechanics were different from those ofNorwegian Fjords and also from those ofSwedish andFinnishFjards. Inlets more similar to these are also found on the peninsulas of theGreen bay andGeorgian bay, and onManitoulin island, and easternLong island.

The wordsFörde,fjord andfjard are of the same origin as the English wordfirth, but today there are differences in the meaning betweenfirth (Förde) andfjord in general.

When the area of the presentBaltic Sea was covered by an ice sheet during theWeichselian glaciation, about 20,000 to 70,000 years ago, the edge of the ice moved on land as tongues ofglaciers; these carved out channels. When the ice retreated it created a large lake. The water level rose and the channels were filled by water. The material removed formedmoraine hills near the sides and ends of the channels.

Some of these Förden and fjorde are believed not to have been carved out by the ice directly, but to have been washed out by flows of water below the ice (tunnel valleys). Alternatively they have been interpreted as 'beheaded' river channels preserved beside a tideless sea.^[1]

The present day firths of this region includes:

• Langerak: Length 32 km. Eastern part ofLimfjord, really a strait with eastern entrance fromKattegat and western communication to the other parts of Limfjord, which are rather lagoons.
• Mariager Fjord: Length 35 km, deep channel 42 km.
• Randers Fjord: Length 30 km. Entrance from the north, branching in the south, with eastern branch.
  • Grund Fjord: Less obstructed by sand than the main fjord.
• Norsminde Fjord: Hardly 3 km long. Now a lake due tosilting.
• Horsens Fjord: Length 16 km. The entrance between the islands ofAlrø andHjarnø is calledAlrø Sund.
• Vejle Fjord: Length 12 km.
• Rands Fjord: Length 3 km. Up to 19th century it was a real bay; then a dam was built to separate it from the sea. Now the former fjord is used as a reserve of fresh water.
• Kolding Fjord: Length 10 km. A branch of the narrow part of theLittle Belt.
• Haderslev Fjord: Length 15 km. The narrowest fjord.
• Åbenrå Fjord: Length 10 km, width 3 – 4 km.
• Als Fjord: Length 12 km, prolonged to 20 km byAugustenborg Fjord (8 km). In addition to the main entrance from the north, there is a narrow second entrance calledAls Sund; the blind end is Augustenborg Fjord.

• Flensburg Firth, in GermanFlensburger Förde, in DanishFlensborg Fjord: It is the largest of these bays (length 40 or 50 km), and reaches farthest west.

• Schlei, in DanishSlien: Length 40 – 42 km. The narrowest German Förde.
• Eckernförde Bay, in GermanEckernförder Bucht, in DanishEgernførde Bugt: The component-förde in thename of the city has been considered by some authors to reference aford and by others to a fjord.
• Kieler Förde: Geologically larger than nominally, as a part of the largeKiel Bay belongs geographically to Kieler Förde.
• The lakeHemmelsdorfer See is a former Förde.
• Traveförde is now partly filled up by sand. The residual part is calledPötenitzer Wiek and connects to the sea only by the estuary of theTrave river.

• Kurt-Dietmar Schmidtke:Die Entstehung Schleswig-Holsteins, Neumünster (Germany), 3rd edition 1995,ISBN 3-529-05316-3