Højer (German: Hoyer) is a town in Southern Jutland with 1,102
inhabitants (2022)[1], located 9 km northwest of the Rudbøl border, 27
km south of Skærbæk and 12 km west of Tønder. The town belongs to Tønder
Municipality and is located in Region Southern Denmark. In 1970-2006,
Højer was the municipal seat of Højer Municipality.
Højer belongs
to Højer Parish. Højer Kirke is located in the city.
Locally, the
town is called Hæwe, and the inhabitants are called Hæwringer.
Højer is located in Tøndermarsken near the Wadden Sea. The town is
built behind dykes and is located in one of the most sparsely populated
areas in Denmark. The Marskstien passes Højer Mølle, which is the
starting point for one of the trail loops.
South of Højer, Vidå
runs westward through the marsh to Højer Sluice and further through
Højer Kanal out to Vidå Sluse in the extended dike that was built in
1979-1981 after the storm surge on 3 January 1976 threatened to overflow
the older Højer Dike from 1861. At Vidå Lock there is a nature
exhibition about the Wadden Sea and the marsh, and in the summer
visitors can go seal watching with excursion boats.
Højer Mølle is a restored Dutch windmill from 1857. With its height
of 22 metres, it is one of Northern Europe's tallest of its kind. Højer
Mølle and the two associated granaries are part of Museum Sønderjylland
and houses an exhibition about Tøndermarsken.
Højer by is
characterized by old houses and farms from the 18th and 19th centuries.
At Torvet in the town there is the Mayor's office, a thatched building
from 1803, and in Møllegade there is Kiers Gaard, a stately marshland
built in 1760, but with a history that goes back to the 15th century.
Lise's House was built in 1708. In the house's garden there is a
reconstruction of Højer's old town well from 1807. In Nørregade is
Hindrichsen's Farm, a building from 1760 with a distinctive gabled house
and a large thatched roof. The building was for many years the town's
merchant farm.
Højer Pølser has since 1897 for 4 generations
produced award-winning southern Jutland cured sausages, etc. At the
butcher's shop there is a shop and a cafe.
The Dike School is a department of Tønder District School and has 125
students, divided into grades 0-6. grade. The German minority school in
Højer was closed in 2010 when there were only 12 pupils.
Højer Danske
Børnehave is an age-integrated institution for 0-6 year old children.
The toddler group is limited to 20 children. and there are 5 adults
attached. The kindergarten is rated for 43 children, and there are 5
adults attached. Digevejens Børnehus is housed in two separate
buildings. The nursery has 10 employees and 1 pedagogic student and is
rated for 37 children, who are divided into 3 rooms. The nursery has 10
employees spread over 3 rooms and is rated for 73 children.
Højer
Sports Association uses the Marskhallen and offers, among other things,
badminton, table tennis, gymnastics, football and handball as well as
exercise teams.
Højer-Hus is the town's community center with a large
hall for 100 people and a small hall for 40 people.
Marskhotellet på
Torvet offers rooms with a kitchenette and apartments with a full
kitchen, all with a private bath and toilet. The hotel was built in 1888
under the name Bahnhof Hotel. The side building is popularly called
Falles Hus and also belongs to the hotel.
Care center Digegården has
29 homes, divided into 3 departments with single homes and 1 with
two-room homes.
The town has a utility, bakery, restaurant and
pharmacy outlet.
Højer is mentioned for the first time in Valdemar Sejr's land
register from 1231 as the village of Høthær. It was crown property until
1313, when it passed to the Duchy of Schleswig.
When Tønder
completely lost contact with the sea in the 17th century, Højer became
an important port with trade links to the Netherlands, England and the
northern German ports. Cattle and grain were exported, and colonial
goods were returned. In addition, there was an extensive fishery for
oysters, which in Højer were packed in barrels and sent to Flensburg as
so-called Flensburg oysters.
Højer's right to trade and craft was
contested for a long time by the citizens of Tønder, but in 1736 Højer
was granted the privilege of being a farmer. The city also retained this
after 1920, when it chose to withdraw from the county municipality. The
concept of split disappeared with the municipal reform in 1970.
19th century
In 1825, King Frederik VI paid a visit to the area to
encourage the population after the storm flood in 1825. In Højer there
is a memorial stone with an inscription in German about the visit.
Højer became a transport hub for bathers, goods and mail, which at
high tide was sailed by steamship through the Wadden Sea to Munkmarsk on
the island of Herring.
The railway
In 1892, the Tønder-Højer
line was built with a station in the town and a terminus at Højer Lock,
where the steamship had a landing place. Since the ferry operation was
dependent on the tide and the weather, the stay at the lock could be of
longer duration, so Højer Lock Station was expanded from a smaller
wooden building to accommodate a three-star restaurant and rooms for
overnight guests.
After Reunification, the Germans still needed
to run trains to and from Højer Sluse. In order to avoid German
officials on Danish soil, transit traffic was introduced, so the
compartments were sealed between the German border station Süderlügum
and Højer Sluse. The troublesome transit traffic became redundant in
1927, when traffic to Herring was diverted to the new railway over the
Hindenburg Dam.
The section between Højer town and the lock was
reduced to a harbor line without passenger traffic, and the line now
only carried traffic of local importance. Passenger traffic to Tønder
was discontinued in 1935, and in 1962 the line was closed completely and
the track taken up. The station buildings have been demolished. YEAR.
Kjærbys Vej is built on the path of the track, and it continues to the
west and on a path that, in a sharp left curve, goes down to the small
boat harbor "Bådfolk ved Vidåen".
The reunion
Højer Parish
came to Denmark at the Reunification, but with a large German majority
at the referendum of 536 German against 251 Danish votes. The municipal
board had a German majority until 1946. Therefore, a combined
reunification and liberation stone could only be erected on 15 June
1950, which stands where Nørregade and Nørrevej cross each other.
The station town
The Danish surveying sheet shows a doctor's
residence and pharmacy as well as the water tower, which was built in
1934, so the map must be newer than that, but not much newer because it
still shows the remains of the Herring traffic: customs office, inn by
the lock and several small hotels.
Højer Teppefabrik
A wool
spinning mill from 1877 was bought in 1919 by Anders Rasmussen Kjærby,
who was the 3rd generation of a Funen wool spinning family. For decades,
the company left a strong mark on the city. At the beginning of the
1920s, Højer Täppefabrik started weaving fabrics and not just spinning
the yarn. At the beginning of the 1960s, the factory employed 200 men,
but from there it went downhill towards bankruptcy in 1992.