Bremsbøl Sæd stien EN - The Reunification in 1920

1931. Gendarme by the border in Sæd.
The Reunification in 1920
The border between Germany and Denmark is the result of a truly unique democratic process, namely the vote on a Danish or German nationality in Schleswig. On February 10th 1920 the overall result in Northern Schleswig showed a Danish majority of 75 %. Despite the fact that, e.g., towns Tønder, Højer, Aabenraa, Sønderborg and Tinglev had German majority. Northern Schleswig became Danish while the districts in the south, including the city of Flensburg which voted Danish, became German. Once the border was established in 1920, a new group of officials arrived in the area – the border gendarmerie. The gendarmerie patrolled along the new border to prevent smuggling. A number of double houses were built, the so called gendarmerie houses to attract men to the job. About 40 gendarmes with families arrived in the 20s and contributed to the development of the culture in the area, for example with brass bands, tilting and marksmen’s festivals (‘skyttefest’).


The border from Skomagerhus in the east to the leading dike in the west is marked with 280 numbered border stones. They bear the inscription DRP (Deutches Reich Preussen) on one side and D (Danmark) on the other. On the top is a groove, the so called line of sight, so you can aim from one stone to the other. The stone here at the border south of Sæd has number 203 – can you find it?

