Orange Track - Here from where my World begins

The Dikes Since the 1100s dikes have been built in the Tønder marsh. The work on the Dikes in the 1500s by duke Hans the Old provided some protection from flooding but at the same time cut off the city from the ocean. Before this work started, a large inland sea all the way from the Wadden Sea to and beyond Tønder. In warm and dry periods the area was drained otherwise it looked like an ocean. That is why this area had been used especially for fishing and recovery of hay and reed by the Frisians, but also for cattle grazing and sheep farming. Imagine a dike made only with shovels, buckets, baskets and bags. Not until 1618 was the wheelbarrow used on the dike of the Tøndermarsh which is why the polder, Brunsoddekogen, is popularly known as the wheel barrow polder.

Bachmann’s Watermill The city of Tønder borders the marsh here by the mill and the city center itself is no more than 5m above sea level. The Slotsmøllen or Bachmann’s Mill is the oldest industrial enterprise in Tønder. The mill is mentioned for the first time in 1436. Originally the mill was built as a flour mill for the castle/ fortress Tønderhus. In 1799 C.N. Bachmann leased the mill and it has been run by the family ever since. The newer part of the mill burned down in 1893 but was rebuilt and up until 1955 the mill was still in use as a hydropower supplier.