12/9: Lille Rise - Sønderborg

2816.2km in 168:18, (54*54'05"N, 9*47'51"E)
"Ærø is an island of its own in the South Funen Archipelago which cannot be reached by any bridges. Ærø has a surface of 90 square kilometers and a length of 30 km, with its broadest extension being 9 km. The town of Marstal and Ærøskøbing are home to a major part of the islanders, numbering just under 6'600. Others live in Søby or in small villages scattered across the island." With these words the guid introduces the island of Ærø!

Ærø is famous for many reasons. Since 2008, the island covers 80-100% of its energy needs with green energy (or renewable) and today it is member of an association of 100 EU communities that are aiming for 100% renewable energy. To have an idea about the production, they have 3.7m2 of solar cells per inhabitant (which is a world record). They have several solar heating plants, one in Marstal of 18'365 squares meter and should double in size this year, one in Ærøskøbing of 7'000m2 which is completed by a straw-fire boiler and a wood pellet boiler (4.3MW), and one in the Rise district of 3'600m2. They do not only use the sun but also the wind: they have 6 wind turbines of 2MW each which produce more electricity than Ærø's total annual consumption. One question remains: what about the movement? They still use "black" energy to move on the island (with cars, busses, etc) or to reach it by ferry!

Smallest Art Gallery in Denmark: a phone cabin!

What about the culture heritage? I haven't visited the museums of the island, but I saw a very nice church in Bregninge which was originally a thirteenth century Romanesque building. The murals inside are dating from 1500 and are nice painted. For once I could inside and have a view of it! There is also a lot of culture under earth (with old graves dating from 3000 years BC) or rising up in the sky (the lighthouse in the North of Søby is beautiful - and I do not need to describe the view you get once you are on the top - and there are several windmills). Skjoldnaes lighthouse (the one I visited) is a 22m tall tower of granite built in 1881. Danes decided to build this lighthouse after they lost a big part of land in northern Germany after their defeat against the Prussian in 1864. "The story goes that people wished to build a powerful lighthouse that could be visible as far away as in Kiel (D) as a greeting to the lost country."

The history of the island is also interesting, because there were sometimes 2 islands in the past (there was juste a sand beach between Rise and Marstal that was sometimes surrounded by the water. Danes made the first attempt to reclaim land in the 18th century by extending the natural embankment and pumping the water out... In 1871 the process came to an end but a year later, wind and flooding reversed the processes. The land was only successful drained in 1964... and today, there is an airport on it! Green energy we said?

We left Ærø to reach Als (an other island of Denmark) by ship. We get closer and closer to Flensburg (normally we reach it tomorrow evening). Als offers some lighthouses, an old grave in Blommeskobbel, wind mills and a water mill close to Vibøge.