Frits Ahlefeldt: sketchbook and stories
Personal site – Journalism, talks and walks
I never really got to know a lot about her, the old lady living up there under the roof in the small hut. Just saw her talking to herself, or maybe it was to the island, as she crawled out of the small door, and down the stairs. Every morning she would go swimming and often collect things along the way
Most of the small granite huts are on the west side of the island Christiansø, but one is far away from all the others. Only a few hundred meters from the most Eastern point in Denmark, where the Grey seals gather to sing under the moon
On the Ertholmene islands every modern thing like power is hidden or integrated into existing structures. This is the look of the building housing both the power station, toilet and bathing facilities for both campside and sailors - even the people in the small huts use the facilities here
On Ertholmene the tiny granite huts and shacks are in some places build together with the rocks, in ways where the rocks often continues somehow inside the architecture
I used to know the old school teacher on the islands and often came by to drink coffee and talk about all things from the islands to watercolors and philosophy and on top of the school lived the most famous artists on the islands... Mogens and Dominique
Sitting in the wind on Ertholmene and painting I never quite made it that day, didn't finish this painting... maybe I'd come back here, I thought, closing my watercolors
This is one of the smallest stone huts on the Ertholmene islands, situated all by itself, there is just a door and a single window, but close by a great bathing place between the rocks, when the wind is right
Life on the small, poor isolated islands was tough in the old days and being self-sustaining as much as possible was important - growing vegetables became a tradition the locals still master
Back in the days before democracy in Denmark about the worst punishment people could receive for stirring the mind of the people was to be sent to the prison on tiny islands Ertholmene far out in the Baltic sea
Inside the boathouse is the last marinated herring factory on Ertholmene. Just a tiny place where a handful of locals listen to the radio, while preparing the fish as it has been done in generations
Sitting on ancient rocks, more than 1.7 billion years old, looking at the water that floats around them, I wonder what they have witnessed so far. Must be amazing things
For a long time the birders lived in a small hut, but then they took over the Mill house ( Møllehuset) situated on top of the island Christiansø, with perfect views to the migrating birds - I remember being invited in...
I sit down in the grass with a warm, freshly smoked herring. Not often this happen... The small old white chimnies are easy to spot from a distance. They were build to smoke herring and other fish and even today, from time to time, the locals celebrate the old times, smoking fish and drinking beer on Ertholmene islands
I sit down at one of the benches - Everything is tiny on Ertholmene - Even the "forest" of trees sheltering the small opening in between the walls, where the locals sometimes meet to celebrate and picnic a five minute walk far away from the fishing village
In their spare time since more than a hundred years ago the fishermen and soldiers would build tiny granite cottages and small granite walled gardens to grow vegetables on Ertholmene. These unique tiny stone huts stands close together, making a very special place
From sea the 3-5 m. high defence wall looks massive and impressive... but what you can't see is the tiny rift valley leading into a secret tunnel that makes it possible for the defenders to attack from a different angle
The Ertholmene islands are ringed by more than 2 km. of strong, massive granite defence walls, bastions and platforms. Build carefully, and skilfully hundreds of years ago, not even usen mortar - Just stone on stone, many of the walls being several meters in hight
The legendary "Christiansoe herrings" where for many years made in a small house, just under the fierce looking round naval fortress defence tower " small tower" Still remember the days when...
In the spring and autumn Ertholmene is a welcoming resting place for many migrating birds and on cliffs and in shelter of the towers and among the rocks, many small birds rest, before continuing their journeys out over the water
The ancient and massive, tall, heavy granite defense tower from 1687 is one of the most legendary buildings on Ertholmene. It can be seen even from Bornholm, more than an hour away on boat, as a clear cut form standing out in the mid of the Baltic Sea
There are no cars on the islands, no cars at all. But there are boats... from tiny row-boats, to fishing boats, to sailboats, and even a couple of rescue boats. Many of the locals taking part in the rescue service, whenever they are called on duty
Walking from Christiansoe, to Frederiksoe, across the natural tiny harbor between the two islands, on an old swinging foot bridge, I turn around to look back at the largest of the islands
In the old days the only water on the islands came from rain. It was carefully kept and protected in a number of ponds around the island. Boats had to bring all other water to the island from more than an hour away
Behind the green doors only the locals of the islands are allowed, it protect their get-away from summer visitors and tourists. A place in the deep shadow of the store, where they can relax and catch up with each other, out of the eyes of the many day visitors
Outside the grocery shop on the small island there is an open, sheltered small square, with short grass and tall trees. It is where everybody meetup to talk about the day and drink beer at 5 o'clock in the afternoon
Frits Ahlefeldt: sketchbook and stories 