Village stories: Bagenkop Harbour
Harbor town with over 500 years of fishing history.
Bagenkop Harbour
The harbour was built in the 16th century as a small fishing village on an isthmus, from where the town's fishermen used the beach lake for fishing.
In 1853, Magleby Nor was dammed and fjord fishing ended. In 1858, the fishermen were able to use a new harbour at the southern mouth of Magleby Nor. The town's fishermen originally used the beach lake both for fishing and as a harbour. When Magleby Nor was dammed in 1853, fjord fishing came to an end. On the other hand, the fishermen were able to use a new harbour in 1858.
In 1964, after several expansions, the harbour was Denmark's sixth largest fishing port. Today, there are fewer fishing boats, but Bagenkop is still Langeland's largest fishing harbour. Visit Rasmus Klump's ship ‘Mary’ where you can fish for crabs.
The old ferry berth
The fishing camp opened in 1911 when the South Funen Steamship Company deployed the steamer ‘Rut’ on the route to Kiel. The new ferry harbour was completed in 1965, and the third large harbour basin opened the following year. The ferry was a great success thanks to duty-free sales on board. In 1983, 441,949 passengers used the route.
On 1 July 1999, duty-free sales between EU countries stopped, which meant that the last ferry to Kiel sailed in 2002. Today, the ferry berth is used for water activities and will be the setting for SHORES Langeland's major construction project ‘Springet’. On the pier south of the ferry berth is a lookout tower and art centre.