A few years ago, my mother and my sister Susanne took a drive back to the places of our childhood. My parents both come from farming families in the northern part of Denmark. They married in 1954 and started their life together in a small place called Visborg. When my father started his adult working life, it was as a farm worker. Later he got a job in the construction industry and we moved to Hadsund. It is a larger city, but only 3-4 kilometers from Visborg. I was born in 1956 in Visborg. My brother (1954) was also born here. Then we moved to the countryside somewhere between Visborg and Hadsund. Susanne was born here in 1960. Our two younger sisters were born (1961 and 1964) in Hadsund. This day trip took us on a discovery trip to find the houses where we have lived and places that meant a lot to us.
Before we drove to Visborg to look for house where I was born, we drove down to Havnø Mill which is located by Mariager Fjord. This old windmill is located just a few kilometers from Hadsund. When we were children, we often cycled along the fjord and out to the mill to play. It is an old Dutch windmill built in 1842 and in operation untill around 1927. It's also one of the oldest in the country. It has been restored later, but I seem to remember that it still looks exactly as I remembered.
The landscape along Mariager Fjord and around Havnø is flat. The countryside on both sides is farmland, so you will se small farms, cows on the fields and crops. We took a walk towards the waters edge. We have so many childhood memories from this place. We didn't just go to the mill to play around. We also tried to catch dinner in the fjord. Our brother was very good at that. I remember that plaice is a fish we most often caught. We had to dig out sandworms that were going on the fishing hook. I could not do that part of the job with a live worm. Only my brother managed it. He was also the one who had to take the fish off the hook. I don't think we were much help to him.
Next stop was Visborg. A very small town only a few kilometers from Havnø. We parked the car and walked around to find the house that was the first place my parents lived when they were newlyweds. I can barely remember it, but my mother was the one who took us in the right direction. However, the house no longer exists. It's torn, without us knowing when. My mother could tell us quite a lot about the place, the houses that are still here, who lived here and what's new. We went up to the church. This is where the three of us who are oldest were baptized.
When we stopped at the stone telling about a white horse being burried here, she could tell that the horse became famous due to the fact that it carried King Christian 10th across the Danish-German border on July 10, 1920. At that time the southern part of Denmark (Sønderjylland) became Danish again after belonging to Germany since the war in 1864. The horse is buried here because it was the landowner at Visborggård castle who posed the horse at the disposal of the king. The castle was built in the Middle Ages, but what we see today is from the end of the 16th century. I believe it was due to fire. It has mostly belonged to noble families, but has for a short time been a residence for people with mental illness.
This building is located on the outskirts of Visborg city and along the road that continues to Hadsund. My parents rented this farm, but my father still worked as a farm worker on one of the larger farms. This is the house in which my brother was born. I remember more from when we lived here. Especially a scarry meeting with a pig. My parents had some pigs in the barn. For some reason, my father had to move some of them to another building. He asked me to stand in the door to make sure the pig did not go the wrong way. I must have been around 4 years old at the time and in the meeting with an adult pig who was taller than me. I don't remember what happened to the pig....
We continue a couple of kilometers in the same direction towards Hadsund. Here in this house my sister Susanne was born. Back then the midwife would come home when it was time. It was not normal to go to hospital. I do actually remember when she was born.
What I may remember best is the farm which is only a hundred meters further up. My father worked on that farm. My mom also helped when it was time to slaughter pigs. At that time it was done on the farms and they made everything from sausages, hams, etc. themselves. When we stood here between what was our house and the farm, I now saw that the distance could not be more than about 100 meters, but I remembered it as much longer. Maybe because I was small and the world seemed much bigger. But the house we lived in, I remember well. It has not changed since we stayed here
My mom and Susanne
The distance from Visborg to Hadsund is only a few kilometers. But Hadsund is a larger town and also the adminestrative seat of Hadsund Municipality. I was around 6 when we move here. The first place we lived was in a rented apartment right in the city center. The red house is part of what we lived in. It was not red then and the entrance and facade have changed. We took a walk to the back. At the time when we lived here there was a large area of raspberry bushes and a jam factory right behind our apartment. Now it's gone and so is the factory. I don't think I will ever forget the smell of raspberry jam!
When we mooved to Hadsund, my father changed from working on farms to work in the construction industry. This house on Rosendalsveien 24 is the last place where we spent the rest of our childhood. My father did a lot of the work himself. The first house my parents owned.
Rosendal is an area on the outskirts of the city and the name comes from the farm which is located at the end of the street we lived in. The farm is still here, but has not functioned as a farm during the years we lived here (1964 - 1975). It was built sometime in the 1800s and was then surrounded by agricultural land. That land was later sold and houses were built here. Today the farm functions as a museum.
Right behind is Rosendalskogen with a small lake. Both Susanne and I have lots of memories from playing in this forest any time of the year. In the winter when the water was frozen, we went ice skating here. The forest meant everything to us when we were children. This is the place we spent most of our afternoons when school was finished. It was so nice to walk on the same paths around the water that we know so well. But again, I got a feeling that the forest was smaller than what I remembered...
Something has changed and possibly the forest as we knew it has become smaller. We came to an area with deer and in the background we saw an industrial area. None of the parts were here in the 60s and 70s. Later I found out that these deer belong to what is now called Hadsund Deer Park. We have so many good memories that we share while eating packed lunches in the woods. Like most children we didn't always do what we were told. Now, as adults, we could share this with our mother. We had a good laugh.
Before we left Hadsund, we took the road that leads to the church and the school. When we were children we passed the church everyday on our way to school. Amazing to see the school where we spend so much time.
We lived in Hadsund until the mid 70's. Then my father became unemployed and the whole family moved to Aalborg where he had got a new job. It was surprising how much we remembered once we were in all these places and all the emotions it aroused in us. It was a nice experience. Childhood memories are precious.
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