Imagine an island so flat that its highest point is just two meters above sea level. This is Saltholm. A place where the horizon stretches endlessly. Saltholm is a Danish island in the Øresund strait. It separates Denmark and Sweden. We are standing east of Amager. Saltholm lies west of the sea border between Denmark and Sweden.
Saltholm is seven kilometers long. It is three kilometers wide at its widest point. The island covers sixteen square kilometers. This makes it Denmark’s twenty-first largest island. But Saltholm is more than just a landmass. It is a relatively new landmass. It rose from the sea about four thousand years ago. This was due to post-glacial rebound. Shallow waters surround it. These waters cover twenty-eight square kilometers.
To the south lies Peberholm. This is an artificial island. It is part of the Øresund Bridge. Its name complements Saltholm. Together with Ven, Saltholm is sometimes called one of the Øresund Islands.
Grasses dominate Saltholm’s vegetation. The landscape consists of flat chalk meadowlands and coastal meadows. Trees are scarce. They cluster in the north and southwest. Motherwort, henbane, blue iris and chickweed thrive here.
Saltholm is a protected nature reserve. Wild birds nest here in large numbers. The southern salt marsh is protected under the Ramsar Convention. The EU designated the island and surrounding sea as a nature reserve. BirdLife International recognizes it as an Important Bird Area. Mussels, eelgrass, snails, crustaceans and fish abound. These feed the water birds. Access is strictly controlled to protect the wildlife. You can access the island via a small harbor at Barakkebro in the north.
Saltholm is Denmark’s largest grazing area for geese. Around seven thousand geese visit during the summer. About three thousand five hundred juvenile swans live here in summer. Some two thousand winter here. Ten to twelve thousand ducks breed and graze here during autumn and late winter or spring. Saltholm hosts Europe’s largest breeding colony of eiders. Fifteen thousand live here during the spring. Seven to eight thousand hatch on the island each year.
Humans have lived on Saltholm since the Middle Ages. Maybe even before that. The population peaked at two hundred ninety-eight in 1916. This was when the island was fortified during World War One. In January 2021, only two people lived here.
The island’s existence was first recorded in 1230. King Valdemar II gave Saltholm to Bishop Niels Stigsen of Roskilde. For centuries, people quarried limestone here. It was used in Copenhagen and elsewhere. Quarrying continued until 1935. People traditionally used the island as pasture for cattle from Amager. Theodor Philipsen painted Saltholm’s cattle and treeless landscapes.
Saltholm served as a quarantine station between 1709 and 1711. Copenhagen suffered from plague and cholera outbreaks. Travelers had to stay here for forty days before entering the city. In 1873, the Saltholmlaug acquired the island from the state. This private company still owns it today.
Its position in the Øresund gave Saltholm military significance. In 1912, the Danish government built Flakfortet north of the island. It stationed artillery pieces there. The fort remained active at the start of World War Two.
In 1915, the British submarine HMS E13 ran aground on Saltholm. Two German destroyers attacked it. Fifteen submariners died. Danish torpedo boats intervened. The Danish government protested the violation of neutrality. The surviving crew were interned until the end of the war.
Saltholm was considered for a new international airport and fixed link. The Nordic Council agreed in principle in 1965. The plan was abandoned in 1979 due to environmental concerns and economic factors. When the Øresund fixed link was built in the 1990s, it was routed one kilometer south of Saltholm. This was to avoid damaging the island. Saltholm remains a testament to nature’s resilience. It shows how wildlife and history intertwine. It is a unique island in the Øresund.