Ox Road

 

Retracing the Ox Road

The historic Ox Road, the main route along the Jutland peninsula from Viborg in Denmark to Wedel near Hamburg, ran through this area. In Danish, the road is also called Hærvej (Army Road). More than 3,500 years ago, during the Bronze Age (1700–550 BC), it was already used to transport copper and tin. Its course can still be traced today by the numerous burial mounds along the way. Some of them, such as the Tweebargen, have been preserved as archaeological cultural monuments.

In the Viking Age, the Danish rulers controlled the traffic on the Ox Road through the Danevirke. At the gate in the Main Rampart, the Ox Road crossed the short land route between the waters leading to the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. The Ox Road was used for many purposes: oxen were driven, goods were transported, soldiers marched and the faithful made pilgrimages on this trail.