Kupfermühle

I visited this point as part of the IBRG DEDK21 expedition. Kupfermühle (meaning Copper Mill) is a village located north of Flensburg in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located near the Flensburg Fjord just south of the easternmost part of the Danish-German border. Kupfermühle was the home of the first factory in Schleswig, which is the reason behind the settlement’s name. The copper mill was founded by king Christian IV of Denmark and Norway in 1612 and produced finished copper products and later also products in brass. Among its products were pipes and sheet copper for copper roofs but also utensils such as buckets, pots, kettles and candlesticks. The copper production flourished in 1914 when the factory employed more than 200 workers. It went bankrupt in 1962.

Both the 17th century factory buildings and the workers’ residences are preserved. Many of the residents in Kupfermühle belong to the Danish minority of Southern Schleswig. A Danish school, Kobbermølle Skole, is located in the neighbouring village. A small stream is to blame for the fact that Kupfermühle now belongs to Germany. Because the Krusau flows through the middle of the former factory, today’s Kupfermühle Industrial Museum.

As border enthusiasts we were interested not only in the buildings but importantly the small smugglers track that leads to the border and on to Kruså and the border crossing that we had visited earlier in the day. The track is one of the Gendarmstien which might explain why as soon as we had crossed the border we encountered a Danish Police car one of many during this journey.

Extract from the 1920 Treaty

The Mill

Notwithstanding our interest in the small border crossing, we spent some time looking at the mill and its associated buildings.

Note a border marker but a commemorative stone for Christian IV

The Border Crossing (BM #14 – BM #16)

After walking a short distance north of the Mill, we found ourselves at a small gate, and got our first view of the anti wild boar fence. The border markers were situated tight against the fence and made the photographing of them not straightforward. No national signs here. A local German sign and some cycling signposts were the only clues that we had crossed the border.

As soon as we had crossed the border however, a Danish police car arrived, no interaction this time.