Sprogø () is a small Danish

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

, located in the

Great Belt The Great Belt ( da, Storebælt, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great B ...

, the

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean chan ...

that separates the main islands of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

and

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

. It is about halfway across the strait, from the Zealand shore and from the Funen shore. Although ''sprog'' is modern Danish for ''speech'', the island's name was recorded originally during the 12th century as ''Sproøe'' meaning ''scout's island'', from the old Danish verb ''spro'' (to scout). Today, the island is crossed by part of the

Great Belt Fixed Link The Great Belt Bridge ( da, Storebæltsbroen) or Great Belt fixed link ( da, Storebæltsforbindelsen) is a multi-element fixed link crossing the Great Belt strait between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen. It consists of a road suspension ...

, a series of roads, bridges, and tunnels; it is connected to Funen by a road and rail bridge, and to Zealand by both a road

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical ...

and twin rail

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

s. During the construction, the island was reconfigured drastically, with

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamat ...

increasing its area from . There are remains of buildings on the original part of Sprogø from the beginning of the 12th century, a fortress built by order of King Valdemar the Great. During construction work, extensive

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

investigations were undertaken, and among other findings it was revealed that the first inhabitants arrived more than 8,000 years ago. The island does not have any permanent population today, but is used by ''Sund og Bælt'', the company that owns and operates the bridges nearby. It is also a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

, and tours of the island are organised. Sprogø was a station for the

semaphore line An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and ...

across the Belt, ''

Storebæltstelegrafen An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and ...

'', between

Nyborg Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,525 (2022). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

and Korsør, in operation between 1801 and 1865. Between 1923 and 1961 the island was used for containment of women deemed pathologically promiscuous, the main concern being unwanted pregnancies. At the time the practice was considered humane, given that they had been confined previously. The lighthouse, which can be seen in the picture, was built by the mail service during 1868, replacing an older structure from 1809. It was built on the foundations of the 12th-century fortress.

References

External links

Sund & Bælt Photo Archive: Sprogø island
– construction photographs including aerial photos of Sprogø in its original form (log in using the default username and password)
Sprogø, -øen i midten
– History of Sprogø; many images of the island

– about Sprogø lighthouse; many photographs.
Sprogø - Stories from The Heritage Agency of Denmark

Sådan tager Sprogø form på 16. år
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprogo Islands of Denmark Geography of Slagelse Municipality