1. From sailing ship to modern steam powered ships
The sailing vessels could not meet the competition from steam- and steel ships. They were faster and less vulnerable to weather conditions. Further, modern steam ships could be operated more efficiently than the big bark- and full ships. Around 1900 some of the modern vessels were registered in Fanø (Sønderho and Nordby), but they never call at their home port, and as Fanø seamen were highly   recommended, therefore they often were offered for hire on board foreign vessels.
 

2. The red seamarks stands as a monument from the sailing time
In 1894 the Danish author and painter Holger Drachmann (1846-1908) wrote:

Surrounded and protected by the highest dunes of the island with seamarks painted in red over the white combs of sand – quiet and calm, friendly but undisputedly lonely the village of Sønderho is situated there and being nourished by its history, the popular genre painter, professor Exner and some other academic lodgers stayed for several months in the summer.

3. Artists occupy Sønderho – with easel and palette

Among the first artist who visited Sønderho was Julius Exner. He found Amager (near Copenhagen) too modern and therefore, he cast his interest on Sønderho where time had stood still. For 30 summers he drew sketches and brought them back to Copenhagen to be finished. After 1900 everything had changed so much that he gave up Fanø with sadness and withdrew to Copenhagen, where died 1910.

4. Gentlemen and ladies went bathing separately

In 1895 Sønderho got its bathing place with pavilion and bathing wagons. The wagons were pulled out to a suitable depth by horses from where it was possible to take a bath without fearing curious looks from the opposite sex. However, to see and to be seen was crucial to any on a bathing holiday when the first resorts opened along the European coasts.

5. Bus service to and from Sønderho

When auto buses came into the picture it became much easier to travel to and from Sønderho. In the previous 100 years it had been a troublesome journey on a stagecoach. In fact, it was often easier to walk or ride along the beach. However, years later the public roads were laid with gravel and later asphalted. Now modern comfortable buses could service the towns and the rural countryside. In Sønderho Harbour the usual life was also changing. People must notice that ships were no longer present, but the town continued its connection to the maritime world. In a relative few years’ time there had been a small private navigation school in Sønderho. However, with the improved bus service it was much easier to frequent the acknowledged navigation school in Nordby. Anyway, when the young ‘sønderhoninger’ had passed their exam, most of them permanently left Sønderho to find their first hire by Danish and foreign shipping companies.

6. A „Københoning” paints the bricks above the windows

Some of the skipper houses have been taken over by summer guests known as “Københoninger”.

Although not all of them were from the Danish capital. They were obviously more engaged in preserving the old building traditions than in the local way of life. From Sønderho’s early days local customs were often mixed with what foreigners brought from their homeland. Over time this mixture became the overall picture which is now the distinctive stamp of the village. The external appearance is as well a mixture of impacts for example the characteristic thatched roof you see in Jylland and on long farmhouses in Slesvig, curved facade dormer (over a door or window), and the slantingly painted arches called eyebrow over the windows in green, white and black (an old Frisian custom). An old womans ‘tale’ is, that these arches are the symbol of our walk on earth:White is life and happiness, green is hope, and black is sorrow and death. Simple symbols are playing a big role in the old urban community.

7. Sailors gossips at “Børsen”

For the old skippers „Børsen” (a gossip bench) was an indispensable place to go during good weather or storm, in summer and winter. Here was local news and sometimes also news from the wider world discussed and commented. It was also here the town council decisions were criticized. But the waves went the highest when the tax roll has been issued. Any council member should keep a good distance during such days.

8. Storm surges were the evil of Sønderho

In earlier times the 20 m wide dune rim at Hønen provided Sønderho protection against storm surges. The dune was, however, step by step destroyed by coastal erosion, and vanished completely after the storm surge of 1981. The fight against the sea could be compared to the battle against the sand drift. The sea was ever returning and prompted new attempts to improve the dike constructions. In 1942, during the war, the dike between Børsen and Kalvekrog was fortified with squared concrete elements with a vaulted surface. Seen the light of the ongoing global warming and the consequences of sea level rise, it is now seriously discussed to heighten the dike around Sønderho by about one metre.

9. The Danish ministers Viggo Kampmann and Julius Bomholt

The newspaper “Information” of 14. July 1956 reads: Once again the kingdom is governed from Sønderho where Viggo Kampmann, the Danish Prime Minister, enjoying a “long” weekend in company with the minister of education Julius Bomholt. In the picture you can see them taking a bath in the North Sea.

10. Sønderho used to be a popular destination for boats from Ribe

A dune rim called Hønen “The hen” south of Sønderho was until the channels into Sønderho sanded up a popular destination for boats from Ribe (Originally the name Sønderho stands for the south corner of Fanø), and the southern point were named the corner. However, pronounced in the local dialect it sounds as “æ Høn” (The hen). Every spring people went to Hønen to establish temporary jetties were up to 30 leisure boats could call. The yachtsmen towed the timber for jetties behind their boats. In the autumn the jetties were demolished, and the timber towed back to Ribe. The last time jetties were established was in 1983. Members of Ribe Sailing Club also sailed to Keldsand to dig out fairways into Sønderho but they eventually sanded up.

11. The sea horses in Fanø’s municipality code of arms as kits at a kite’s festival

Fanø’s code of arms was unveiled on 6 August 1993 by His Royal Highness Prince Henrik. The two sea creatures symbolize both the towns Sønderho and Nordby as well as the islands connection to the sea and the maritime world. They also symbolize shipping enterprises on “the seven seas”. The blue colour in the code of arms images is the sea, and the white silver the open sky.

It’s a little strange to choose seahorses in Sønderho’s code of arms. The species are normally only found in tropical waters, but due to the increasing global warming, seahorses are now found in more northerly waters such as the southern North Sea and as far east as Bornholm. So maybe one of the seahorse species may soon be found in the Wadden Sea?   

12. The harbour is cleaned up by a cutter dredger pumping the sand into a pipe

In 2021 a 4 km long part of the tidal channel into Sønderho’s natural harbour were dredged and with an inaugural arrangement opened for the public. The Sønderho Harbour Support Society (Sønderho Havn Støtteforening) initiated and finalized the comprehensive project after several years planning, approval and fund raising. Now the project allows smaller boats to call into Sønderho Harbour, and people can again enjoy the channel as a beautiful nature element on the maritime threshold to Sønderho.

13. Dutch tile anno 2011

The tile culture of Fanø refers to the mid 1600s when Fanø seamen through 200 years sailed the worlds ocean, and during that period build a rich maritime tradition. The “tile-culture” of Fanø is one of the most specific expressions of this time. To conclude the story of the Sønderho tapestry what could be more obvious but to present a tile-paraphrase where we on the background of old and new features in the open landscape like the medieval Cathedral of Ribe, mega wind turbines, monstrous oil rigs laid up in the harbour of Esbjerg and the power plant Vestkraft with its tall smokestack can visualize how modern technology is dominating the view of Fanø’s low profile over the Wadden Sea. 

In 2011 the tile was an ironically – and with a twinkle in the eye – greeting to the growing nature protecting of the Wadden Sea. The illustrator Bernt Hobohm has, with the tile in mind, sent a kind and affectionate regards to one of the originators of the Sønderho tapestry, the late curator Thyge Jensen. Thyge worked for many years as a dedicated seal biologist at Denmarks Museum of the Sea (Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet) in Esbjerg.