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72-608: The NATO command Baltic Approaches was created on 8 January 1962, with headquarters in Karup , Denmark . It was created at Germany's urging, in order to end the previous separation of the German naval forces between the NATO commands Northern Europe and Central Europe . After the changes in the international security situation in 1990, the command was restructured in 1993 and deactivated in 2002. The area of responsibility of BALTAP comprised

144-567: A Germanic people who were settled in the Rhone region by the Romans, and who the region of Burgundy in France is named after. Bornholm was pawned to Lübeck for 50 years starting in 1525. Its first militia, Bornholms Milits , was formed in 1624. Swedish forces conquered the island in 1645, but returned the island to Denmark in the following peace settlement. After the war in 1658, Denmark ceded

216-626: A coat of arms depicting a Black Grouse (in Danish : urfugl ), a bird once typical for many areas in Jutland, but now extinct in Denmark. The municipality is one of the few Danish municipalities using its own flag; it is white with the coat of arms in the centre. 56°18′27″N 9°9′55″E  /  56.30750°N 9.16528°E  / 56.30750; 9.16528 Bornholm Bornholm ( Danish pronunciation: [pɒːnˈhʌlˀm] )

288-414: A Social Democrat, spoke out against the merger. It was required that each municipality had more "Yes" votes than "No" votes. Otherwise the merger would have to be abandoned altogether. The six municipal entities had up to 122 councillors (of which county clls were 18, from 1998 15), reduced to 89 in the municipalities from the 1990s, in the 1970s and the new regional municipality would have 27 councillors from

360-470: A declaration of war against the Soviet Union, and that Denmark should keep troops on it at all times to protect it from such foreign aggression. This policy remained in force after NATO was formed, with Denmark as a founding member. The Soviets accepted the stationing there of Danish troops, which were part of NATO but viewed as militarily inferior elements of the alliance, but they strongly objected to

432-471: A listening tower near Østermarie , almost 90 meters high, to intercept radio communications across the Baltic Sea and in parts of Russia. Bornholm Regional Municipality is the local authority ( Danish , kommune ) covering the entire island. Its formal name is Bornholm Municipality. It is given the right in the law establishing it to be called Bornholm Regional Municipality. (For explanation read on). It

504-544: A majority of the houses in Nexø , fully destroying roughly one-tenth. Ten Danes were killed and thirty-five wounded, considered a low number, owing to the fact that many civilians were evacuated to shelters outskirts of the respective towns beforehand before the worst raids hit. After the evacuation of their forces from Bornholm, the Soviets took the position that the stationing of foreign troops on Bornholm would be considered

576-605: A mobile base (MOBA) with approximately 40 trucks. MOBA LOG supplied fuel, ordnance, freshwater and provided repair facilities outside the naval bases. MOBA OPS had mobile radars for tactical surveillance and target acquisition. At the beginning of 1989 the Danish navy consisted of the following ships. Support ships: The Flag Officer Germany (FOG) was the commanding vice admiral of the West- German Navy 's Fleet Command. In peacetime he commanded all German naval units in

648-680: A sailing sport where two identical yachts are raced in one-on-one events on the water. The Danish Open event was held in Bornholm in September 2010 at the port town of Rønne on the western coast of Bornholm. The five-day Danish Open is a key event in the World Match Racing Tour calendar which is one of only 3 events awarded 'special event' status by the International Sailing Federation . The Tour

720-507: A sum of 56 million DKK (US$ 8.76 million (29 June 2018)) to the project. Among Bornholm's chief industrial activities are dairy farming and arts and crafts industries such as glass production and pottery using locally worked clay. Jensen-Group , an industrial washing and folding machine company, was founded on the island and has a factory in Rønne. It is headquartered in Belgium . Tourism

792-446: Is Rønne ; it is the seat, in the southwest on the westernmost point of the island. The other main towns (clockwise around the island) are Hasle , Sandvig, Allinge , Gudhjem , Svaneke and Nexø . Monday morning 22 September 2014 it was documented by Folkeregistret in the municipality that the number of people living in the municipality that day were 39,922, the lowest number in over 100 years. As of 2018 , Statistics Denmark gave

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864-480: Is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea , to the east of the rest of Denmark , south of Sweden , northeast of Germany and north of Poland . Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by Denmark, but also by Sweden and by Lübeck . The ruin of Hammershus , at the northwestern tip of the island, is the largest medieval fortress in northern Europe , testament to

936-463: Is a merger formed in June 2010 consisting of Bornholms Erhvervsskole (youth and adults), Bornholm High School (youth) and VUC Bornholm (adults), then occupying separate addresses. Learning institutions not part of this formalised collaboration will also be housed at Minervavej in Rønne. The building costs were over 300 million DKK (US$ 46.9 million (29 June 2018)). The A.P. Møller Foundation contributed

1008-474: Is also important during the summer months. Bornholm is also home to a large internationally funded demonstration project to test the viability of novel energy market mechanisms to regulate energy networks with a high prevalence of renewables (such as wind turbines and photovoltaics). 50% of the EcoGrid project is EU-funded, with the remainder coming mainly from large corporations. Almegårds Kaserne on Bornholm

1080-473: Is an island that rises high from the sea. Other names known for the island include Burgendaland (9th century), Hulmo / Holmus ( Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum ), Burgundehulm (1145), and Borghandæholm (14th century). The Old English translation of Orosius uses the form Burgenda land . There are scholars who believe that the Burgundians are named after Bornholm. The Burgundians were

1152-497: Is called Bornholm Regional Municipality". The island had 21 municipalities until March 1970, of which 6 were market towns and 15 parishes. In addition to supervising parish municipalities, which was the responsibility of the counties in all of Denmark, the market town municipalities of Bornholm were supervised by Bornholm County as well and not by the Interior Ministry as was the case in the rest of Denmark. The seat of

1224-496: Is defined by Statistics Denmark as a settlement with less than 200 inhabitants. On 22 September 2014 population numbers showed fewer than 40,000 inhabitants on the island for the first time in over 100 years. The Folkeregister in the municipality could document 39,922 inhabitants in the municipality on that date. Many inhabitants speak the Bornholmsk dialect , which is a dialect of Danish . Most inhabitants are members of

1296-666: Is from the Conservative party . This was after an agreement ( aftale om konstituering ) between the Red-Green Alliance, amongst whom Morten Riis will be deputy mayor, and the Danish People's Party with the Conservatives. Bornholm's municipal council today consists of 23 members, elected every four years. In the first four local elections in the newly created municipality there were 27 members elected to

1368-644: Is home to 15 medieval churches , four of which are round churches with unique artwork and architecture. The ancient site of Rispebjerg has remains of sun temples from the Neolithic and earthworks from the Iron Age . There are 14 European bison near Åkirkeby , attracting 100,000 visitors a year. Because of the dilapidated state of their buildings, all secondary educational facilities in Rønne, including adult evening classes, are being transferred to new facilities at Campus Bornholm in 2018. Campus Bornholm

1440-586: Is home to the III Reconnaissance Battalion (III/GHR) from the Guard Hussar Regiment . Bornholm has an oceanic climate relatively similar to southern Sweden and mainland Denmark, whose summer highs and winter lows are heavily moderated by its maritime and isolated position. Though intense heat is rare, the climate is sunny during summer and rainfall is generally sparse for a climate of this type. The winter of 2010 – 2011

1512-412: Is the result of a merger of the five former (1 April 1970 until 2002) municipalities on the island ( Allinge-Gudhjem , Hasle , Nexø , Rønne and Aakirkeby ) and the former Bornholm County . Bornholm Regional Municipality was also a county in its own right during its first four years from 1 January 2003 until 31 December 2006. From 1 January 2007 all counties were abolished, and Bornholm became part of

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1584-756: Is the world's leading professional 'match racing' series and features a nine-event calendar which crosses three continents during the series. Points accrued during the Danish Open contribute directly to the World Match Racing Tour championship with the winner of the season finale at the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia claiming the ultimate match racing title ISAF World Match Racing Champion. There are two small stadiums: Nexø Stadion , in Nexø , where NB Bornholm association football club play; and

1656-429: Is unknown but sometime between 2000 and 2005. It does not include Knudsker Sogn, which was also part of Rønne Municipality. Other localities (with approximate populations, not updated) include Aarsballe (86), Arnager (151), Olsker (67), Rutsker (64), Rø (181), Stenseby (?) and Vang (92). In 2010 and 2018 10,297 and 9,111 respectively lived in rural districts, and 88 and 71 had no fixed address. A rural district

1728-553: The Alum Shale Formation of Bornholm presented by all six superzones; three agnostoid and fourteen trilobite zones are defined by fossils . 8502 specimens, most of which are disarticulated sclerites , have been collected from these strata. Described gerena include Ctenopyge , Eurycare , Leptoplastus , Olenus , Parabolina , Peltura , Protopeltura , Sphaerophthalmus , Lotagnostus and Triangulopyge . Bornholm's numerous windmills include

1800-593: The Capital Region of Denmark whose main responsibility is the health service. In the bill (Danish forslag ) ( Bill of Law on merger of the municipalities of Bornholm ) presented 30 January 2002 by the Minister of Interior and Health to Folketinget , it says in §1 that (1st sentence) "The 1st of January 2003 Bornholm Municipality is established by a merger of (names of municipalities mentioned, and county's name mentioned), and (2nd sentence) Bornholm Municipality

1872-565: The Faroe islands were under the command of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic . The Flag Officer Denmark (FOD) commanded the entire Danish home fleet. As the fleet's main tasks were to prevent Warsaw Pact naval forces from passing through the Danish straits and to prevent amphibious landings on the Danish coast. To fulfill its mission the Danish navy fielded a large number of minelayers and fast attack crafts . The first would have been used to mine all sealanes and potential landings beaches, while

1944-557: The Lutheran Church of Denmark ( Folkekirken ). Various Christian denominations have become established on the island, most during the 19th century. Geological formations are immediately visible in Bornholm in a way not common elsewhere in Denmark. The still-operated Stubbeløkken and Klippeløkken granite quarries in Knudsker parish just east of central Rønne are among the few remaining of many formerly active quarries on

2016-736: The North and Baltic Sea . In case of war the command of German units in the North Sea would pass to the Commander German North Sea Subarea. Fleet Command was based during peacetime in Glücksburg , but would have moved to an underground command center in Glücksburg-Meierwik in case of war. The German naval forces in the Baltic Sea had the task to prevent Warsaw Pact naval forces from passing through

2088-649: The North Sea . In peacetime he was subordinate to the vice admiral commanding West- German Navy 's Fleet Command , but in case of war he command a parallel command under NAVBALTAP. In peacetime the command was based in Wilhelmshaven , but would have moved to an underground command center in Wilhelmshaven-Sengwarden in case of war. While German naval forces in Baltic Sea were tasked with preventing Warsaw Pact naval forces from passing through

2160-633: The Royal Danish Air Force and flying units of the German Luftwaffe and Marine , as well as extensive air defence and radar installations manned by German and Danish personnel. If needed AIRBALTAP would have been reinforced with units from the US Third (UK based), Eighth (reconnaissance and bombing), Ninth (immediate reinforcements) and Twelfth Air Force (follow on reinforcements), and with Royal Air Force units. At

2232-547: The post mill of Egeby and the well-kept Dutch mill at Aarsdale . The lighthouse at Dueodde is Denmark's tallest, while Hammeren Lighthouse stands at a height of 85 metres (279 ft) above sea level and Rønne Lighthouse rises over the waterfront. Examples of roads that have (very) steep climbs and descents are: (inland) Simblegårdsvej in Klemensker , which begins by the village inn Klemens Kro , and Slamrebjergvej just outside Nexø extending northward from

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2304-510: The 1950s), farmland in the middle and sandy beaches in the south. The island is home to many of Denmark's round churches . Occupying an area of 584.59 square kilometres (225.71 sq mi), the island had a total population of 39,332 as of January 2024 . In Old Norse the island was known as Burgundaholmr , and in ancient Danish especially the island's name was Borghand or Borghund ; these names were related to Old Norse borg 'height' and bjarg/berg 'mountain, rock' because it

2376-749: The 7th Territorial Region. Except for the Royal Guard Company and the Mounted Hussar Squadron, which were made up of conscripts, all territorial units were part of the reserve: Allied Air Forces Baltic Approaches (AIRBALTAP) was a NATO military formation under Allied Forces Baltic Approaches tasked with providing air support in the BALTAP area of operations. AIRBALTAP commanded all flying units based within its sector and all reinforcements flying into its sector, as well as ground-based radar systems and stations, air defence units and

2448-479: The BALTAP area, and its entire naval and naval air forces, to be subordinated to COMBALTAP. In addition, external reinforcements from the United States and Britain (UK Mobile Force, primarily 1st Infantry Brigade ) were planned. The structure that was brought into being with the creation of BALTAP remained with few changes from 1962 to 1994. During this time, BALTAP comprised 4 subordinate commands: LANDJUT

2520-411: The Baltic Sea most vessels of GERNORSEA were destroyers and frigates. The main bases in the North Sea were Naval Base Wilhelmshaven and Naval Base Cuxhaven . At the beginning of 1989 the Commander German North Sea Subarea would have commanded the following ships in wartime: On 1 October 1993, a restructuring took effect, which took into account the changed military situation in the Baltic Sea. Whilst

2592-560: The Danish straits and to prevent amphibious landings on the German coast. To fulfill its mission the German navy fielded like the Danish navy a large number of minelayers and fast attack crafts . All German submarines were based in the Baltic Sea and tasked with mining enemy harbors and sinking enemy supply ships far from German waters. The main bases in the Baltic Sea were Naval Base Kiel , Naval Base Kiel-Holtenau , Naval Base Flensburg , Naval Base Flensburg-Mürwik , Naval Base Olpenitz , Neustadt Naval Base and Naval Base Eckernförde . At

2664-653: The Danish straits, the North Sea fleet was to patrol the German Bight and protect allied reinforcements and shipping heading for German ports. To GERNORSEA's East Allied Command Channel 's BENECHAN command was tasked with patrolling the Western half of the Southern North Sea, while to North Allied Forces Northern Europe 's SONOR command was patrolling the Southern Norwegian coast . Unlike in

2736-605: The airfields in its sector. The commander of AIRBALTAP was the commander in chief of the Royal Danish Air Force. AIRBALTAP was formed in 1962 with its area of responsibility covering Germany north of the river Elbe and Denmark with the surrounding seas; however air defence for the German state of Schleswig-Holstein was the responsibility of Second Allied Tactical Air Force The peacetime headquarters of AIRBALTAP were at Karup in Denmark . AIRBALTAP commanded

2808-552: The beginning of 1989 the Flag Officer Germany would have commanded the following ships. The peacetime administrative flotilla commands in Wilhelmshaven and Cuxhaven would have been removed from the chain of command in times of war. The Commander German North Sea Subarea (GERNORSEA) was the commanding Flottillenadmiral (equivalent to a US Navy Rear admiral (Lower Half) ) of the West- German Navy 's fleet in

2880-523: The beginning of the 20th century, forming a group now known as the Bornholm school of painters . In addition to Oluf Høst , they include Karl Isaksson (1878–1922) from Sweden, and the Danes Edvard Weie (1879–1943), Olaf Rude (1886–1957), Niels Lergaard (1893–1982), and Kræsten Iversen (1886–1955). On 22 August 1942 a V-1 flying bomb crashed on Bornholm during a test – the warhead

2952-414: The catamaran. There are also flights from Bornholm Airport to Copenhagen and other locations. Because of its remote location Bornholm Regional Municipality has its own traffic company, BAT , and is its own employment region, and also performs other tasks normally carried out by the regions in the rest of Denmark. In some respects the municipality forms a region of its own. Bornholm Regional Municipality

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3024-536: The crow flies) south of Copenhagen, Denmark ; the destination to Køge replaced the nighttime route directly to and from Copenhagen (for both cargo and passengers) from 1 October 2004; and catamaran services to Ystad ( Sweden ). Simrishamn ( Sweden ) has a ferry connection during the summer. There are also regular catamaran services between Nexø and the Polish ports of Kołobrzeg , Łeba and Ustka . There are direct bus connections Ystad-Copenhagen, coordinated with

3096-648: The earliest with British and American troops to ensure that advancing Soviet forces would be prevented from crossing the Kiel Canal and Eider river. British and American formations earmarked to reinforce LANDJUT included the British 1st Infantry Brigade and the American 9th Infantry Division . British infantry battalions and armoured regiments rotated every two years or so; thus locations are shown, but no unit identities. All territorial army units were part of

3168-479: The importance of its location. Bornholm and Ertholmene comprise the last remaining Danish territory in Skåneland east of Øresund , having been surrendered to Sweden in 1658 , but regained by Denmark in 1660 after a local revolt. The island is known as solskinsøen ("sunshine island") because of its weather and klippeøen ("rock island") because of its geology, which consists of granite , except along

3240-596: The island to Sweden under the Treaty of Roskilde along with the rest of the Skåneland , Bohuslän and Trøndelag , and it was occupied by Swedish forces. A revolt broke out the same year, culminating in Villum Clausen's shooting of the Swedish commander Johan Printzensköld on 8 December 1658. After the revolt, the inhabitants handed back their island to the Danish kings. Bornholm attracted many famous artists at

3312-634: The island. The island's varied geography and seascapes attract visitors to its many beauty spots from the Hammeren promontory in the northwest to the Almindingen forest in the centre and the Dueodde beaches in the southeast. Of special interest are the rocky sea cliffs at Jons Kapel and Helligdomsklipperne , the varied topography of Paradisbakkerne and rift valleys such as Ekkodalen and Døndalen . Furongian (late Cambrian period) sediments of

3384-462: The last mayor of Rønne Municipality for five years from 1998 until 2002. He became a mayor again in 2021. Bjarne Kristiansen, who was the last mayor of Hasle 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years from the summer of 2000 until 2002, representing the local Borgerlisten political party, served as mayor for four years from 1 January 2006 until 2009. From 1 January 2007, Bornholm became a part of the Capital Region of Denmark . From 1 January 2010 until 31 December 2020

3456-612: The latter would have harassed the enemy fleet with continuous hit and run attacks. Additionally the Danish navy fielded RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles mounted on Scania trucks as mobile coastal artillery . The navy's main bases were Minor naval bases were The coastal fortification Minor naval stations, as part of sea surveillance. Aerial support was provided by the Danish Naval Air Squadron ( Søværnets Flyvetjeneste ) based at Værløse Air Base with 8 × Lynx Mk.80 helicopters. The torpedo boats had

3528-458: The main road from Rønne . Along the coast there are several steep roads, which is also the case in some parts of Denmark as a whole, for instance in and around Vejle . The island hosts examples of 19th- and early-20th-century architecture, and about 300 wooden houses in Rønne and Nexø , donated by Sweden after World War II , when the island was repairing damage caused by the war. The island

3600-572: The mayor was Winni Grosbøll, a high school teacher and a member of the Social Democrats ( Socialdemokratiet ) political party . The deputy mayor Morten Riis was mayor for a short interlude from 1 January until 4 January 2021. He is from the Red-Green Alliance . Thomas Thors, who was elected again in 2017, became mayor again from 4 January 2021. After the 2021 Danish local elections Jacob Trøst became mayor from January 2022. He

3672-487: The municipal council is the island's main town, Rønne. The voters decided to merge the county with the municipalities in a referendum 29 May 2001, effective from 1 January 2003. The question on the ballot was, "Do you want the six municipal entities of Bornholm to be joined to form one municipal entity as of 1 January 2003?" 73.9% voted in favour. The lowest percentage for the merger was in Nexø municipality (966 more people voting "Yes" than "No"), whose mayor, Annelise Molin,

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3744-510: The municipal council. The 2002 local election only took place on Bornholm. From the election in 2017 the number of councillors elected was reduced to 23 members, serving their term of office from 1 January 2018 until 31 December 2021. Below are the election results to the new merged municipal council beginning with the first election 29 May 2002 . Ferry services connect Rønne to Świnoujście ( Poland ), Sassnitz ( Germany ), Køge , 45 kilometres (28 miles) by road (34 kilometres or 21 miles as

3816-478: The operational command of the air and sea forces, a partial assignment of these forces to Allied Forces Northwestern Europe (AFNORTHWEST) with its component commands AIRNORTHWEST and NAVNORTHWEST was made. In case of war, COMBALTAP would have had to lead the NATO forces assigned to it. According to plans, all Danish forces with the exception of some units in the outer regions were to be placed under COMBALTAP. Germany had provided for its land and air forces stationed in

3888-470: The other regions The merger was approved in a law by the Folketing 19 (and signature by the head of state 25) March 2002, transferring the tasks of the abolished county and old municipalities to the new Bornholm Regional Municipality. The first regional mayor in the first three years from 2003 until 2005 was Thomas Thors (born 28 July 1949), a physician and member of the Social Democrats and previously

3960-412: The populations as follows: The town of Rønne after the merger of the island's administrative entities 1 January 2003 reached a low point of 13,568 inhabitants 1 January 2014. 15,957 people in 1965 (date unknown;number not registerbased) lived in the two parishes that would become Rønne municipality from 1 April 1970. In the table, numbers for Rønne are for the parish of Rønne, Rønne Sogn, alone. The year

4032-476: The presence of other NATO troops on Bornholm, US troops in particular. On 5 March 1953, the day of Stalin's death, Polish pilot Franciszek Jarecki defected from the Eastern Bloc and landed a MiG-15 fighter on the island. He was later granted asylum and rewarded for providing Western intelligence with the then-newest Soviet jet fighter. In 2017, Denmark's Defence Intelligence Service decided to build

4104-538: The reserve. LANDZEALAND was tasked with defending the Danish Isles incl. Bornholm and preventing Warsaw Pact troops from amphibious landings. Order of battle in 1988. The island of Bornholm was in wartime independent, due to the long distance from Zealand and agreements after World War II said that no foreign units could reinforce Bornholm. Therefore, Bornholm had only the Battlegroup and homeguard units of

4176-405: The result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007) . It was merged, with Bjerringbro , Fjends , Møldrup , Tjele , and Viborg municipalities to form an enlarged Viborg municipality. This created a municipality with an area of 1,390 km and a total population of 88,945 (2005). The municipality belongs to Region Midtjylland ("Mid-Jutland Region"). The municipality uses

4248-491: The southern coast. The heat from the summer is stored in the rock formations and the weather is quite warm until October. As a result of the climate, a local variety of the common fig , known as Bornholm's Diamond ( Bornholms Diamant ), can grow locally on the island. The island's topography consists of dramatic rock formations in the north (unlike the rest of Denmark, which is mostly gentle rolling hills) sloping down towards pine and deciduous forests (greatly affected by storms in

4320-560: The start 1 January 2003. They were reduced to 23 from 1 January 2018 ( election November 2017 ). From 1 January 2003 until 31 December 2006 the 27 cllrs were called Regional Council (Danish Regionsråd ), from 1 January 2007 changed to Municipal Board (Danish Kommunalbestyrelse ) as is the usual term in almost all Danish municipalities. This was to avoid confusion with the Regional Council in Region Hovedstaden, and in

4392-508: The start of hostilities AIRBALTAP would have had immediately almost 300 combat planes at its disposal. The following units would have come under AIRBALTAP in wartime in 1989: AIRBALTAP was disbanded in 1993. Allied Naval Forces Baltic Approaches (NAVBALTAP) was located until 1976 in Kiel-Holtenau, and thereafter at Karup. Its commander was a Danish or German vice admiral and had the following deputy commanders: The task of NAVBALTAP

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4464-535: The territory of Denmark (without Greenland and the Faroe Islands ), the German states Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein and the eastern North Sea , the Baltic approaches with Skagerrak , Kattegat , the Danish straits , and the Baltic Sea . One peculiarity was the responsibility for air defence over the German part of the BALTAP area. Until 1990, the western Allies were responsible for air defence over

4536-469: The two land forces commands remained in place, the two headquarters of the naval and air forces were deactivated. The Interim Combined Air Operations Centre 1 (ICAOC 1) in Karup took the place of COMAIRBALTAP. The two national naval commanders were placed directly under COMBALTAP as Admiral Danish Fleet (AdmDanFleet) and Commander German Fleet (COMGERFLEET). Karup Municipality Karup municipality

4608-562: The two main towns on 7-8 May 1945, Danish radio was not allowed to broadcast the news because it was thought it would spoil the liberation festivities in Denmark. On 9 May, Soviet troops landed on the island, and after a short fight, the German garrison (about 12,000 strong ) surrendered. Soviet forces would leave the island on 5 April 1946. Later research found that the Soviet bombing of Bornholm resulted in approximately three thousand Danish civilians in Rønne becoming homeless, while damaging

4680-641: The whole Federal Republic of Germany on the basis of the occupation statute . After France had withdrawn from the integrated military structure of the alliance, this task was undertaken by the United States and the United Kingdom . The Second Allied Tactical Air Force (2 ATAF) was responsible for the area of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, and was led by a British officer from RAF Germany, with headquarters in Mönchengladbach . BALTAP

4752-407: Was a dummy made of concrete. The wreckage was photographed and sketched by the Danish Naval Officer-in-Charge on Bornholm, Lieutenant Commander Hasager Christiansen. This was one of the first signs British Intelligence saw of Germany's aspirations to develop flying bombs and rockets which were to become known as V-1. The Bornholm rocket turned out to be from Peenemünde . During the Soviet bombing of

4824-409: Was a municipality ( Danish , kommune ) in Viborg County until 1 January 2007. The municipality covered an area of 163 km , and had a total population of 6,709 (2005). Its last mayor was Kjeld Merstrand, a member of the Social Democrats ( Socialdemokraterne ) political party . The main town and the site of its municipal council was the town of Karup . Karup municipality ceased to exist as

4896-488: Was exceptionally extreme with snow depth reaching at least 146 cm (58 inches ) and snowdrifts of six meters (20 feet), the highest in Northern Europe. Military assistance was needed to clear roadways. The DMI estimated the weight of snow to be 100 million tons . Bornholm's geography as an island and moderate climate makes Bornholm an ideal location for sailing and other water-based sports. Bornholm has also become an internationally recognised venue for 'match racing',

4968-470: Was led by a Danish officer with the rank of a Lieutenant General or a Vice Admiral , who had the designation Commander Allied Forces Baltic Approaches (COMBALTAP). His deputy was a German officer of the same rank. From 1962 to 1993, COMBALTAP was under the NATO command Allied Forces Northern Europe (AFNORTH) in Kolsås outside Oslo in Norway. After a change in the NATO structure, it was placed under Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) on 1 October 1993. For

5040-405: Was not merged with other municipalities on 1 January 2007 in the nationwide Municipal Reform of 2007 . The larger towns on the island are located on the coast and have harbours. There is however one exception, centrally placed Aakirkeby , which was also the name of the municipality from 1970 until 2002, but it included the harbour of Boderne, 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) to the south. The largest town

5112-418: Was tasked with defending the Jutland peninsula. Holding Jutland was crucial for the mission of NAVBALTAP to keep the Danish straits blocked and thus prevent the Soviet Baltic Fleet from breaking out into the North Sea . In case the Jutland peninsula would fall into Soviet hands, the LANDZEALAND units defending the Danish Isles would have been dangerously flanked. Therefore, LANDJUT was to be reinforced at

5184-690: Was to keep the Warsaw Pact 's United Baltic Sea Fleets , consisting of the Soviet Baltic Fleet , Polish Navy and East German Volksmarine bottled up in the Baltic Sea by blocking the Danish straits and thus ensuring NATOs unchallenged control of the North Sea . To fulfill its mission NAVBALTAP commanded the entire German as well as the ships of the Royal Danish Navy based in Denmark. The ships based in Greenland and

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