The Ox Road: On the Trail of the Oldest North–South Route

The Ox Road (Danish Hærvejen, "army road") is the name for a bundle of old overland routes running along the higher, dry ridge through the Jutland peninsula. On the heights one had fewer rivers and bogs to cross – ideal for carts, herds of cattle and marching armies. The name comes from the great ox drives that still passed south along these ways in the late Middle Ages and early modern period.

Why the route mattered so much

The Jutland peninsula separates the Baltic and the North Sea – but at its narrowest point it is only a few kilometres of land. Exactly here, at Schleswig, the overland route from north to south crossed the short east–west passage between the Schlei and the Treene. Whoever sat here controlled trade between two seas. That is why Haithabu, the Danevirke with its single great gate, and the North Sea harbour of Hollingstedt all arose here.

Goods overland and across the land bridge

From Haithabu on the Schlei goods were carried over a stretch of only about 16 km to Hollingstedt on the Treene – and from there onward by river to the North Sea. This spared the dangerous and long sea voyage around Skagen. The Ox Road and this land bridge made the region a hub between the trading worlds of east and west.

"Wits must he have who wanders wide, but all is easy at home."Hávamál 5, after Henry A. Bellows 1923 (public domain)

The Ox Road reminds us that trade in the Viking Age ran not only across the sea but also overland – and that of all places a piece of northern Germany was the junction where the ways of two seas crossed.

Read more with us

Hedeby · The Danevirke · Reric · Hacksilver – silver as currency · Viking traces in Germany.

Sources & literature

Standard literature on Haithabu/Hollingstedt and the Hærvejen/Ox Road; Archaeological State Office of Schleswig-Holstein; on the Ravning bridge the dendro-dating; historical-critical assessment of the route name.

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