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Lines of Sight in North Zealand


By Sune Christian Pedersen

In March 1801 the cattle on top of Høje Sandbjerg [a hill] must have opened their eyes wide as a 25 metre tall signal pole was being erected in the middle of their peaceful common. The pole was visible all the way from Islandshøj at Nivå in the north and from Fortunen in the south when the weather was clear and the telescope in order.


These commanding points constituted parts of Denmark’s first telecommunication network, the optic telegraphs, which by means of signal poles with movable plates, tall as a man, could signalize everything from cherry wine to wartime conditions. The line ran from Spodsbjerg in North Zealand (near Hundested) via Kronborg and south towards the Kvintus Lunette in Copenhagen – and, as mentioned, across Høje Sandbjerg. The main purpose of the line was military, i.e. to warn of naval activities in the waters near Copenhagen and to maintain swift contact between Kronborg and Copenhagen. In the autumn of 1801 the telegraph was dismantled as military operations had ceased and the pole was stored in Hørsholm Palace.

In 1807 it was taken out again when the English were once more approaching, but the telegraph operators hardly had time to put up the installation before they had to pack it again rapidly when the English went ashore at Vedbæk dangerously close to the telegraph station.

A year later the station started working under the daily management of theologian Albert Sadolin Sabro (1776-1847). The optic telegraph line of North Zealand was taken down after the conclusion of peace in 1814 and never re-erected, but from 1847 the summit of Høje Sandbjerg was used for geodetic measurements and in 1879 a pedestal (a 1 x 1 ft granite stone for measuring purposes) was placed near the position of the old telegraph pole. In 1893-94 a wooden framework with plates was once again erected – this time for surveying purposes. Eventually, the summit was overgrown with trees which in 1929 and in 1949 were replaced first by fir and later by oak, so that the sight was lost. In 1916 about 22 acres of the area, including the summit, were conveyed to the Academic Rifle Club as a training ground.

View Restored
In the winter of 2001-02 the Forest Section of Søllerød Municipality with support from Copenhagen county council and in harmony with the rifle club cleared the old sight lines and made it possible again to see the points in the landscapes where the neighbouring stations were situated and imagine what it would be like to operate the colossal pole. The county council is also expected to place a table on the hill in collaboration with Søllerød Museum, the Academic Rifle Club, and Post & Tele Museum with information about the optic telegraph on Høje Sandbjerg.


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