Heritage

50 heritage for peace and reconciliation | manual for teacherContentsStrandingsmuseum St George, Thorsminde, Denmark © Dirk Timmermans, courtesy ofUNA/Flandersrefused. On the coast, the rumour about the wrecked German U-boat quickly spread– and a journalist from a town close by reported ‘that there were no cars or bicyclesleft in town, because people wanted to see for themselves “the shark of the seas”,stranded on their sand banks’. Around midday the German commander signalled tothe approximately 500 people on the beach that they should leave the scene, and theyslowly retreated, hiding behind the dunes. The Germans then attempted to destroythe U-boat with explosives, and small pieces of debris scattered the beach – fortunatelyno one was hit.After the War, the wreck was still on the beach, and it was now the task of the Danishauthorities to ensure that the U-boat and its armaments could no longer be used forwarfare. In 1925, a second attempt was made to blow up the wreck, this time by theDanish authorities. From 1954, we have records of divers excavating valuable metalsfrom the wreck on the sea bed, while a local diving club made a condition report onthe wreck in 1993, which revealed that important artefacts were lying on the sea bed,including two diesel engines. Today the wreck lies approximately 400 yards from thecoast and is considered to be threatened by the natural environment (erosion) andhuman activity. The wreck is not yet protected by Danish Law, which provides pro-