During the 1864 Second War of Schleswig, the Danish Army withdrew from
the traditional fortified defence line of Dannevirke (after waters and
marshes which supported its flanks froze hard in a hard winter) and
marched for Dybbøl to find a better defendable position. Although much
artillery was abandoned, and the evacuation was executed in a snow-laden
north gale in winter, the army arrived almost intact. The army
entrenched itself at the Dybbøl Trenches, which became the scene of the
siege and subsequent Battle of Dybbøl (7 April – 18 April 1864). This
battle resulted in a Prussian-Austrian victory over Denmark.
In the
following peace settlement, Denmark surrendered both Schleswig and
Holstein. Following World War I, Denmark recovered the northern part of
Schleswig as a result of the Schleswig Plebiscites as described in the
Treaty of Versailles.
The site is today a national memorial and
museum about the Battle of Dybbøl. The Dybbøl Mill is considered a
Danish national symbol.
Dybbøl is also the birthplace of American landscape architect Jens Jensen
