Grenen
Grenen is a long sandbar at Skagen Odde (the headland of Jutland), north of the town of Skagen.
Grenen is often considered the northmost landarea of Denmark proper (excluding the Faroe Islands and Greenland), but the northmost point is actually located 2,5 km northwest of Grenen on the beach of Nordstrand and is 700 m further north to be precise.
Grenen (English: The Branch) was named for its shape like a tree-branch, reaching out from the mainland.
The beach of Grenen appears in many of the works of the Skagen Painters, a community who gathered here every summer between 1875 and the end of the century. The area is also home to the Skagen Odde Nature Centre, designed by Jørn Utzon.
Near the tip of the peninsula, there are two small museums: Skagen Bunker Museum and Grenens Kunstmuseum.
The Danish national road 40 passes through Grenen and it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country, with more than 1 million visitors each year.
Grenen is the junction point between the strait of Skagerrak (part of North Sea) and the Kattegat sea and the powerful turbulence of the colliding seas, have created a 4 km long curved sandbar above and below the waves stretching east. The reef is still active and have grown about 1 km northeast towards Sweden over the last century, resulting in a mean annual growthrate of about 10 m. The currents and turbulence are very strong and it is prohibited and can be fatal, to take a swim in the waters around Grenen.
The area surrounding Grenen is the place with the greatest amount of observed bird species, in all of Denmark. It is regarded as the best spot in Northern Europe, for observing birds of prey, during their migrations in spring. They often gather here, before crossing the seas to Bohuslän in Sweden. There are more migratory birds near Grenen, when the wind is from the south-east. If the wind is from the south-west, many birds choose a route across Funen and Zealand instead. The annual Skagen Birding Festival have been celebrated here since 2005, attracting more than a thousand visitors and participants.
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Wikipedia