How “Wedding Island” (Ærø) was once “shipping island”

Nowadays Ærø is famous as the perfect wedding destination, mainly because of the glorious scenery and the picture-perfect fairytale town of Ærøskøbing, which just beg to be photographed with a happy couple in the foreground. Journalists from most European countries and the USA have visited to record the sight of brides and grooms from all over the world wandering the cobbled streets and posing by the iconic beach huts on Vesterstrand and Eriks Hale.

But the idea of Ærø as a “Wedding Island” is only a decade or so old.

Once upon a time Ærø was famous for something else entirely – ships, sailors, and shipping companies. A little over a hundred years ago there were 150 ships registered in Ærøskøbing, and twice that number in Marstal. Ærø’s fleet was second only to Copenhagen’s. So important, that when the British Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen (again) in 1807, to stop the Danish fleet falling into the hands of Napoleon, they sent two frigates (in 1808) to bombard Marstal harbour on Ærø. The message was clear – to stop the French getting their hands on Danish ships – but it shows how important Ærø was, that the British felt the need to flex their muscles here too.

And shipping island was not just about the vessels themselves, but also the sailors. As you wander around Ærøskøbing you will notice how many of the old houses have Californian place names, such as Alameda, California, Pacific and Solvang. The reason is simple – the best sailors from the island (including Louise, Yuki & Anna’s great-grandfather, Frederik Sofus Birkholm) were lured to California to skipper the great sailing ships trading across the Pacific. And when they came home they bought houses and named them after the places they had known on their travels.

Anyone who wants to understand how this tiny island became a force in the world of shipping should read Carsten Jensen’s best seller, “We, the Drowned”, which traces the fortunes of the entrepreneurial Ærø families who built a shipping empire. It is a novel – but the events and the people are closely based on reality.

There is a connection between Ærø’s proud sailing past (and present), and its new role as an international wedding destination. The historical Ærø culture was fundamentally outward looking, embracing the new ideas and people met on the oceans of the world. And in the same way the island embraces its international wedding couples (Danish Island Weddings has now hosted brides and grooms from 176 different countries!) that spirit of openness lives on.