Trail 6, Svendborg

This text is an excerpt from the book about the Archipelago Trail and therefore contains more background, details and inspiration than the short Archipelago Trail leaflets.

The stage takes you from Vester Skerninge over Stågerup Kohave, Mændenes Løkke with its castle mound, and up to Egebjerg Bakker. From here, the trail leads down through the forests of Hvidkilde, past memorial stones near Hvidkilde Manor.

Svendborg – Faaborg Railway

From Vester Skerninge, the Archipelago Trail follows the route of the former railway between Svendborg and Faaborg for about one kilometre to the east.
The railway operated from 1916 to 1954 and had the following stations and halts: Faaborg, Lucienhøj, Katterød, Nakkebølle, Vester Åby, Ulbølle, Vester Skerninge, Åkilde, Ollerup, Egense, Skovsbo and Svendborg.

Kohaven south of Stågerup

“Have” means that something is fenced in. A kohave is an enclosure for cattle.
These cattle pastures lay outside the villages’ communal fields and were fenced to keep livestock out of the grain fields.
Later, Kohaven was used for afforestation – in that case, the fences kept the cattle out instead of in.
There is a shelter site in the Kohave Forest.

The Castle Mound in Mændenes Løkke

The Archipelago Trail continues east from Stågerup to the woodland Mændenes Løkke. Here, just north of the trail, you will find the remains of a large medieval castle mound.
The structure dates back to the early 1300s; it measures 70 × 70 metres and was once surrounded by a moat.
To the northwest, remains of a dam across the moat can still be seen.

The castle mound is most likely the predecessor of Skjoldemose.

By the scout hut between Mændenes Løkke and Svinehaverne, you will find a “coffee spot” with a picnic shelter and access to water.

Rødme Svinehaver

Rødme Svinehaver, on the ridge of Egebjerg Bakker, is one of Denmark’s finest and most beautifully situated grasslands.
The area was purchased by the Danish Nature Agency and Svendborg Municipality in 2014, and you are welcome to take a short detour into the Svinehaverne – but only on foot.

The grasslands have not been ploughed since the Ice Age. Large stones appear everywhere on the surface, and numerous yellow meadow ant mounds reveal that grazing animals have been present for centuries.

Among many rare plants, the arnica is the most striking, but several species of orchids and carnivorous plants also grow here.
In autumn, 17 species of waxcap fungi glow like tiny lanterns in white, yellow and red.
The area also contains ponds, forested wetlands and beech forest.

Bakkelundgård

The land around Bakkelundgård was bought by Funen County in 2000 because it borders Rødme Svinehaver.
The goal was to give grassland plants a chance to spread onto the farm’s fields.
The area is grazed by Highland cattle and horses.
There are established trails throughout the area, which is owned by the Danish Nature Agency.

Stenstrup Ice Lake

Around Stenstrup lay a large meltwater lake at the end of the last Ice Age.
Geologists call it Stenstrup Ice Lake, and it covered an area of around 15 square kilometres.

The lake was enclosed by dead ice to the north and west, by the present-day Egebjerg Bakker to the south, and by a large ridge north of Svendborg to the east.

The lake received meltwater from the glacier, where gravel, sand and clay were deposited in the lake and later excavated again.
In addition to gravel pits, there are brickworks in the area.
Water from the lake ran out via the valleys of Hørup, Hundstrup and Syltemade.

Egebjerg Mølle

The Archipelago Trail continues east along Tørvelong. A path runs along the hedgerow to the south, leading to the Egebjerg Mølle Nature Room – a “room” in nature for children and adults with space for reflection and activity.

Across six floors, visitors gain knowledge and inspiration to explore the South Funen landscape.
They are introduced to the story of the Ice Age and can read about the South Funen Big Five – five unique local areas that each tell part of the geological story.

One of the mill’s floors houses “The Tadpole”, an activity space for families with children.
From the nature room’s landmark, a glass prism at the top, all stories are tied together with a magnificent view over Funen and the archipelago.

The nature room is the first of its kind on Funen and was created in cooperation between Egebjerg Møllelaug and Naturturisme I/S (now Geopark The South Funen Archipelago).

The 1999 Hurricane – from Conifers to Broadleaf

South of Egebjerg Mølle, the Archipelago Trail enters Løvehave Forest, owned by Hvidkilde Manor.

The forest was hit hard by a hurricane in December 1999.
Entire areas – mostly conifer plantations – snapped or blew down within hours.
Today, the fallen trees have been cleared, and new ones planted.
Most of the new trees are broadleaf species, which are more storm‑resistant.
In Denmark, far more organisms are associated with broadleaf forests than with coniferous ones.

So although the storm was devastating for forest owners, the shift from conifers to broadleaf trees has created richer nature with more birds, insects, plants and fungi.
You can still see the large replanted areas as you walk along the forest roads.

Two Funen Resistance Fighters

Further southeast in Løvehave Forest stands a memorial stone for Count Lennart Ahlefeldt‑Laurvig Lehn of Hvidkilde.

He was born in 1916 and joined the resistance in 1943.
He first worked with intelligence and illegal newspapers, later with arms reception and sabotage.
He was arrested on 8 March 1945 in Odense, tried by a German court martial, and executed on 28 March 1945 in Ryvangen, north of Copenhagen.

Just before Hvidkilde’s farm buildings, another memorial stone stands on the west side of the road.
It honours Knud Hofman Laursen, born in 1922, also active in the resistance.
He was a weapons instructor and oversaw arms depots in the forests near Kirkeby.
On 2 May 1945, he was on his way to one of the depots when he was surrounded by German soldiers and killed in a firefight.

Hvidkilde – a True Manor

The manor house lies 300 metres west of the trail. If you want to see it up close, you must take a detour down the beautiful lime avenue.
Hvidkilde is certainly worth a closer look, although it is not open to the public.

The current manor house stands on the same mound where its predecessors stood.
Typically, fortified manor houses from the Middle Ages were relocated in the 1500s–1600s and replaced by newer, grander buildings with large farm complexes.

Hvidkilde is first mentioned as a manor in 1374.
In 1376, Johan Wittekop was steward of the estate – indicating that Hvidkilde was then owned by the Crown.

During the Count’s Feud (1533–1535), Hvidkilde was destroyed, but rebuilt in 1550 as a fortified manor complex.

The 1550 building forms the central wing of the manor house seen today.
In the 1500s, the estate expanded with land from Sørup and Skovsbo, and later all of Sørup was absorbed into Hvidkilde.
In 1660, 91 tenant farms belonged to Hvidkilde.

In 1725, merchant Johan Lehn received Hvidkilde and Lehnskov from the king as repayment of a debt.
He began major renovations, adding two side wings.
By 1742, the manor had been transformed into a Baroque palace – the one seen today.

Johan Lehn wrote in 1743 that both estates were in poor condition when he took them over, so he chose to rebuild both the manors and their farm buildings.

He wrote that the soil was best suited for oats, with some rye and barley.
The forests were mostly mediocre beech woodland.
He focused on cattle breeding and kept a stud farm, but there were no deer parks and little game.

He noted that Hvidkilde Lake contained pike, though not in large numbers, and many roach – a carp species of little culinary value.

Lehn married into the Nielstrup estate and expanded further. When he died in 1760, his nephew Poul Abraham Lehn took over Hvidkilde, Lehnskov and Nielstrup.

In 1781, the estate was so large that it was elevated to the barony of Lehn with all associated privileges and obligations.
The barony existed until 1925.

Today, Hvidkilde is Funen’s third-largest estate with approx. 600 hectares of farmland and 1,520 hectares of forest.

MTB Trail

In one of Hvidkilde’s forests, Folehaven, the first 12 kilometres of a 19‑kilometre mountain bike trail, Skovhuggeren, opened in 2016.
A fee is required to ride the trail.
Maintenance is carried out by volunteers from the Egebjerg Bakker MTB association.

Hvidkilde Farm Buildings

The Archipelago Trail passes close to Hvidkilde’s large half‑timbered farm buildings before crossing the Svendborg–Faaborg road and continuing south.
The buildings were erected in 1820 after the earlier structures burned down.
In 1932, parts of the farm buildings burned again but were rebuilt in the same style.