2.6 kmOksby Old Church
A nearby, quiet trace in the same area; can be visited as a reading of the landscape.
The memorial stone stands by Mindelunden on Kallesmærsk Heath near Husbjerg Dune, on the outskirts of Oksby Plantation. This is not a large complex, but a solemn point in the landscape: a stone, a memorial grove, and a history that only became visible after the war was over.
The route there is part of the experience. The site cannot be reached by car through the forest, so a visit takes the form of a short walk through plantation and out toward heath and dune terrain. That suits the memorial’s tone: subdued, somewhat isolated, and without much embellishment.
The memorial stone marks the place where six Danish resistance fighters were secretly buried after being executed for sabotage against the German occupation forces. Their relatives did not know the burial site, and it was not marked in the terrain. Only after the liberation was the place identified, the coffins found, and the dead brought home for burial in their hometowns.
The area is connected to Oksbøl Shooting and Training Area. Parts of the area can be used recreationally when there are no exercises, but access may be closed off for safety reasons. Information boards at the approach roads show access conditions, and red balls on signal masts mark periods of closure. The history is close at hand here, but the military landscape still sets the framework.
From the parking area by Blåvandvej, the route follows the forest road Nordkrogen. Inside the forest, turn right onto Kolonnevej and later left; along the way, the signs rather soberly point the way with the text “Mindesten”.
The stone marks the place where six Danish freedom fighters were found buried after the liberation. It was inaugurated on 4 May 1952 and had before then stood for about 600 years at the entrance to Varde Church.
Husbjerg Dune is a high vantage point by Kallesmærsk Heath. From here, the landscape opens out over a large heather-covered outwash plain with damp areas and small dunes.
The view also offers a look into an area shaped by windblown sand and the wind, where the sand was once blown up into migrating dunes toward the east. The heath has also been used for military shooting exercises since 1950, so the site's silence may come with very concrete access restrictions.
