What’s going on here??
This is GEDSER.
The southeast port of Denmark. A man who calls himself ”The Captain” tells us: This harbor could’ve been the port connecting Denmark to all of Europe!
Gedser is getting a town renewal, a make-over. Soon a bridge from Denmark to Germany will be built, but it’s not going through Gedser. Now even Gedser’s anchor, the ferry to Germany, has an uncertain future. It’s the last chance for Gedser. Things will have to change, or soon it will become a ghost town with an abandoned ferry terminal.
What can be done?
Some dream of Gedser becoming a tourist destination much like Skagen, by constructing a beach, a new tourist harbor, and a swimming pool with a waterslide. This might be the way to go – attracting tourists is certainly an old tool in the city renewal toolbox. Perhaps tourism is the future of Gedser? Maybe build a golf course so the tourist might stay for 18 holes?
We’re not experts on Gedser and the people living there. Nor are we experts on city planning, but it seems like there are a few basic things missing:
There’s no train. There’s no school. Both have been shut down. Most of what the people of Gedser need can be found 30 minutes away, in Nykøbing. Each year, families move away – to a town with a school, to a town with a future for their family. During our stay in Gedser, we were provided with the city renewal headquarters (træfpunkt /”meeting point”) as our temporary office. It used to be the youthclub and after school daycare, but closed down after the school was closed down.
So? Sit and wait for things to turn around? Make a big list of what’s missing, and what could have been?
We were busy in our temporary office … it’s clear there was a lot of work to do! But what? Some curious kids came by and ask us what we were doing. They asked: “Is the youthclub open again?” No, but something else is in the air….
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