The tall tale at the bottom of the sea

Nivå is known for its many brickyards throughout history. At one point, a total of four brickyards were active in the small area. The old ring kiln Nivaagaard Teglværks Ringovn today houses a museum where you can experience how the brick production took place.

The town is also the setting for the story of how a train engine filled with ammunition tragically ended up in the sea during World War II … Or did it?

Brick production takes a lot of clay, and pits were dug in the area in the hunt for blue clay. Today, these clay pits are filled with water or soil. During a storm in 1922, all the clay pits at Nivå between the coastal railway and the sea were flooded, and after that digging for clay east of the coastal railway was abandoned.

During the German Occupation, the building of a new coastal road east of the brickyards was initiated. This means that the new coastal road was placed closer to the coast than the old coastal road – right in the area that had been flooded.

And from this point, the story turns into a tall tale, for it has not been possible to find actual documentation for what allegedly took place. In fact, the Nivå inhabitants themselves do not agree in the least on what happened – or even where – and the stories are many.

The common element is that at the bottom of either the harbour or a clay pit lake lies something that prevents people from hammering poles into the sand … but what is it?

Some believe that it is a World War II train engine with ammunition that has ended up in the harbour. Others believe that it is the Lokomobile, the traction engine that the brickyards used for powering the drainage pump for the clay pits. However, this was done away with in 1922, so that has nothing to do with World War II. A third version says that it is not the harbour, but rather one of the lakes, that is the final resting place for the engine.

Whether any of the stories is true or not does not matter much to the locals. Every time they try hammering a pole into the bottom of the harbour and do not succeed, it is either railway sleepers from train tracks or the train engine itself that hinders it.

However, one has to wonder: If it really was a train filled with ammunition, would not the Navy’s sappers have been by to blow it up?

One story that is definitely true is that the Germans built a battery south of Nivå Strandenge tidal meadows, a few hundred metres inland. The cannon was so powerful that its range allegedly reached all the way to Helsingør. However, the Germans only managed to fire it once before it collapsed – Someone had sabotaged its concrete foundation. One shot, and the cannon was gone. Perhaps that is why the story emerged 

Source: Den selvejende institution Nivaagaard Teglværks Ringovn

Picture: M/S Museet for Søfart.

Coordinates:  Latitude: 55.939486
Longitude: 12.524212

Andre Søkortsfortællinger

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