There are many “ugly” bunkers spread almost throughout the whole of Fanø. Most of them completely or partly overgrown. They are leftovers from the Atlantic Wall of the Second World War.

In April 1940 Denmark was seized by Germany. The Germans immediately tried to secure the coasts against attacks from abroad. They built bunkers along the entire jutlandic west coast. Due to Fanø’s important, strategic placing at the gateway to Esbjerg harbour, there were built 300 bunkers on Fanø.

At the northern side of the island there wer built 3 cannon stands. Today there is an exhibition in the biggest one of them (Fanø Nord). The other two were located around the Pælebjerg and in Sønderho.

Furthermore, there were built anti-airforce stands everywhere on the island, alongside floodlights and a great numbers of bunkers for close defence of the island.

However, before the atlantic wall could be completed, the war was over and the stands deserted. Today many of these bunkers are completely covered with sand and overgrown, which makes them look like dunes.

It is assumed that between 1.500 and 2.500 German soldiers used to be based on Fanø.