A German father-of-two was left stunned during a trip to the beach on a recent family vacation after stumbling upon a sign warning them that mines could lie ahead.
The discovery was made during a visit to a stretch of beach not far from the Skallingen Peninsula, a popular area of natural beauty in southwest Denmark.
The family, visiting the region from Wuppertal in western Germany, came across the sign that warned, "Watch Out Mine!" in Danish, followed by "Attention Mine" in German. The dad shared a picture of the sign to Reddit, posting it under the handle @CmdZel alongside the caption: "We are on vacation. Today I let my wife decide on which beach to go. I take this as a sign."
CmdZel, 38, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Newsweek: "We visited a lot of beaches here already, which were all beautiful. Nice sand, clear water and a lot of space to play with the kids. My wife just said, 'This looks nice on Google Maps. Let's go there.' And so we drove there. After a short walk, we stood in front of the sign. What can I say? The sign spoke for itself."
Denmark was left badly damaged by the slew of unexploded ordnance dropped by Allies on the region during World War II. German forces, meanwhile, laid mines across much of the country's coastline to deter potential invaders.
However, significant efforts have been undertaken to reduce the number of mines and unexploded bombs littering Denmark. The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor said that, from 2006 to 2021, some 3,098 antipersonnel mines, 259 antivehicle mines, and a collective total of 554 unexploded ordnance and explosive remnants of war were cleared. This was from an area of Denmark spanning 1,860,000 square metres [460 acres], which included the Skallingen Peninsula.
It didn't take for the father long to decide what they should do next after seeing the warning sign.
"I looked to the right where my 4-year-old daughter was standing with her shovel, then looked at my wife with our toddler and just decided to turn over and go back to our car to drive to a well-known safe beach," Reddit user CmdZel said. "As a father, I don't take any unnecessary risks in relation to the kids, so we just left this place."
Though their trip to the beach was delayed as a result, the sign proved popular on Reddit, racking up more than 27,000 upvotes from similarly surprised users.
"Don't dig no moat for your sandcastle," one Reddit user wrote. "Don't take the sign!" another added. "Then other people wouldn't know the beach is a minefield."
One user posted that, despite the wording of the sign, "it doesn't mean the beach is an active minefield, or that you can't bathe there, or even that it is likely you will run into mines there."
The Reddit user added: "What the sign wants to say is more like 'once every few years a piece of unexploded ordnance washes up on this coastline. If you by any chance find any strange objects, please contact the police department at +45 114 and don't poke it until the bomb squad have had the chance to take a look.'"
Whatever the reality, the original poster CmdZel said the sign and the warning "surprised" him. "I learned from the comments that these kinds of 'leftovers' are not uncommon and that several places and beaches in Germany, France and Denmark are marked with signs like this."
Despite the strange encounter, CmdZel added that he and his family enjoyed their vacation. "Denmark is a wonderful destination, and every other beach here was just amazing."
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About the writer
Jack Beresford is a Newsweek Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter, based in London, UK. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
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