3 ms·

Not related to Bornholm at all, but it struck me how the "Map of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, 1914" emphasizes railways (the thick black-and-white lines) over

by rob74 7y ago

Not related to Bornholm at all, but it struck me how the "Map of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, 1914" emphasizes railways (the thick black-and-white lines) over roads (the much thinner dashed lines). Of course, those were the heydays of the railroad, and road travel was still largely by horse-drawn carriage...

JoeAltmaier 7y ago
And rail was several orders of magnitude more efficient at moving goods. The 'roads' were tracks made by repeated wagon traversal. Bumpy, muddy, rocky, eroded.
- gerikson 7y ago
  The area around Bornholm (Skåne, Denmark, Germany/Prussia) has some of the best agricultural lands in Europe. The roads were just fine.
  - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
    Hm. I come from a rural setting in Iowa, and the roads even today are not much good. Here's a painting of Danish roads around that period. Looks like a buggy track thru the countryside: https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=gUPDkI10&id=9F09B8ABA74B01BE30BFA1BA7A84DE50155C3AB2&thid=OIP.gUPDkI10PTfqvrmAlnHeBQHaFG&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.christies.com%2fimg%2fLotImages%2f2016%2fCSK%2f2016_CSK_12582_0475_000(carl_wennemoes_winter_road).jpg&exph=2207&expw=3200&q=danish+roads+1914&simid=608036887598926641&selectedIndex=18&qpvt=danish+roads+1914&ajaxhist=0 https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=gUPDkI...
    - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
      https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=BzfZXwJY&id=77A376503149650BCC92565C1482EF66E610D8F8&thid=OIP.BzfZXwJY0U88tDTPMIYEaQHaFQ&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2f2.bp.blogspot.com%2f-OJ_Xn7iCsfA%2fTnEOYS0RjnI%2fAAAAAAAAA0s%2fpzAk5WI_ALc%2fs1600%2fNiels%2bWalseth%2bA%2bDanish%2bsummer%2blandscape%2bwith%2btwo%2bboys%2band%2bfowls%2bat%2ba%2bthatched%2bhouse20c.jpg&exph=613&expw=863&q=danish+roads+1914&simid=608001235032214888&selectedIndex=32&qpvt=danish+roads+1914&ajaxhist=0 https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=BzfZXw...
    - gerikson 7y ago
      The area is now, and was then, densely populated. Here's an article (in Swedish) about the roads in Skåne. Covers a long period. https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-03-25/alla-landsvagar-bar-till-det-forflutna https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-03-25/alla-landsvagar-bar-ti... Malmö was even then Sweden's third largest city. Copenhagen was a global city and Denmark the center of European pork production. Prussia's huge estates were the foundation for the aristocracies' wealth. To get goods to market, or to a rail hub, good roads helped a lot.
dreen 7y ago
The vast European rail network has enabled much of troop movements during both world wars, but at the present time we only have about 50% of rail infrastructure compared to before WW2. The other half has been destroyed.

by rob74 7y ago

JoeAltmaier 7y ago

And rail was several orders of magnitude more efficient at moving goods. The 'roads' were tracks made by repeated wagon traversal. Bumpy, muddy, rocky, eroded.

gerikson 7y ago
The area around Bornholm (Skåne, Denmark, Germany/Prussia) has some of the best agricultural lands in Europe. The roads were just fine.
- JoeAltmaier 7y ago
  Hm. I come from a rural setting in Iowa, and the roads even today are not much good. Here's a painting of Danish roads around that period. Looks like a buggy track thru the countryside: https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=gUPDkI10&id=9F09B8ABA74B01BE30BFA1BA7A84DE50155C3AB2&thid=OIP.gUPDkI10PTfqvrmAlnHeBQHaFG&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.christies.com%2fimg%2fLotImages%2f2016%2fCSK%2f2016_CSK_12582_0475_000(carl_wennemoes_winter_road).jpg&exph=2207&expw=3200&q=danish+roads+1914&simid=608036887598926641&selectedIndex=18&qpvt=danish+roads+1914&ajaxhist=0 https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=gUPDkI...
  - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
    https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=BzfZXwJY&id=77A376503149650BCC92565C1482EF66E610D8F8&thid=OIP.BzfZXwJY0U88tDTPMIYEaQHaFQ&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2f2.bp.blogspot.com%2f-OJ_Xn7iCsfA%2fTnEOYS0RjnI%2fAAAAAAAAA0s%2fpzAk5WI_ALc%2fs1600%2fNiels%2bWalseth%2bA%2bDanish%2bsummer%2blandscape%2bwith%2btwo%2bboys%2band%2bfowls%2bat%2ba%2bthatched%2bhouse20c.jpg&exph=613&expw=863&q=danish+roads+1914&simid=608001235032214888&selectedIndex=32&qpvt=danish+roads+1914&ajaxhist=0 https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=BzfZXw...
  - gerikson 7y ago
    The area is now, and was then, densely populated. Here's an article (in Swedish) about the roads in Skåne. Covers a long period. https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-03-25/alla-landsvagar-bar-till-det-forflutna https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-03-25/alla-landsvagar-bar-ti... Malmö was even then Sweden's third largest city. Copenhagen was a global city and Denmark the center of European pork production. Prussia's huge estates were the foundation for the aristocracies' wealth. To get goods to market, or to a rail hub, good roads helped a lot.

dreen 7y ago

The vast European rail network has enabled much of troop movements during both world wars, but at the present time we only have about 50% of rail infrastructure compared to before WW2. The other half has been destroyed.