The ferry site:
Between Sundstrup and Virksund, Hjarbæk Fjord flows at its narrowest point, and it was decided to build a ferry. The ferry has been owned by a king, bishop, lords, owner-farmer and finally ferryman and innkeeper.
The ferryman family:
There have probably been ferries across Virksund dating back to the 1100s. In 1514, the king confirmed the ferry’s license. The ferry was active throughout the 1700s and 1800s. The ferry service across Virksund was part of the shortest land connection between Aalborg and Skive.
The Frederiksen family had earned a living as ferrymen and innkeepers since 1838. The first of the Frederik Nielsen family wrote to the county that in 1839 the ferry barge had made 70 trips, the middle boat 12 trips, the sailboat 11 and the dinghy 100 trips across the strait. Frederik was granted permission to run an inn in 1844. When the railroads were built in Northern Jutland and West Himmerland in the late 1800s, it meant a significant decline in the ferry’s clientele.
The ferry company at Virksund applied for but never received a motor ferry. In 1929, the barge that had served as a ferry was scrapped. Instead, the ferryman now had to serve customers with a rowing boat. This meant that only pedestrians, cyclists and perhaps a single motorcycle could be ferried across the strait.
When the dam across Virksund was inaugurated in 1966, the Limfjord’s last rowing ferry ceased operation.
The last ferryman:
Peter Frederiksen had joined the ferry company at the age of 7. He would help row the large ferry barge. In good weather, the ferry barge could be driven by two people, in bad weather it took five to six strong men to row it across the strait. In 1927, he took over the ferry and ferry inn from his father. During Peter’s time at the ferry, horses and cattle were the ferry’s main cargo. Even with the rowing ferry, the cattle were ferried across by tying them to the boat with a long rope and then they had to swim. When the ferry stopped operating in 1966, he cried dry tears, as it was an inherited duty without significant earnings he had carried out.
Sources:
Jensen, Elle; Virksund Færgested. From Viborg County. 1953.
Gormsen, Gudrun; Limfjord’s last rowing ferry. Ankertovskrogen Hjarbæk Sjægtelaug jubilee publication 2001.
Skive folk newspaper
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