Prøvestenen Island

After sea fortress Middelgrundsfortet, go in the direction of port Copenhagen. On the shore, you can see the oil storage facilities of the artificial island of Prøvestenen ("Touchstone"), a former Fort that appeared in the early 19th century. At the moment of its appearance, it was an old floating dock submerged in shallow water, on which an artillery battery was installed. In 1860, near the battery, three more old ships were sunk, which were filled with soil, and a full-fledged fortress was built on the resulting area. In 1934, the Fort was handed over to the civil authorities, who significantly expanded its area by alluvial drainage and connected it to the mainland by a Causeway. The new land was intended for industrial construction, but the Second world war prevented it. During the occupation, the island was home to a Luftwaffe airfield.

After the war, a concrete plant was built on the island, and in the 70s, with the beginning of oil production in the North sea, the territory was once again expanded and an oil terminal with huge reservoirs was built on it. On January 18, 2008, the island became the source of an environmental accident that occurred while pumping oil from a tanker. Thanks to the cold weather, the oil thickened and was collected fairly quickly by special treatment vessels.