Den store å og bønderne

Resumé

Gennem årtusinder har Gudenåen og dens ådal haft indflydelse på områdets bebyggelse, erhverv og infrastruktur. Tidligere var den store å en barriere i landskabet, som dannede grænse for ejerlav og administrative skel. Men den var også et vigtigt ressourceområde for landbefolkningen. De frodige enge gav foder til kvæget sommer og vinter. Fiskeri i åsystemet kunne supplere landbruget og ådalen rummede flere nyttige råstoffer. Fra 1800-tallet og frem blev Gudenåens vådområder drænet for at øge udbyttet fra landbrugsjorderne og omvendt kunne åens vand også bruges til vanding af jorderne. Med udgangspunkt i etableringen af handelspladsen i Silkeborg i 1846 så staten pramfarten, som en mulighed for at øge afsætningen af bøndernes produkter fra det vest- og midtjyske område. Specialiseringen af landbruget efter Anden Verdenskrig mindskede ådalens betydning for erhvervet.

Summary

Through thousands of years, freshwater areas were important resource areas in Denmark and they have influenced human settlements, business and infrastructure in the country. This especially applies to the longest stream in the country, called Gudenåen, in Jutland. This article describes how the peasants benefited in different ways from the stream. The meadows along Gudenåen were of crucial importance for the peasants. From spring through autumn the cattle ate the green grass in the meadows and these also provided important hay for food during wintertime. Some peasants supplemented revenues from agriculture with fishing in the big stream. Gudenåen is the most diverse freshwater system in the country with many side streams and lakes. Eel, pike, perch and roach were caught, eaten or sold to neighbours or at the local market. Besides fishery the peasants extracted different kinds of raw materials from the wetlands. Rushes were sewn together in form of shoes and footstools, and since the middle ages reeds were used for roofs. People dug peat from the bogs and used it as fuel. When sailing with barges on Gudenåen flourished in themiddle of the 19th century, huge amounts of peat were carried on barges to Randers, the biggest town alongside the stream. From the 19th century onwards many of the wetland areas along Gudenåen were drained and the stream was regulated in order to increase yields from the agricultural soil. With the specialization and industrialization of the  agriculture after The Second World War and with the introduction of mineral fertilizers the stream and its wetland areas lost their significance for the agriculture. Today, it is no longer an important resource area providing food for the cattle, fish and raw materials, and its function as a commercial route through the landscape has ended.