Detour #278: Crossing The Bridge into Scandinavian Noir, Denmark-Sweden
Photo Volvo
cross The Bridge from copenhagen to Malmö and MURDER feels never far away.
Dense clouds hang above Øresund, obscuring the stanchions that support this remarkable road linking Denmark and Sweden at exactly the halfway point between the two nations. It’s right here that detectives Saga Noren and Martin Rohde discover a bisected corpse in the opening sequence of The Bridge.
There’s an appropriately menacing mood to the weather today as I trace a route that takes in some of the key locations of this and other tales of Scandinavian Noir.
The story begins in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Detective Inspector Sarah Lund’s home in The Killing. Much of the action for season one of the Danish drama takes place here in this otherwise family-friendly part of the capital. There’s no shortage of great eateries, Denmark’s largest public park and the FC Copenhagen stadium, while if you take a short stroll to the shore you’ll discover The Little Mermaid perched on the rocks.
Photo Joshua Kettle
Copenhagen’s Town Hall features heavily in The Killing, as does the Christiansborg Palace which houses the country’s government. It’s open to the public from Tuesdays to Sundays, but in search of Nordic Noir I head south and then east towards the airport and soon see signs for Malmö, as I follow the route often taken by Saga Noren in her classic Porsche.
Crossing to Sweden is a dramatic drive whether you’re in a 911 like Noren or a Volvo XC90, like me. First the road dives beneath the sea in the Drogden Tunnel, emerging some three miles later on the island of Peberholm, where the bridge begins. It’s almost five miles in length, with a lofty speed limit of 110km/h (68mph) it takes little time to cross. It does however, cost a fairly hefty 455 Danish Kroner (£50 at the time of writing) to make the crossing – presumably Noren got a police discount.
Photo Volvo
Most of the filming for The Bridge took place in Malmö and for die-hard fans there are some 18 different locations to discover in Limhamn, the minimalist neighbourhood of Västra Hamnen, the Möllevången old town, and the city centre where the setting for the police station can be found.
For a relatively sparsely-populated and rural region Sweden’s Skåne has more than its fair share of fictional murder and most seems to take place in the small town of Ystad, where Henning Mankell’s detective Kurt Wallander lives.
Nestled on the coast, barely 40 minutes drive along the E65 through nothing but flat farmland, Ystad appears to be a charming little place, set among gentle hills and sandy beaches, however the grey skies do add something of a sinister layer.
A trundle through town finds Wallander’s house on Mariagatan, and passing Stortorget Square I also recognise its town hall from the TV adaptations. With a final pit stop for Wallander’s favourite Fridolf’s café for fika (coffee and cake) I declare this case closed.
Photo Alex Goy
ROADBOOK
CLASS: Nordic Noir
NAME: ACross the BRidge
ROUTE: COPENHAGEN to Ystad
COUNTRY: DENMARK / Sweden
Distance: 70 Miles
Cross The Bridge from Copenhagen to Malmö and murder feels never far away.