03

In 1493, Columbus first discovered the largest of the three islands, and named it “Santa Cruz”. 70 km away, he came across two more islands and named the group “Las Vírgenes” (the “Virgin Islands”) on account of their beauty.

Later, numerous major nations attempted to settle on St. Croix – after the English, Dutch, Spanish, French and Maltese, St. Croix was bought by Denmark in 1733.
In 1672, the Dannesbrog had already been hoisted on St. Thomas – only later were settlements also established on St. John.

From about the end of the 17th century, the “Vestindisk-Guineiske Kompagni” in Copenhagen sent more and more settlers, who first established sugar cane plantations on St. Thomas and later on all three islands. Trade in sugar and rum flourished. There were about 200 sugar cane mills just on St. Croix alone. From 1755, many Flensburg merchant families maintained trading posts on the islands.

After the introduction of sugar beet, cane sugar became less important and trade with the islands declined. For Flensburg, it ended abruptly in 1864. After the war between Denmark and Germany, Flensburg and North Schleswig no longer formed part of Denmark, but belonged to Prussia.

In 1917, Denmark sold the islands, which were strategically important islands for America, for 25 million dollars. From then on, they were known as the “U.S. Virgin Islands”. To this day, they are a free trade zone and once again an important destination for ships – namely cruise liners …

Text in the big illustration:
Christiansted on St. Croix: The West Indies sailing ships anchored there – protected by Fort Christiansværn.