At the end of the 1600s Rømø became a centre for maritime activity, where many sailors would seek employment on the large German and Dutch whaling ships headed for the Arctic. The western European countries were a market for whale oil and blubber, and the whalers therefore made good business. The islanders from Rømø quickly gained a reputation as being good whalers, so they were much in demand. The business ventures of the past can still be glimpsed when visiting the homesteads of Rømø’s commanders. ‘Commander’ was the Dutch title for the captain of a whaling ship.

According to tradition, in 1741 Fanø won its freedom from the royal fiefdom under the manor of Ribe Ladegård. The next hundred years would bring a Golden Age of prosperity to the tiny island community. Whereas the men of Rømø continued to serve under foreign flags, the islanders of Fanø gradually built up their own fleet. From the 1770s onwards, they built more big ships, and shipping brought with it prosperity to Nordby and Sønderho, which is why the period is known as Fanø’s ‘age of silver’. In spite of war and general instability in the kingdom, in the period from approx. 1840s to 1900, Fanø was able to expand and develop shipping to cover the globe. The period until the peak of development in 1897 was therefore known as Fanø’s ‘age of gold’. A little more than 20 years later, the fleet on Fanø was completely gone, and a new maritime centre was growing up in Esbjerg.