Culture » Into Denmark

A lucky book find: H. C. Andersen – 1868

Oct 082011

October 8, 2011 Posted by Bart Westgeest Culture, Language No Responses »

The benefits of living in a certain place or country is, that one can come across items in shops that are hard to find elsewhere. A few days ago there was a sale in a second hand bookshop here in Denmark, with prices for all books in the entire shop being the same, but declining every day. I happened to walk into the shop on the last day of the sale, were the price for any book had gone down to 5 kroner – (0.90 USD/ 0,70 Euro).

As one can imagine the books left in the shop were not very interesting, but there was this little, old and damaged “book”, that drew my attention. It was a work by H. C. Andersen, “Dryaden” from 1868, which – I realized later -was a first print, published during the lifetime of the famous writer.

I must immediately admit though, that the little paper-book is in a bad state. As can be seen on the pictures it is for example being hold together with some tape. Therefore its economical value is very close to nothing. But buying a first print of H.C. Andersen, for such a low price, feels good anyhow.

It has some nice details like the last sentence on the last page: “En fransk og engelsk Oversættelse ere under Arbeide.” Which means that at the time it was printed the publisher was working on a French and English translation. That seems like a good idea, to translate an H. C. Andersens work.

———————–

The famous fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen was born in Denmark in 1805, and died in 1875, and is in the English speaking world known for stories such as “The Little Match Girl“, “The Ugly Duckling“, “The Little Mermaid“, “The Emperor’s New Clothes“, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier“, and “The Princess and the Pea“. (Wikipedia)

The Abbey Church in Horsens.

Aug 012011

August 1, 2011 Posted by Bart Westgeest Culture, History, Religion No Responses »

The Abbey Church, Horsens.

As a foreigner I find the Lutheran churches in Denmark rather strict and slightly less aw-inspiring than most churches in for example middle Europe. With the reformation in 1536, most statues and decorations disappeared form the Danish churches and the main focus went from the altar to the pulpit.

The Abbey Church in the town of Horsens is therefore a surprise, as it is very rich in its art and decorations. Situated in the middle of the town, at the end of the main shopping street, it is a little oasis of quietness with its small park and relatively big building. Originally build between 1261 and 1275 as part of a – now disappeared – monastery, it went through various extensions and a last restoration program around 1890.

This history is also visible in the interior, where objects of different moments in time fill the space with many interesting details. One of the first things one notices are the painted wooden benches, or “pews” as they are called, which date from a restoration in 1738. They are all hand painted with emblem-paintings on the doors and ends. Perhaps not the best paintings in the history of art, but very nice and original 18th century decorations nevertheless. The floor of the church is covered with tiles that, although being from the last restoration in 1890, give a historical feel and fit very well into the interior.

Looking to the far end of the church one sees almost an abundance of richly decorated items, such as the pulpit from 1670 with many figures and reliefs, and the Baroque Choir latticework with large figures of cherubs and saints. On the left of the choir is a larger Baroque Chapel with coffins and an epitaph, and on the right is the so called Russian chapel, where 4 members of the Russian royalty are buried. They were expelled to Horsens in the 18th century, as they where considered a possible threat to the Russian throne.

Altarpiece Aabey Church Horsens - CC from Wikipedia user:Nico-dk / Nils Jepsen

At the end of the church is what I consider the main piece of all, the altarpiece from around 1500, a possible Dutch work. It is filled with numerous figures, including 7 horses in its main frame, depicting the Crucifixion and 12 apostles and 4 saints.

At the entrance of the church one can buy a brochure (5 Dkr.) in English with information about all the main objects in the church, and containing an article about the Russian Court in Horsens and “A little about Vitus Bering.”

Danish News in English

Sep 192010

September 19, 2010 Posted by Bart Westgeest Culture, Finance, Politics No Responses »

There are a few major channels for reading Danish news in English.

The only genuine English-language newspaper is:

The Copenhagen Post

Two major Danish newspapers also have news in English:

Politiken.dk – newsinenglish

Jyllands Posten – uknews

The Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), who has a major website on the Danish internet, has a news page too:

DR.dk - Andre_sprog/english

And for those interested in business, there is the financial orientated newspaper:

Børsen – news in english.

Cities of Denmark: Skanderborg

Jul 212009

July 21, 2009 Posted by Daniela Lot Culture, Entertainment, History, Tourism 2 Responses »

Situated 30 km south-west of Århus, Skanderborg, with its 13.864 inhabitants*, is a city with nice spots for a cultural and active holiday.

Skanderup Church

Near the train station the visitor can find one of Denmark´s oldest churches. Build of chalkstone around the year 1050, Skanderup Church has a horseshoe shaped apse,

Apse, Skanderup Church

which has an unique architecture in Danish church building because of its chamfered edges and round arch friezes, as shown in the picture.

The church remained as the only building on a slope until the beginning of the 20th century, when the city of Skanderborg grew to its direction. In the 1960ies, its restoration uncovered some Romanesque wall paintings from de 13th century – to read more about medieval churches in Denmark and Romanesque and Gothic wall paintings, click here.

Going down the slope, in the direction of the old part of the town, the visitor finds Skanderborg Museum, which is located in a house from 1888 that once was the local judge’s residence. Some parts of the house date back to the old bailiff’s house from 1750.

The permanent exhibition is small, but rich. It shows the history of the town and the region, including finds from the Early Stone Age, with its highly specialised hunter population; the weapons and spoils of war of the Roman Iron Age; the fortification and neighbouring monasteries from the Middle Ages; and the history of Skanderborg Castle, erected during the Renaissance and, unfortunately, sold in an auction and demolished in 1767 when the need for a Skanderborg army unit was not necessary anymore.

Skanderborg Castle Chapel, entrance

The castle remains can be found at the end of the shopping street, a few hundred meters past the Skanderborg Museum. On the castle mound, the only building remaining is its Chapel, which has gone through several restorations, but preserves, for example, the wooden benches from the 16th century.

Located at the margin of Skanderborg Lake, the region is also attractive for its open-air activities, which include canoeing, golf, Denmark’s highest climbing point, cycling and boat tours. For more information, click here.

Skanderborg Lake

* January 2008, Statistics Denmark.

Store Bededag – a Danish holiday

May 082009

May 8, 2009 Posted by Bart Westgeest Culture, Religion, Tradition No Responses »

Today, the 8th. of May 2009, is a national holiday in Denmark. It is called Stor Bededag, which literally can be translated into “Great Prayer Day”.

Hans Bagger_source Wikipedia

It was Bishop Hans Bagger who decided in 1686 to declare the fourth Friday after Easter a national Prayer Day. This was to be a day where the whole country had to pray, fast and go to church. It was created to gather many minor “prayer days” into one general national day so that there would be more time for people to work. The celebration of the day survived a major clean-up of holidays in 1770 by the influential doctor and prime-minister J.F. von Struensee who abolished about half of the number of holidays in the country.

Since the tradition of fasting and other religious practices are not widespread in Denmark anymore, the day is for most people not too much more than another day off in Spring. But the consuming of Varme Hvede (white wheat), a light type of bread that is to be eaten warm, is still popular. The tradition originates from the time when the bakers made large quantities of this type of bread the day before the Stor Bededag, so that they could have a day off from work and participate in the tradition.

Here is a link (in Danish) to the recipe of Varme Hvede.

Easter in Denmark

Apr 082009

April 8, 2009 Posted by Daniela Lot Culture, Religion, Tradition No Responses »

2009_04_07_dl Easter is one of the longest holidays in Denmark. As in the Catholic countries, the Lutheran Church (Folkekirke – “people´s church” – the Danish state-church) celebrates the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ. Because it follows the cycle of the moon, the celebration of Easter does not have a fixed date and it can fall between the second half of March and the first half of April.

Palm Sunday (Palmesøndag) – it is the Sunday before Easter, and it celebrates the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and its inhabitants laid down small branches of trees in front of him. In churches, it is celebrated with the distribution of palm trees or native small branches.

Maundy Thursday (Skærtorsdag) – it is the Thursday before Easter, and it marks the day when Jesus had his last meal with his disciples. The bread and wine they ate and drank became symbols for Jesus´ body and blood, and they are remembered at the communion during a mass.

Good Friday (Langfredag) – it is the Friday before Easter, and it honours the day when Jesus was crucified at Golgatha (a place outside Jerusalem, used by the Romans to execute insurrectionists and criminals).

Easter (Påskedag) – it is the third day after Jesus´ death and it marks his resurrection, when he appeared again. Families gather in a festive lunch, where they traditionally eat fish, lamb, other kinds of meat and cheese. The meal is accompanied with special beers and snaps (an alcoholic drink). Tables are decorated with daffodils (påskelilje), colored eggs (påskeæg) and lamb dolls (påskelam).
Easter Monday (Anden Påskedag) – this day does not mean anything in itself. It is just an extention of the big celebration of Easter.

Gækkebrev – it is a Danish tradition. Around Valentine´s Day people start sending teasing letters without signing them. Instead, the letter holds a number of dots that corresponds with the number of letters of the sender´s name. If the one receiving the letter guesses who has sent it, he or she will get an Easter chocolate egg. But if the receiver does not guess who has sent it, then he or she gives an Easter egg to the sender.

In Denmark, shops are closed on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter and Easter Monday. Some supermarkets might be open on Easter though. Schools are closed during the whole holiday.

A heathen tradition

Before the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, Easter was celebrated to announce spring.

Easter happens near the beginning of Spring in the northern countries, a time when the light and the leaves start to return after the long, dark, and cold months of winter. The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with a festival where they commemorated their goddess of spring through their symbols of fertility: rabbits and eggs.

The word Easter comes from Ôstarâ (old German) or Ēostre (old English) or Esther (English), which is the name of the Germanic goddess that personified the dawn, and was associated with spring and fertility. In some Anglo-Saxon and German dialects, the month of April was called after the goddess, because that was when the spring festivities took place. When Anglo-Saxons were converted into Christianity, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ replaced the pagan festival, but kept its heathen symbols.

To read more about heathen traditions, check:

Ship models in Danish churches

Christmas in Denmark

Valentine´s Day in Denmark

Painters of Skagen: Anna and Michael Ancher

Mar 212009

March 21, 2009 Posted by Daniela Lot Culture No Responses »

The Danish painters who worked in Skagen at the end of the 19^th century and beginning of 20^th century formed an important and unique group. They worked with local motives and painted on the spot, creating a recognizable and, for the time, modern way of painting. Two of the most prominent of them are Anna and Michael Ancher.

Anna and Michael met each other in 1874 in the village of Skagen, where Michael was one of the first of the group that gathered and became known as “the Skagen painters”. Anna, who was born in the region, was also part of the group. Their marriage was in 1880.

Artists of Skagen. From left to right: Martha Johansen, painter Viggo Johansen, Norwegian painter Christian Krohg, P.S. Krøyer, Degn Brøndum (Anna Ancher's brother), Michael Ancher, Swedish painter Oscar Björck, Danish painter Thorvald Niss, teacher Helene Christensen, Danish painter Anna Ancher and Helga Ancher.

P.S. Krøyer, Hip Hip Hurra. In the painting you can see some of the artists of Skagen. From left to right: Martha Johansen, Viggo Johansen, Christian Krohg, P.S. Krøyer, Degn Brøndum (Anna Ancher's brother), Michael Ancher, Oscar Björck, Thorvald Niss, Helene Christensen, Anna Ancher and Helga Ancher (Anna and Michael´s daughter).

Michael Ancher

Michael Ancher was born on Bornholm, the easternmost island of Denmark, in 1847, and died in Skagen, the northernmost area of Denmark, in 1927, where he lived since 1874.

Michael Ancher. Vil han klare pynten. 1879.

Michael has painted many scenes with Skagen’s fishermen. In 1879 he became famous with the painting “Will he round the point” (Vil han klare pynten). In this painting we can see some fishermen looking at the sea, wondering whether another fisherman would be able to arrive safely at the harbor.

Other of his famous paintings are, for example, “The lifeboat is carried through the dunes” (Redningsbåden føres gennem klitterne) (1883), “The crew is saved” (Mandskabet reddet) (1894) and “The drowned man” (Den druknede) (1896).

He has studied at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi), where he was taught the classical way of painting, which was quite different from the way he and his colleagues painted in Skagen.

Michael and his colleagues exposed their paintings on the walls of Hotel Brøndum, and in 1946 both the Hotel and the paintings became a museum. In 1967 the house where Michael and Anna Ancher lived with their daughter Helga (who preserved the house as it was after Anna died) also became a part of the museum.

Anna Ancher (1859-1935)

Anna Ancher. Sunshine in the blue room. 1891

Anna Ancher’s father was Erik Brøndum, the owner of the Hotel where “the painters of Skagen” gathered and lived while they were in the city.

She is one of the best known female painters in Denmark. Anna studied three years with Vilhelm Kyhn, who kept a private painting school for women in Copenhagen. She also studied at the atelier of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes together with Marie Triepcke, who later married Peder Krøyer (one of the most talented painters of Skagen).

Unlike Marie Triepcke, Anna Ancher continued painting after she got married. Anna painted interiors and everyday situations of the locals in Skagen, such as fishermen, children and women.

Some of her paintings are “Girl in the kitchen” (Pigen i køkkenet) (1883) and “Sunshine in the blue room” (Solskin i den blå stue) (1891).

Valentine’s Day in Denmark

Feb 142009

February 14, 2009 Posted by Daniela Lot Culture, Tradition 1 Response »

2009_02_13_dl-2
Denmark has slowly been adopting the tradition of celebrating Valentine’s Day. One of the customs in the country is sending by post or giving personally the white flowers called ‘Snowdrops’ to friends and/or lovers, together with a card.

As in other countries, Valentine’s Day has become more and more a mass-production holiday since the end of the 19th century, and it is associated to the exchange of mutual love notes and gifts, that are usually flowers, chocolate or jewelry. It is a day when lovers can have a romantic dinner, but this day is also celebrated between friends. The symbols associated to this day are hearts, Cupid and doves.

Saint Valentine and his association to romantic love

There were numerous Christian martyrs named Valentine and it is very hard to find out which of them is related to the origin of Valentine’s Day as we know it today. One of them, honored on February 14th, is Valentine of Rome. He was caught marrying Christian couples under the reign of Claudius II (3rd century), during the Roman Empire. At that time, the Emperor had sacrosanct powers over the government and the senate, being also the “greatest pontifi”, or the highest priest. Helping Christians during the Roman Empire was considered a crime and the priest Valentine of Rome was arrested, imprisoned and condemned to death. Before his execution, he himself wrote a “valentine” note to a young girl identified as his beloved, where he signed “from your Valentine”.

It is said that the association between saint Valentine and romantic love dates back from the Middle Ages in Europe, when the tradition of courtly love, which was a practice between members of the nobility to express love and admiration, was flourishing.

There is another explanation that says that Valentine’s Day is celebrated on the 14th of February in an attempt to supersede the heathen holiday of Lupercalia, a Roman pastoral festival that took place between February 13th to February 15th to purify the city and prevent evil spirits.

To read more about heathen traditions, check:

Christmas in Denmark

Ship models in Danish churches

Easter in Denmark

Trains in Denmark: Odderbanen

Feb 082009

February 8, 2009 Posted by Daniela Lot Culture, Transportation No Responses »

There are good bus and train connections in Denmark. Taking care of the train system are companies like DSB, Arriva, Lemvigbanen and Odderbanen. DSB is the main railway company, and the letters stand for Danske Statsbaner, in English “Danish State Railways”.

Among those trains, Odderbanen calls special attention for its remarkable red color and shape. It is the train that links the appr. 20 kilometers between Odder and Århus, one of the most important cities in the mainland part of Denmark, Jutland, and it is known as Oddergrissen, “the Odder pig”.

The newspaper Stiftstidende, one of the two major newspapers in Århus, has published in 2009 three articles where it tried to explain the origin of the nickname Oddergrissen. The answers came from the readers, including some former railway workers.

It seems that the association between pigs and trains is something that goes beyond the Odder railway company. Even though some explanations point to the time when this track was still very young, in the 1880ies, when it was used to transport groups of living pigs through the country, others remark that many tracks in Denmark were called grissen, “the pig”. So the nickname would refer to the old steam trains that, when crossing a road, sounded as if one was pulling a pig by the tail.

In the beginning of the 1960ies, the word grissepasser, that means “he, who takes care of pigs”, was used to describe the person that took care of the small locomotives used to shunt trains. This association can help to explain the nickname Oddergrissen, as the steam locomotives of the Odder company were not, at that time, bigger than one of those small locomotives of the Danish national rail company DSB.

The readers also pointed to the fact that the train might have this name because of its particular color, red, which distinguishes this company from the others and could remind of the pink of a pig.

One of these, or maybe all of them, can be the right explanation for the charming, old-fashioned train to be called “The Odder Pig”. But they all call attention to one aspect of Denmark: the most consumed meat is pig. On many places in the country one can see, and smell, big low barns with pigs.

To read the articles in Danish:

Derfor hedder det Oddergrisen

Ikke kun grise i Oddergrisen

DSB-straf: Et år på grisen