Portal:Denmark

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Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries. Unified in the mid 10th century, it is also the oldest. Located north of its only land neighbour, Germany, south-west of Sweden, and south of Norway, it is located in northern Europe. From a cultural point of view, Denmark belongs to the family of Scandinavian countries although it is not located on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The national capital is Copenhagen.

Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland, which borders Schleswig-Holstein; many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Vendsyssel-Thy, Lolland, and Bornholm; and hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago. Denmark has historically controlled the approach to the Baltic Sea, and those waters are also known as the Danish Straits.

Denmark has been a constitutional monarchy since 1849 and is a parliamentary democracy. It became a member of the European Economic Community (now the European Union) in 1973. The Kingdom of Denmark also encompasses two off-shore territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which enjoy wide-ranging home rule. The Danish monarchy is the oldest existing monarchy in Europe, and the national flag is the oldest state flag in continuous use.

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Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872) was a Danish teacher, writer, poet, philosopher, historian, minister, and even politician. He is one of the most influential people in Danish history, his philosophy giving rise to a new form of non-aggressive nationalism in Denmark in the last half of the 19th century. He was married three times, the last time in his seventy-sixth year.

Grundtvig and his followers, Grundtvigians, are credited with being very influential in the formulation of modern Danish national consciousness. Their attitude is well illustrated in the very different reaction of Danes to their national defeat in 1864 against Prussia versus the national trauma of German defeat in World War I.

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Windmill in Sønderho on Fanø. This Dutch type mill was built in 1895 to replace an older mill destroyed by fire in 1894.

Photo credit: Chris Nyborg.

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Did you know

... that, between the ages of six and ten, Dorthe Emilie Røssell helped smuggle weapons and propaganda for the Danish resistance movement in her doll's pram?
... that Carl Jorgensen and Gust Zarnas were the first NFL players from Denmark and Greece?
... that despite being marketed as Tages' international breakthrough, Studio was only issued in Sweden and Denmark upon original release?
... that owner Matthew Benham influenced both Brentford FC in the UK and FC Midtjylland in Denmark to use mathematical modelling to recruit undervalued football players?
... that Charles Winckler, a Danish national shot put and discus champion, won his only Olympic medal in a tug-of-war tournament?
... that when Jørgen Læssøe became Professor Extraordinaire of Assyriology at the University of Copenhagen in 1957, he was the only active professional Assyriologist in Denmark?
... that in 1903, Georg Forchhammer invented a system to help his deaf students see the sounds of spoken Danish?
... that the spoil from digging the Copenhagen Tunnel was used to make its bricks, a method new to London at the time?

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Published in two volumes in 1843, Either/Or (original Danish title: Enten-Eller) is an influential book written by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, exploring the aesthetic and ethical "phases" or "stages" of existence.

Either/Or portrays two life views, one consciously hedonistic, the other based on ethical duty and responsibility. Each life view is written and represented by a fictional pseudonymous author, the prose of the work depending on the life view being discussed. For example, the aesthetic life view is written in short essay form, with poetic imagery and allusions, discussing aesthetic topics such as music, seduction, drama, and beauty. The ethical life view is written as two long letters, with a more argumentative and restrained prose, discussing moral responsibility, critical reflection, and marriage. The views of the book are not neatly summarized, but are expressed as lived experiences embodied by the pseudonymous authors. The book's central concern is the primal question asked by Aristotle, "How should we live?"

Kierkegaard left Copenhagen in October 1841 to spend the winter in Berlin. Although the main purpose of this visit was to attend lectures by German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, the lectures turned out to be a disappointment for Kierkegaard and many others. During his stay, Kierkegaard worked on the manuscript for Either/Or and returned to Copenhagen in 1842 with draft of the manuscript, which was completed near the end of 1842 and published in February 1843.

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Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age.

Roskilde train station is a major stop between Copenhagen and the regions of Denmark located to its west. With a population of 46,701 (1 January 2010), the city is an important economic center for the region.

Roskilde has a pedestrian street running down the center of the city, with many shops, restaurants, and cafés. Several tourist attractions draw visitors from around Denmark and the world. The local university has an education program that invites international students to attend for a year.

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