Portal:Denmark/Selected article/2007 archive

The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 was the largest fire in the history of Copenhagen, Denmark. It began on the evening of October 20, 1728, and continued to burn until the morning of October 23. It destroyed approximately 28% of the city (measured by counting the number of destroyed lots from the cadastre), left 20% of the population homeless, and the reconstruction lasted until 1737. No less than 47% of the section of the city, which dates back to the Middle Ages, was completely lost, and along with the Copenhagen Fire of 1795, it is the main reason that few traces of medieval Copenhagen can be found in the modern city.

While the human and property losses were staggering, the cultural loss is still felt today. The University of Copenhagen library was without a doubt the greatest and the most frequently mentioned of such. 35,000 texts and a large archive of historical documents disappeared in the flames. Original works from the historians Hans Svaning, Anders Sørensen Vedel, Niels Krag, and Arild Huitfeldt and the scientists Ole Worm, Ole Rømer, Tycho Brahe and the brothers Hans and Caspar Bartholin were lost. Atlas Danicus by Hansen Resens and the archive of Zealand Diocese went up in flames as well. The archive of the diocese had been moved to the university library the very same day the fire started.

Several other book collections were lost as well. Professor Mathias Anchersen made the mistake of bringing his possessions to safety in Trinitatis Church. Árni Magnússon lost all his books, notes and records, but did manage to rescue his valuable collection of handwritten Icelandic manuscripts. At Borchs Kollegium 3,150 volumes burned along with its Museum Rarirorum containing collections of zoological and botanical oddities. The burned out observatory in Rundetårn had contained instruments and records by Tycho Brahe and Ole Rømer. The professors Horrebow, Steenbuch and the two Bartholins lost practically everything. And on top of all that a large part of the city archive of records burnt along with city hall.

The Haraldskær Woman is a well-preserved Iron Age bog body naturally preserved in a bog in Jutland, Denmark. The body was discovered in 1835 by labourers excavating peat on the Haraldskær Estate. Disputes regarding the age and identity of this mysterious well preserved body were settled in 1977, when radiocarbon dating determined conclusively that her death occurred around 500 BC. This archaeological find was one of the earliest bog bodies discovered, the other two known being Tollund Man from Denmark and Lindow Man from the UK.

The body of the Haraldskær Woman is remarkably preserved due to the anaerobic conditions and tannins of the peat bog in which she was found. Not only was the intact skeleton found, but also the skin and internal organs. Her body lies in state in an ornate glass-covered coffin, allowing viewing of the full frontal body, inside the Church of Saint Nicolas in central Vejle, Denmark.

After discovery of the body, early theories of her identity centered around the persona of the Norwegian Queen Gunhild, who lived around 1000 AD. Most of the bog bodies recovered indicate the victim died from a violent murder or ritualistic sacrifice. These theories are consistent with the body being hurled into a bog as opposed to burial in dry earth.

The Jómsvíkinga saga tells that Queen Gunhild was murdered and then drowned in a bog, her death having been ordered by the Danish Harald Bluetooth. Based upon the belief of her royal personage, King Frederick VI of Denmark commanded an elaborate sarcophagus be carved to hold her body. This royal treatment of Haraldskær Woman’s remains explains the excellent state of conservation of the corpse as of 2006.

A young 19th century archaeologist named J.J.A. Worsaae held the opposing theory, that Haraldskær Woman derived from the Iron Age. Radiocarbon testing in the year 1977 revealed Haraldskær woman died about 500 BC, and thus could not possibly be Queen Gunhild. Even though she is not now connected to any royal lineage, her body still lies in state in a display of high honour in the north nave of Saint Nicolas Church.

The Great Belt Fixed Link (Danish: Storebæltsforbindelsen) is the fixed link between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen across the Great Belt. It consists of a road suspension bridge and railway tunnel between Zealand and the islet Sprogø, as well as a box girder bridge between Sprogø and Funen. The "Great Belt Bridge" (Danish: Storebæltsbroen) commonly refers to the suspension bridge, although it may also be used to mean the girder bridge or the link in its entirety. The suspension bridge, known as the Eastern Bridge, has the world's second longest free span (1.6 km).

The link replaces the ferries which had been the primary means of crossing Great Belt for more than 100 years. After decades of speculation and debate, the decision to construct the link was made in 1986; while it was originally intended to complete the railway link three years before opening the road connection, the link was opened to rail traffic in 1997 and road traffic in 1998. At an estimated cost of DKK 21.4 billion (1988 prices), the link is the largest construction project in Danish history.

Green: Danelaw

The Danelaw (from the Old English Dena lagu) is an 11th century name for an area of northern and eastern England under the administrative control of the Vikings (or Danes, or Norsemen) from the late 9th century. The term is also used to describe the set of legal terms and definitions established between Alfred the Great and the Viking Guthrum which were set down following Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington in 878. Later, around 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was created which established the boundaries of their kingdoms and made some provision for relations between the English and the Danes.

The area occupied by the Danelaw was roughly the area to the north of a line drawn between London and Chester.

Five fortified towns became particularly important in the Danelaw: Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford and Derby, broadly covering the area now called the East Midlands. These strongholds became known as the "Five Boroughs". Borough derives from the Old English word burg, meaning a fortified and walled enclosure containing several households — anything from a large stockade to a fortified town. The meaning has since developed further.

Green: Danelaw

The Danelaw (from the Old English Dena lagu) is an 11th century name for an area of northern and eastern England under the administrative control of the Vikings (or Danes, or Norsemen) from the late 9th century. The term is also used to describe the set of legal terms and definitions established between Alfred the Great and the Viking Guthrum which were set down following Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington in 878. Later, around 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was created which established the boundaries of their kingdoms and made some provision for relations between the English and the Danes.

The area occupied by the Danelaw was roughly the area to the north of a line drawn between London and Chester.

Five fortified towns became particularly important in the Danelaw: Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford and Derby, broadly covering the area now called the East Midlands. These strongholds became known as the "Five Boroughs". Borough derives from the Old English word burg, meaning a fortified and walled enclosure containing several households — anything from a large stockade to a fortified town. The meaning has since developed further.

Christiansborg Palace on Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen is the home of Denmark's three supreme powers: the executive power, the legislative power, and the judicial power. Christiansborg Palace is the only building in the world which is the home of all a nation's three supreme powers. Christiansborg Palace is owned by the Danish state, and is run by the Palaces and Properties Agency.

The palace today bears witness to three eras of Danish architecture, as the result of two serious fires. The first fire occurred in 1794 and the second in 1884. The main part of the current palace, built in 1928, is in the historicist Neo-baroque style. The chapel dates to the 1800s and is in a neoclassical style. The showgrounds date were built in the eighteenth century in a baroque style.

Frederick I of Denmark

The Count's Feud (Danish: Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a civil war that raged in Denmark in 1534–1536 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark.

The Count's Feud takes its name from the Protestant Count Christopher of Oldenburg, who supported the Catholic King Christian II, deposed in 1523 and at that time being held in prison.

After Frederick I's death in 1533, the Jutland nobility proclaimed his son, then Duke Christian of Gottorp, as King under the name Christian III. Meanwhile, Count Christoffer organized an uprising against the new king, demanding that Christian II be set free. Supported by Lübeck and troops from Oldenburg and Mecklenburg, parts of the Zealand and Scania nobilities rose up, together with cities such as Copenhagen and Malmö. The violence itself began in 1534, when a privateer captain who had earlier been in Christian II's service, Klemen Andersen, called Skipper Clement, at Count Christoffer's request instigated the peasants of Vendsyssel and North Jutland to rise up against the nobles. The headquarters for the revolt came to be in Aalborg. A large number of plantations were burned down in northern and western Jutland.

A Chrysler Building replica made entirely of Lego bricks, on display at the Times Square location of Toys "R" Us in New York City.

Lego is a line of toys manufactured by Lego Group, a privately-held company based in Denmark. Its flagship product, also commonly referred to as Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures (also called minifigs or "Lego People"), and other pieces which can be assembled and connected in myriad combinations. Many interlocking accessories, including cars, planes, trains, buildings, castles, sculptures, ships, spaceships, and even working robots are available for purchase. Lego bricks are noted for their precision and quality of manufacture, resulting in an expensive yet uniformly high-quality product.

The Lego Group had humble beginnings in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a poor carpenter from Billund, Denmark. Christiansen started creating wooden toys in 1932, however in 1947, he and his son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen obtained samples of interlocking plastic bricks produced by the company Kiddicraft. These "Kiddicraft Self-Locking Building Bricks" were designed and patented in the UK by Hilary Harry Fisher Page, a child psychologist. A few years later, in 1949, Lego began producing similar bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks." The first Lego bricks, manufactured from cellulose acetate, were developed in the spirit of traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked upon one another; however, these plastic bricks could be "locked" together. They had several round "studs" on top, and a hollow rectangular bottom. The blocks snapped together, but not so tightly that they could not be pulled apart.

The ruins of Hammershus Castle on Bornholm.

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. It also refers to the Bornholm Regional Municipality, a municipality (Danish, kommune) covering the entire island.

Bornholm is located to the east of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, pottery using locally worked clay, clockmaking and dairy farming. Tourism is important during the summer.

The small islands Ertholmene are located 18 km to the north-east of Bornholm.

Strategically located in the Baltic Bornholm has been a bone of contention usually ruled by Denmark, but also by Lübeck and Sweden. The castle ruin Hammershus on the northwestern tip of the island gives testimony to its importance.

The ruins of Hammershus Castle on Bornholm.

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. It also refers to the Bornholm Regional Municipality, a municipality (Danish, kommune) covering the entire island.

Bornholm is located to the east of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, pottery using locally worked clay, clockmaking and dairy farming. Tourism is important during the summer.

The small islands Ertholmene are located 18 km to the north-east of Bornholm.

Strategically located in the Baltic Bornholm has been a bone of contention usually ruled by Denmark, but also by Lübeck and Sweden. The castle ruin Hammershus on the northwestern tip of the island gives testimony to its importance.

Approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages, early 10th century.

The Danish language (Danish: dansk) belongs to the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages), a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by around 5.5 million people mainly in Denmark including some 50,000 people in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, where it holds the status of minority language. Danish also holds official status and is a mandatory subject in school in the former Danish colonies of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, that now enjoy limited autonomy. In Iceland, which was a part of Denmark until 1944, Danish is still the second foreign language taught in schools (although a few learn Swedish or Norwegian instead).

The language started diverging from the common ancestor language Old Norse sometime during the 13th century and became more distinct from the other emerging Scandinavian national languages with the first bible translation in 1550, establishing an orthography differing from that of Swedish, though written Danish is usually far easier for Swedes to understand than the spoken language. Modern spoken Danish is characterized by a very strong tendency of reduction of many sounds making it particularly difficult for foreigners to understand and properly master, not just by reputation but by sheer phonetic reality.

Approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages, early 10th century.

The Danish language (Danish: dansk) belongs to the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages), a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by around 5.5 million people mainly in Denmark including some 50,000 people in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, where it holds the status of minority language. Danish also holds official status and is a mandatory subject in school in the former Danish colonies of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, that now enjoy limited autonomy. In Iceland, which was a part of Denmark until 1944, Danish is still the second foreign language taught in schools (although a few learn Swedish or Norwegian instead).

The language started diverging from the common ancestor language Old Norse sometime during the 13th century and became more distinct from the other emerging Scandinavian national languages with the first bible translation in 1550, establishing an orthography differing from that of Swedish, though written Danish is usually far easier for Swedes to understand than the spoken language. Modern spoken Danish is characterized by a very strong tendency of reduction of many sounds making it particularly difficult for foreigners to understand and properly master, not just by reputation but by sheer phonetic reality.

The Battle of Heligoland (or Helgoland) was fought on 9 May 1864 during the Second War of Schleswig between the navy of Denmark and the allied navies of Austria and Prussia south of the then-British North Sea island of Heligoland. When the Danish forces had caused the flagship of the Austrian commander, Freiherr von Tegetthoff, to burst into flames, he withdrew his squadron to neutral waters around Heligoland. It was the last significant naval battle fought by squadrons of wooden ships and also the last one involving Denmark.

Although the battle ended with a tactical victory for Denmark, it had no impact on the outcome of the war. A general armistice came into effect on 12 May, and Denmark had lost the war.

Following the outbreak of war on 1 February 1864, Denmark declared a naval blockade against all ports in Schleswig-Holstein on 26 February and extended it to all Prussian ports on 8 March. The blockade was initially enforced by the steam-powered 42-gun screw frigate Niels Juel and shortly thereafter also by the screw corvette Dagmar.

Having only a very small navy of her own, Prussia requested Austrian assistance, and in early March two screw frigates, Schwarzenberg (51 guns) and Radetzky (37 guns), and the gunboat Seehund left the Mediterranean under the command of Captain von Tegetthoff.

To counter this threat, Denmark formed a North Sea Squadron under Captain Edouard Suenson, comprising Niels Juel, Dagmar and the 16-gun screw corvette Hejmdal. Its orders were to protect Danish merchant shipping, capture German ships, and confront enemy warships in the North Sea. Dagmar was soon replaced by the 44-gun screw frigate Jylland.

The Battle of Heligoland (or Helgoland) was fought on 9 May 1864 during the Second War of Schleswig between the navy of Denmark and the allied navies of Austria and Prussia south of the then-British North Sea island of Heligoland. When the Danish forces had caused the flagship of the Austrian commander, Freiherr von Tegetthoff, to burst into flames, he withdrew his squadron to neutral waters around Heligoland. It was the last significant naval battle fought by squadrons of wooden ships and also the last one involving Denmark.

Although the battle ended with a tactical victory for Denmark, it had no impact on the outcome of the war. A general armistice came into effect on 12 May, and Denmark had lost the war.

Following the outbreak of war on 1 February 1864, Denmark declared a naval blockade against all ports in Schleswig-Holstein on 26 February and extended it to all Prussian ports on 8 March. The blockade was initially enforced by the steam-powered 42-gun screw frigate Niels Juel and shortly thereafter also by the screw corvette Dagmar.

Having only a very small navy of her own, Prussia requested Austrian assistance, and in early March two screw frigates, Schwarzenberg (51 guns) and Radetzky (37 guns), and the gunboat Seehund left the Mediterranean under the command of Captain von Tegetthoff.

To counter this threat, Denmark formed a North Sea Squadron under Captain Edouard Suenson, comprising Niels Juel, Dagmar and the 16-gun screw corvette Hejmdal. Its orders were to protect Danish merchant shipping, capture German ships, and confront enemy warships in the North Sea. Dagmar was soon replaced by the 44-gun screw frigate Jylland.

The Battle of Heligoland (or Helgoland) was fought on 9 May 1864 during the Second War of Schleswig between the navy of Denmark and the allied navies of Austria and Prussia south of the then-British North Sea island of Heligoland. When the Danish forces had caused the flagship of the Austrian commander, Freiherr von Tegetthoff, to burst into flames, he withdrew his squadron to neutral waters around Heligoland. It was the last significant naval battle fought by squadrons of wooden ships and also the last one involving Denmark.

Although the battle ended with a tactical victory for Denmark, it had no impact on the outcome of the war. A general armistice came into effect on 12 May, and Denmark had lost the war.

Following the outbreak of war on 1 February 1864, Denmark declared a naval blockade against all ports in Schleswig-Holstein on 26 February and extended it to all Prussian ports on 8 March. The blockade was initially enforced by the steam-powered 42-gun screw frigate Niels Juel and shortly thereafter also by the screw corvette Dagmar.

Having only a very small navy of her own, Prussia requested Austrian assistance, and in early March two screw frigates, Schwarzenberg (51 guns) and Radetzky (37 guns), and the gunboat Seehund left the Mediterranean under the command of Captain von Tegetthoff.

To counter this threat, Denmark formed a North Sea Squadron under Captain Edouard Suenson, comprising Niels Juel, Dagmar and the 16-gun screw corvette Hejmdal. Its orders were to protect Danish merchant shipping, capture German ships, and confront enemy warships in the North Sea. Dagmar was soon replaced by the 44-gun screw frigate Jylland.