This week we are studying Denmark. A country I would love to visit one day, but know very little about. The word ‘Denmark’ dates back to the Viking age and is carved on the famous Jelling Stone from around 900 AD. Today though Denmark is very different from its historical past. Between the 13th and 17th centuries, Denmark was a superpower whose influence was as powerful as that of the largest European countries. Today, the current size and influence of Denmark is the result of 400 years of forced relinquishments of land, surrenders and lost battles. For a small country though, Denmark still shines in many different areas including design, architecture, farming, green technology and pharmaceuticals.
Happy Country
Did you know that Denmark
has once again been ranked as the happiest nation in the world, this
time by the 2013 World Happiness Report? This survey
normally asks people to evaluate their lives. Research show what makes the Danes
so happy is that they are very trusting of other people they don’t know. Trust
helps make people happy. Also just as importantly, Danes feel empowered to be
able to change something in their life if they don’t like it. I love that. Another aspect of Danish happiness is their outlook on society. Professor Erik Sorenson stated, “The great thing about
Danish society is that it doesn’t judge other people’s lives. It allows them to
choose the kind of life they want to live, which is sometimes not always
possible in other countries, so this helps add to the overall satisfaction of people
living here,” he adds. It also seems the
Danes attitude to money is refreshingly different from other countries. “Money is
not as important in the social life here, as for example Britain and America.
We probably spend our money differently here. We don’t buy big houses or big
cars, we like to spend our money on socializing with others,” concludes the
Professor. This is something I completely agree with!
Cultural
traditions
Denmark celebrates many traditions and festivals throughout the year. Many Danish traditions
are based around the Christian calendar, with Christmas, Easter and St. John’s
Eve being some of the most important and typically spent
together with family. Here are a few we learned about this week.
Shrovetide
Shrovetide is a children’s festival, they
dress up – usually on Quinquagesima Sunday – and go around with their
collection tins which they try to get filled with money.
Easter
Many homes and shops are decorated for
Easter in green and yellow, especially with new-leaved branches and daffodils.
The main symbol of Easter is still the egg.
Great Prayer Day
Great Prayer Day is a special Danish
festival falling on the fourth Friday after Easter Sunday, i.e. at the earliest
on 17 April and at the latest on 21 May.
May 5 - Denmark's Liberation
After having been occupied by Germany since
9 April 1940, Denmark became free again on 5 May 1945. When the liberation was
announced in the 8.30pm BBC broadcast on May 4, 1945, many Danes spontaneously
placed lit candles in their windows. This became a custom that is still kept up
by many Danes.
Pentecost/Whitsun
Pentecost is a Church festival celebrated
to mark the advent of the Holy Spirit and the founding of the Church. The
Christian Pentecost is also associated with the awakening of nature at Whitsun.
It falls 50 days after Easter, i.e. at the earliest on May 11 and at the latest
on June 14.
June 5 - Constitution Day
June 5 is the anniversary of the coming in
force of the first Danish Constitution, the June Constitution of 1849. The day,
which in many places is a full or half holiday, is celebrated around the
country with political rallies, which especially formerly were in the nature of
popular festivals, for instance on the popular nature spots Himmelbjerget and
Skamlingsbanken in Jutland. It is also Father’s Day, which was introduced from
the USA in 1935.
June 15 - Valdemar's Day
According to the legend, the Danish flag, Dannebrog, on
this day fell from the sky by Lyndanise in Estonia, where King Valdemar II the
Victorious was crusading in 1219. Since 1913, the day has been a national flag
day when little Danish flags are sold. Until 1948, the day was a school holiday
and it was celebrated with Valdemar Festivals around the country.
November
- All Saint's Day
All Saints’ Day, which is celebrated on the
first Sunday in November, was originally a commemoration day for the dead
saints held on 1 November. The day survived the Reformation, but the
Protestants combined it with All Souls’ Day, which was on November 2. The day
was abolished as a church festival in 1770, but is celebrated by the church on
the first Sunday in November. In recent years, it has become common in many
churches to commemorate those dead during the year on the day itself. The
tradition of placing candles on the graves the evening before All Saints’ Eve
is becoming more common. So is the American Halloween where the children dress
up as ghosts etc. and go around ringing door bells like at Shrovetide. When the
door is opened, they say ‘trick or treat’ (in English). If they are not given a
cookie or money, they make trouble – like at Shrovetide.
November 10 - Martinmas Eve
Martinmas Eve is the evening before St
Martin’s Day. Many Danes eat roast duck or goose on this evening. According to
the legend, Martin was revealed by some geese when he modestly hid to avoid
becoming a bishop. He therefore decided that every year on this day,
November 11, the geese must lose their lives to be eaten.
December
- The Christmas Month
The whole month of December is dominated by
Christmas. In most towns, the main shopping streets are decorated with fir
garlands and lights. In squares and gardens, there are Christmas trees with
fairy lights, a custom dating back to 1914, when the first Christmas tree was
lit on the Town Hall Square in Copenhagen. In recent years, it has also become
common to cover many other trees or objects with fairy lights.
December 31 - New Year
Unlike Christmas, which most people spend
with their family, New Year is celebrated with the friends. New Year’s Eve is
framed by two important items broadcast on television and radio, viz.
respectively the monarch’s New Year Speech at 6pm and the striking of midnight
by the Town Hall Clock in Copenhagen, which marks the start of the new year.
The monarch’s New Year Speech has virtually
become a national rallying point since it was first made in 1942 during the
German Occupation, when the King called for national unity.
Many Danes party with various kinds of good
food followed by champagne and marzipan ring cake at midnight. The New Year is
greeted with fireworks after midnight; they include both noisy bangs and
rockets, etc. which light up the night sky in many different colors. In many
parts of the country, the traditional New Year’s Eve menu is boiled cod, referred to as New Year’s cod, or stewed kale and cured saddle of pork.
Social Welfare
The
basic principle of the Danish welfare system, often referred to as the
Scandinavian welfare model, is that all citizens have equal rights to social security.
Within the Danish welfare system, a number of services are available to
citizens, free of charge. This means that for instance the Danish health and
educational systems are free. The Danish welfare model is subsidized by the
state, and as a result Denmark has one of the highest taxation levels in the
world.
Education
for all
High quality education at all levels is
essential to ensure competitiveness in today’s globalized world. This is why
education is a key priority in Denmark. With their high academic standards
combined with innovative learning approaches, the Danish institutions are
preparing their students to play an active role in a globalized, knowledge
based society.
Denmark is
well known for having the highest taxes in the world and one of the highest
standards of living in Western Europe. It is also one of the most egalitarian
countries in the world, while each year the Danes give 0.8% of their Gross
National Income to foreign aid.
Family
Denmark
has very generous maternity leave for both parents. Children born in 2011 were
happy to see that their parents stayed at home to look after them for 311 days
after their birth. The mothers accounted for the greater part with 295 days,
while the fathers had 36 days. Now this is definitely something we could learn from the Danes!
