Summary of article in Billed Bladet #30, 2016.
Written by Trine Larsen.
While PH darted off to Chateau Cayx and J&M in France within days, Benedikte and QMII had a sisterly bonding time at Gråsten. And that included going to museums.
In particular the Fabergé exhibition at the medieval castle Koldinghus. (*) For which Benedikte is patron. - I went to see it with my wife and it was absolutely worth seeing! The craftsmanship is amazing!
Then the two of them went to Sønderskov Hovedgård, near the small town of Brørup. Sønderskov Hovedgård, was a manor that is now a local museum. But before that it was a fortified manor and you can tell from seeing the place!
http://teilmann.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/soenderskovslot.jpg
The current main building is from 1620 and it was build in a strict and austere Protestant style.
Here one of the most sensational finds from the Viking age is currently is on display. It's a gold hoard consisting of arm rings weighing a little more than a kilo and found nearby a few months ago. Archeologist and historians had a collective orgasm when they saw it!
It would have been next to impossible to keep QMII away from that exhibition!
The gold pieces are of such a quality that they may very well have belonged to people very, very close to her predecessors some 1.200 years ago.
That find has been classified as "danefæ", i.e. a national treasure.
The law states that everything found in the ground in DK that is of significant historical, archeological and cultural value is "danefæ", and as such it belongs to the state - that is the people. It is criminal to sell or melt "danefæ". So if I walk on a field (it happens often, when our dog and I are hunting sausages BTW) and I find say a gold ring and I think it's old, it's my duty to deliver it to a museum, preferably with a description of where I found it. Here it will be assessed by expert and if it turns out to be a "danefæ" I will get a finders fee and a sum representing the value of the find.
These years where quality metal-detectors are affordable find are literally pouring into the museums! Right now there is a waiting list of 1½ year for items to be classified and valued.
If it'n not classified as a "danefæ" I can keep it. The same thing with broken axe or arrow heads made from flint from the Stone Age, which you can find all over the place. You don't have to hand in such items.
The legislation at sea is even more simple:
Everything on the seabed or under the seabed, that is more than 100 years old belongs to the state.
And thus ends this days archeological lecture.
BB from this week:
https://app.box.com/s/e20evxqf0xqflm7z41dt7q3admvmnzom
(*) Hus, which today means house, is the old Danish word for castle, abbey or large residence made from stone. In medieval times that word was replaced by the German "burg", which evolved into the Danish "borg" which today means castle.
So Koldinghus simply means Kolding Castle.