Summary of article in Billed Bladet #37, 2019.
Written by Trine Larsen, who appears to have attached herself to QMII.
This covers the second half of QMII's visit to Schleswig Holstein and the informative interview with her at the end of the trip.
A pretty impressive trip, I might add, for a woman her age! 44 items in four days! Yet, she coped in fine form. There are no reports of her being tired or less than concentrated.
The main focus was visiting the ethnic Danish minority there. The vast majority are German citizens, but consider themselves Danes.
But the visit also covered the Bundesstaat of Schleswig Holstein in general.
And there was one detail that was very much noted. A lot of ethnic Germans welcomed QMII waving the German flag.
Coming from a country that is among the very most flag-loving countries in the world there is nothing unusual about that in the eyes of a Dane. But in (post WWII) Germany waving the flag around, especially for ordinary citizens is a recent thing. But after Germany won the world cup in 2006 it has (fortunately IMO) become acceptable and that was very much evident at this visit. - The ethnic Danish minority waved Danneborg like there was no tomorrow as usual, and that may have helped/spurred on the ethnic Germans.
Perhaps some of our German members can elaborate?
There was plenty of culture for QMII to admire and just as much archeology for her to feats her eyes on - and she did!
Dannevirke, the old border-wall, between the Danish realm and Charlemange's expanding empire is the site of most interesting digs and there have been quite a lot of finds from the Viking Age and the Iron Age predating that period. I.e. the period when the nation of Denmark was born.
That includes the town of Hedeby. Which in early Viking Age was pretty much the only and certainly the largest town, not only in the Danish realm, but Scandinavia! It was a trading center between east and west and also the center of a thriving slave trade.
According to archeological finds the 30 km long border-wall, Dannevirke, was build in the 500's. Earlier than previously estimated.
There is little doubt that influential Danish chieftains would have visited and seen was at the time was left of Hadrian's Wall and the Roman walls along the Rhine frontier and found inspiration there.
The town of Hedeby was founded close to the wall, for protection - and political and economic control.
But back to QMII who was busy visiting Danish schools, retirement homes and cultural houses but also a small school in the town of Risum, where they teach in Frisian. The Frisians are a minority along the German and Dutch coast. Britains may have heard of them, they were after all the reason why the Romans there build coast-towers. - When the Frisian raiders (among others) came to Britain...
The weather was pretty atrocious though. It rained. A lot!
While there QMII also visited a Danish high school, where an eighteen year old student, Johanne Juul Olsen, gave a very evocative speech on behalf of the young Danes, who perhaps surprisingly feel a very strong attachment to Denmark and in being Danish.
It was a speech that deservedly made a big impression on QMII. There was in particular one phrase QMII found very beautiful: Hjertehjem = home of the heart = Denmark. QMII praised the student and thought that was a speech worth rereading.
QMII was in general most impressed with the young Danes. They are loyal German citizens but who also feel Danish and have a very strong attachment to Denmark. QMII herself is, perhaps also somewhat surprisingly, very much admired among the young there.
QMII was like all of her generation, and mine, taught German in school. She was never fond of the German grammar though. (German grammar is considered very complicated by Danes.) But even though her German has become rusty, she was still able to speak the language during this visit.
It is a pity, she feels, that German is not studied by many young Danes anymore, since we are neighboring countries (and a major trading partner) - but as she puts it: She can understand why...
The reason for this visit taking place this year, is that it is a kind of precursor to the celebrations next year, when the northern part of Schlesvig voted themselves back to Denmark in 1920 after having been lost to Prussia after the Second Schleswigan War in 1864.
That part of Denmark is now known as Southern Jutland. That reunification was be celebrated big time next year! So this visit was a statement to the ethnic Danes in Germany saying: You haven't been forgotten.
- The scans to this article can be found in this post:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...ml#post2256316
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