The country of Denmark is a peninsula directly north of and extending from Germany in northern Europe. It is across the straits in the North Sea south of Norway and Sweden. Although the tax was abolished in 1857, Denmark has continued to flourish.
In 1932, Norway was a monarchy with a parliament. King Christian X resides in a palace in Amalienborg Square, on Copenhagen's harborside. "The Changing of the Guard ceremony in similar to London's Spectacle at Buckingham Palace" (photo caption, p 230). Even the Danish guard uniforms are similar with the tall furry hats and blue coats. I was curious about all the references to England in the article. The explanation lies in history: in 1624, Denmark's King Christian IV and England's King James I were brothers-in-law. The country of Denmark still is ruled by a monarchy.
Changing of the Guard Ceremony, Buckingham Palace, London, England, November, 2008.
You may have seen a photo of the Little Mermaid, a famous bronze statue in Copenhagen's harbor. It derives from a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Danes love tall towers, some of which were once part of other buildings which burnt down in times past. Perhaps the most unusual tower anywhere "is the steeple of the Church of Our Redeemer. . . rising nearly 300 feet, (it) has an outside spiral staircase leading to the fine figure of the Savior at its peak" (p. 243). The stairway has iron railings for protection.
Denmark is mainly an agricultural country with a system of co-ops formed by the farmers to market their products. Denmark exports a large part of Europe's butter, bacon, cattle, cheese, milk, and eggs. They also have a number of fish hatcheries.
In this cold northern country, the people love entertainment and seem to have a disproportionate share of theaters, concerts, circuses, cafes and restaurants, movies along with their Tivoli Gardens, a Coney Island-type of amusement park complete with fireworks. "One resident in three in Copenhagen owns a bicycle; yet Denmark claims to have the largest number of auto owners in proportion to its population of any country in Europe" (p. 243).
Large birds called Storks build nests on top of chimneys in Denmark. I have seen this phenomenon in Lithuania, a country east of Denmark. The farmers place old wagon wheels over their chimneys in the spring to give the storks a platform on which to build the large nests. Since long ago I had read about this in the pages of National Geographic, I was quite pleased to see it still happening in 2006. And, they are large birds!
One of the islands in Denmark is Zealand. I wondered if the nation, New Zealand, got its name from this island. A google search revealed that New Zealand got its name from the province, Zeeland (which means 'sea land') in Holland, from whom the country's 'discoverer' came.
What the Danes are most proud of is their educational system. No student goes away to college. He or she learns in their hometowns. "No Danish child is permitted to specialize until he has had a general education. When he takes up a trade or a profession he is taught its background, its relation to life, its philosophy" (p. 250). "His schools, the Dane will tell you, are why his country is most nearly like ancient Greece in its moderation, its sanity, its lack of affectation, in the aforementioned 'high culture of its broad population,' " (p. 251). I think I would like to visit Denmark. What about you?
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