The royal house of Denmark
Mette Marie Rude
I
Denmark we still have a royal house instead of a president, simply because we
always had, and just wanted to keep it that way. Denmark never had a
revolution, because in 1849 the king of Denmark (Frederik 7.), adopted the
Danish fundamental law and democracy. He let the people determine! So because
the king agreed to let the people have a parlament and gave up his power, there
were no needs of a revolution. So now, the king or queens job is to sign the
papers and laws the Danish parlament want them to. The premier minister meets
with the queen once every month to handover the papers and goes through them.
The queen’s job is to agree and sign the papers. When she stops doing that,
there won’t be any royal house anymore. One of her quotation says; “The royal
house only exist as long as the people wants it to.” Besides signing the laws,
her, and her family need to represent Denmark. You can call them the trade mark
of Denmark.
The monarchy of Denmark on
the balcony of Amalienborg.
Since
1972 women could reign. Our queen Margrethe 2., was the first woman to reign.
After her parents (king Fredrik 9., and Queen Ingrid) had 3 girls, they gave up
getting a boy, to be the future king. They
applied of getting a new law of that no matter what sex the child is, it
is the first born that should be the next to reign. The parlament accepted the
law, and that’s why Denmark has a female head of the Government. When a king or
queen dies, it’s their firstborn child who will be the next to lead Denmark.
It’s the premier minister’s job to appoint the next king. He steps out on the
balcony of Amalienborg, to tell the people that their king is dead, and reveal
who will be the next head of the Government. The new majesty has to start the
job right after the reveal.
The royal guard in front of Amalienborg.
In
Denmark we have a list of kings. By looking at that you can find out who was
reign at a certain time. The first king we had was called Gorm Den Gamle. He
reigned in year 900 circa. He’s queen was called Thyra Danebod. One of their
sons was called Harald, and got the nickname Blåtand, or in English; Bluetooth.
He got the nickname because of he’s bad teeth health. He was the king after his
father. All the kings aren’t family
related though. For many years ago, the princes and princesses couldn’t choose
themselves who they wanted to marry. They could only choose from other princes
or princesses from other countries or duchesses and dukes. Now that had changed! The royal
family can marry who they want. The only rule is that, they must be
Protestants, because Denmark is a protestant country. If they have another
religion they must be converted. They also need to be accepted by the queen.
Because
the royal Danish house is so old, there belong lots of traditions with it. One
of the traditions is that the first born boy should be called either Christian
or Frederik. We have lot of ways to celebrate our queen. One of them is to
celebrate her birthday with her, by appearing at the Amalienborg square. She
will, with her family step out on the balcony of Amalienborg and wave. Every
New Year’s Eve, the queen haves a speech on national TV.
Queen
Margrethe 2’s New Year’s speech.
The foundation of Copenhagen
By
Mille and Nathalie
This
is the ancient seal of Hafnia, which is the Latin name for Copenhagen.
Photo: Wikipedia (see the source list)
We
would like to tell about Absalon the founder of Copenhagen. We would like to
focus on a few things:
- Who was Absalon exactly?
- Who was else path of Copenhagen’s foundation, and what did
they establish?
- Copenhagen now.
Statue of Absalon situated next to the old part of Copenhagen.
Photo:
E.W.Sharf
Who
was Absalon?
Copenhagen’s
establishment happened in year 1167.
Absalon
was born in 1128 in a little city called Fjenneslev in Zealand.
He
was the son of Asser Rig, a magnate of the Hvide clan from Fjenneslev. He was
also a kinsman of Archbishop Eskil of Lund. He grew up at a castle that
belonged to his father, and was brought up alongside his older brother Esbern
Snare and the young prince Valdemar, who also later on became King Valdemar I.
of Denmark. In the middle of year 1400, Copenhagen became the new capital in
Denmark.
King
Valdemar I. gave the Copenhagen to Absalon in year 1160.
Absalon
was an archbishop and the founder of Copenhagen. He had a big power.
But
some archaeologists says that he actually wasn’t the founder of Copenhagen,
that Copenhagen already were a big city before Absalon got the city, because
several findings says that the city already in year 1000 had a great man farm,
church and a commercial centre. So there was already a big city. But others say
that Copenhagen started with a fishing village.
BUT
Absalon did actually do really much for Copenhagen, he build the city up really
big and great.
In
his last years lived Absalon a quit life. He lived in his convent in Sorø.
The
21 March 1201, Absalon died in the same city he was born – Fjenneslev in
Zealand. Absalon was 72 years old when he died.
His
gravestone can still be seen in the convent church.
One of
the famous buildings, Børsen (the old house of stock exchange)
built by
King Christian the Fourth.
Photo:
Wikipedia (see the source list)
Was there others?
Some
of the most special things there is built, has King Christian the Fourth built.
For example has he built:
- Christianshavn
- Frederiksborg Castle
- Nyboder, the old quarter of the marine
- Rundetårn
- Holmen’s church
- Rosenborg Castle
Statue of
King Christian the Fourth situated next
to Nyboder in Copenhagen.
Photo:
E.W.Sharf
Christian
the Fourth was born the 12. April 1577 in Frederiksborg Castle, and died the
28. February 1648 in Rosenborg Castle.
But
even though he died the 28. February, he was first buried the 18. November in
Roskilde Domkirke.
His
coronation was the 29 August 1596.
He
reigned from 4 April 1588 – 28 February 1648.
His
father was Frederick 2. and his mother was Sophie of Mecklenburg.
For
some people, Christian the Fourth was called the second establisher, because
under him as king was the urban area doubled and it happened when
Christianshavn was build.
Copenhagen
today
Copenhagen
is still a little capital compared to other capitals. Many people visiting
Copenhagen get the impression that it is a city of fairytales because of the
many historical castles, buildings and monuments combined with the canals and
the old harbour areas.
Also
Copenhagen is somehow a symbol of royalty as Denmark still is a kingdom.
Sources:
Internet:
Books:
Absalon
– Per Straarup Søndergaard
