Home of LEGO, Carlsberg beer, Hans Christian Andersen, and Maersk shipping (largest shipping company in the world)
Copenhagen was founded in 1167. At that time, it had a population of 1.5 million people, with 500,000 immigrants. It was the capitol of Europe in the 15th century because people going elsewhere had to go through the city and, as a result, they put a tax on everything. Then, Sweden realized they could do the same thing, and this started the tension between the two countries, resulting in 300 years of warfare between the Danes and the Swedes. Interesting/Fun Fact: The Danish flag is the longest standing flag in history amongst flags for the Nations (established in 1219).
On April 9, 1940, Denmark was attacked by the Nazis and gave up after 2 hours. They were controlled by Germany until 1945, but had the lowest death rate of all countries in WWII. Christian X was the ruler then and stayed in Denmark during the war. In 1943, Denmark felt the impact of the war when the king fell off of his horse, as the Resistance Movement took over at that point. There were quite a few Danish Jews and they went into hiding, and then escaped to Sweden to live for the rest of the war. As a result, there was a 98% survival rate of Jews during the war, and most returned and resumed life as it was before, which is said to be a reason to be proud of the Danes.
Copenhagen was called the Cultural Capitol of the world in 1996, and it continues to be characterized as an open, liberal, and tolerant society. One reflection of this is the fact that there are Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, and English churches in the city. It is the most livable place in the world, as they have pushed out big business. Bishop Absalon was the symbol of the city, and his castle was the political heart of the city. Interesting/Fun Facts: 60-75% of people bike in and to the city. It is the flattest country, and is at sea level, with the highest point being at 19 meters above sea level. They also get 6 weeks of snow. Another interesting note about the words in the language – the Danish word used for both marriage and poison means/translates to “gift.” Go figure!
Christian IX had 6 kids who married people in other nations, and this continued for at least one more generation, a “product” of which is Queen Elizabeth of England. The Queen of Denmark is also the monarch for the Faro Islands and Greenland because those two nations are too mall to sustain themselves. Queen Margarethe has 3 degrees, speaks 5 languages, translated Lord of the Rings from English, smokes a lot (much to the dismay of her constituents, we were told), and just turned 78. Unfortunately, her husband died in February of 2018. The monarchy is 1000 years old, and is the oldest monarchy in the world. As a result, Queen Elizabeth of England would have to bow to Queen Margarethe if they were to meet. As far as is known, they have never met. Queen Margarethe has 2 sons – one who is the only member of a monarchy to run an Ironman (Prince Frederik – he is next in line for the monarchy, and is married with 4 kids), and the other has a colorful history, shall we say. Interesting/Fun Fact: The Crown Prince’s child goes to a state run school, which is the first time that has ever happened with the royal family.
Being a member of the Royal Guard (at Amalienborg Palace) is one of the highest honors in the country. It is a family tradition (i.e., individuals who are part of the Royal Guard tend to pass that tradition down to their descendants), and is a foot in the door to work in security forces or the police force. There is a lottery system for the army, where an individual’s birthday is pulled out, and they can decide if they want to be a member of the Royal Guard. Interesting Fact: The Danish Army had the highest number of fatalities in Afghanistan because they were not good at clearing mines. They also have a ship in their harbor that accidentally shot a cannon in the wrong area.
The Monarch is a figure head – Denmark is run by the Prime Minister. There is free health care, free education through to Master’s Degree, 52 weeks full pay maternity leave, 15 weeks full pay paternity leave, and the highest minimum wage in the world. This comes at a cost: 44%-60% tax rate. The average take home wage after taxes is 3300 EUR/month (46,000GBP/year; approx. $60,000USD), making Denmark the country with the largest middle class. There are tax incentives for people to live there from other countries as well. Immigrants started coming to Denmark in the 1950s and 1960s. Turks are the second biggest ethnic minority in Denmark, and there are quite a few people from Iceland, The UK, and Sweden.
To provide illustration of the taxation and standard of living, a Dane will pay $250,000USD for a $100,000USD car due to the amount of tax placed on those purchases. An apartment in Copenhagen is $600,000USD, and the equivalent in the UK is 1.6million GBP. That said, Denmark does not have many homeless people. They have quite a few gypsies, who will collect bottles during jazz festivals, will turn them in for the tax rebate, and will make $5000USD. That said, Denmark is facing a crisis about not having enough people to sustain their culture past 2-3 generations. Interesting fact: According to our tour guide, it only takes 2 generations to socially move upwards in Denmark vs. 6 generations in the USA vs. 11 generations in Colombia.
Tivoli Gardens is the second oldest amusement park in the world (the oldest is also in Denmark). It was bombed in WWII, but since then, it has been used for entertainment purposes, hosting many big name performers, including Michael Jackson, who tried to buy it.
Denmark topography is mostly made up of limestone and flint and water, so, it is hard to support large building structures on their land. That said, the first fortress was built by Absalon in 1167. There have also been many fires, which impacted buildings like City Hall, the first four of which burned down, and the 5th was bombed. They are now on their 6th City Hall building. In 1728, there was a fire that was started and burned for 3 days and made 1/5 of the people homeless. It was the First Great Fire, and they used the volunteer fire brigade, which shot cannons at buildings to get ahead of the fire, but it made the fire spread further. The Second Great Fire was in 1735, during which they had water hoses.
JC Jacobson started Carlsberg Brewery because the water was undrinkable in Denmark at the time. He also opened up a coffee house. In fact, there was a pipe that went from the brewery to the house of the chemist who won the Nobel prize for the beer recipe, which allowed him to have beer on tap anytime he wanted it. Interesting/Fun Fact: Soldiers used to receive 10 meters of beer as part of their salary because the bacteria in the water made it undrinkable.
Denmark’s industries include beer, butter (it has one of the best dairies in the world), and bacon (there are 25 million pigs in Denmark), which are the three biggest exports. There are many educated people in Denmark, many of whom travel the world, but then eventually settle back in Denmark. Interesting/Fun Fact: Bluetooth was named after a 10th century Dane who brought religion to Denmark for the purpose of promoting communication between the cultures.
There are multiple palaces in Copenhagen. Amalienborg is where the royal family lives, and the flag is up when they are home. Christiansborg is where Parliament, the Queen’s Parliament, and the Prime Minister offices are.
