Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Despite the disastrous early years of the 19th century, by the 1830s Denmark was flour-
ishing again, economically and culturally. Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, theologian
Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig and writer Hans Christian Andersen emerged as prom-
inent figures. Sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen bestowed his grand neoclassical statues on
Copenhagen, and Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg introduced the Danish school of art.
When Napoleon fell in 1814, the Swedes, then allied with Britain, successfully demanded
that Denmark, an ally of France, cede Norway to them.
Democracy
When revolution swept Europe in the spring of 1848, Denmark's new political parties,
which had arisen from the debating chambers of the new provincial assemblies, waxed
with the waning power of the monarchy. The new Danish king, Frederik VII, under pres-
sure from the new liberal party, abolished the absolute monarchy and drew up a democrat-
ic constitution, establishing a parliament with two chambers, Folketing and Landsting,
whose members were elected by popular vote.
Although the king retained a limited voice, parliament took control of legislative
powers. The constitution also established an independent judiciary and guaranteed the
rights of free speech, religion and assembly. Denmark had changed overnight from a virtu-
al dictatorship to one of the most democratic countries in Europe.
When Denmark's new constitution threatened to incorporate the border duchy of Sch-
leswig as an integral part of Denmark, the German population in the duchy allied with
neighbouring Holstein, sparking years of unrest. In 1864 the Prussian prime minister, Otto
von Bismarck, declared war on a militarily weak Denmark and captured Schleswig. Fur-
ther eroding Denmark's sovereignty, it raised doubts about Denmark's survival as a nation.
In the wake of that defeat, a conservative government took and retained power until the
end of the century. The conservatives oversaw a number of economic advances: extending
the railway throughout the country and rapid industrialisation that established large-scale
shipbuilding, brewing and sugar-refining industries.
