ON THE L A N GUA GE AND C HA RACT E RIS T I CS O F THE PE O PL E IN THE DUCHY O F S L E S W I CK OR S O UT H JUMT L A N D

L I O t , ! a 0 fi

I T is first during the latest time that a conscio usness / f o f the sig nific a tio n o what is characteristic and peculiar

ndwhich to a people a / is found in every real nation , has been properly !wakened This peculiarity has its fou nda

in its tion , partly that stamp which a people , from first

h a s beginning , / received from the creator , partly in that series o f [nflu enc es which the people during its historical

‘ fo r s been the object , either from the

r u n u o r exter1 o nature nder which it has grow p , from the general historical events that have had an influence the reon . Both together form by their Operations what is c a lled the nationality o f a people . This nationality reveals it self in all the different w ays in which the manners and customs of a people express themselves : in habits and customs , domestic life , laws and public institutions , litera ture and language , and particularly in the last , as the

o f nearest and most direct expression the public mind .

on These peculiarities , the whole , give a certain character to a people , whereby they distinguish themselves from all

other nations .

M4 8 5 4 1 " T he consciou sness of nationality stands in a near , relation to political freedom , whether this has already

o r n o entered exteriorly, is only prese t in the l nging after ,

n o t and a fitness for it . If a people be yet awakened to any feeling for independence in the political life , they will not trouble themselves much about their nationality .

They will only cling by habit to the customs , institutions a n dl n a rticu a guage of their forefathers , but not find it p la rl o a n y m rtifying if y damage be done to them , if only the injury h e not too violent and at the same time brings

e l n with? it 1 n c o nv en1eno s the course o f their daily life . But when the citizen lea rns to regard himself as being

’ i n lo n er a ool n the a sta te ma w o f . g t i chine ithout a will

o w n me o f his , but as an independent mber the political

: o f n community then will the language his ation , its na

n a l tio peculiarities and those particular , connexions and institutions arising from its historical development become

important and dear to him , because he acknowledges n that they belong to his and his nations bei g , and are the real gro unds in which the freedom o f politica l in stitu

u i tions m st take root , if they are to g ain durab lity and become a blessing and just as he himself n o w r espects

them as sacred , he will also demand respect for them

from others .

o f i It is therefore , that a consciousness national ty

has entered so late in life . It has come a fter o r w ith

freedom , and therefore only in those countries which have

o r already either attained freedom are o n the way to it . The first French revolution brought freedom to a conside

o f b ut rable part Europe , in most places the enjoyment

thereof was confined to the educated middle - classes and

o f the more wealthy parts the community . But these belong more to the general European refinement and this o n o f is , just account its generality in several respects ,

rather inimical than favorable for nationalities . Therefore

to it was not be expected , that those classes of society

v who gained most by the first French re olution , would

o . care much about nationality . Nor did they do s Real popularity must seek its foundation amongst the people themselves . With the second French revolution a further step forward was made , and with the third the freedom

f v r o the people gained its decisive icto y , as all classes o f the people who possessed municipal independence , were also acknowledged as entitled to take part in the manage ment of civic a ffairs . It is between the second and third French re v olution that the question o f nationality has developed itself to its f . o w present importance The meaning nationality hich , on contemplations on the future state o f the world hitherto

o ut of i lay entirely calculat on , has become an universal

o f power , one the great powers that sets the people in motion and leads them forward in their development . It

to has shown itself mighty , both to loosen and bind . It has cast a cleft between the Slavo n ic and German tribes

u which nothing will easily be able to fill p , and it has bound the Scandinavian nations t o gether in o ne fraternal community that promises a bright future to the North .

f a c c o r The question however appeared di ferently ,

o ding to the differen t conditions f the people . With those nations , for instance the French , who had no danger to fear fo r their natio n ality from an intruded and superior i power , the sympathy for nationality showed tself parti

’ cula rly in a zealous occupation with the peoples history

o f and language , in a care for the preservation national buildings and monuments , and bringing them forth from

u e e forgetf lness , in an ndeavour to purify the languag from newly introdu ced elements and the employment of

! u e in a number of words from the old vigoro s languag , a respect for old national customs and habits and the representation o f them through th e medium o f writings

i u o f and pictures , and in the publ cation of the treas res

ancient literature . In many other parts o f Europe where nationality found itself under the pressure of a foreign race , who

governed in the land , this question produced one of the most important materials of fermentation for the troubles

of the time . Thus in Bohemia and Poland and the many other Slavonic tri b es that are incorporated in Germany

Mth e i and Hungary , with the agyars , with Flem ngs and

v . with the nati es of Sleswick Here also , as in other l places , they sought to awaken and nourish the nationa

liter a rv feeling by and artistic activity , by keeping the

r language and the national literature in honour , and labou

ing for its diffusion among the people . But here were

also questions of a still graver nature . It concer ned the elevation of a degraded n ationality and its rele a s e from that pressure with which a foreign people had insultingly

a n dviolently burthened it through centuries . Here the matter be came more serious and penetrated deeper : the d people were moved inwardly , and the combat attaine

that stamp of earnestness which always accompanies a . contest where whole nat ions rise to m aintain a sacred

right against protracted opp ression .

w It is worth hile to regard the position a little closer , which Germany h a s ta ken u p with respect to the national movements that have taken plac e within its territories or

in the neighbouring countries . This position has b een i quite singular . However d vided Germany h as . alwa ys

e e n t a nd r ff i a a b i c t m . n i self , howeve little e e t y h ve had u o f on the co rse historical events , when it should be

determined by exterior acts and deeds for in this ,

Germany has mostly fallen short , and stopped half way yet it has developed a mighty influence o n the general

n cultivatio of mankind , by remarkable discoveries and by going foremost for the development o f religion and im~ portant branches in the domains of the more abstruse

matters of science . It has likewise revealed a remarkable power o f extension by propagating its customs and lan

guage far beyond its national boundaries . It ha s no colo

c o mm oh o f nies , in the acceptation this word , but it has

great colonies o f language in the other parts o f the globe . An immense part o f Germany itself is inhabited by Sla

: o f ~ o f vonic tribes the East side Holstein , the whole

Mecklenburg , Pomerania , East and West Prussia , Bran

denb u r o f o f g , a considerable part Saxony , the whole

Bohemia , Moravia , Silesia , Lusatia , Carinthia , Stiria and

Istria have an original Slavonic p opulation . All these

o f tribes have been deprived their language , their laws ,

v io their national usages , habits and customs , partly by lence and sanguinary oppression during the many centu

ries they have been under German rulers . With some

the national elements have been entirely rooted out , with

others their nationality has only been depressed , not sup

u v pressed , as if b ried ali e until the day of resurrection and retaliation came , which showed astonished Germany

u that what it tho ght was long since dead and enshrined , was still in full life and invoked Nemesis .

Germany went over her own boundaries , oppressing the original nationality and language of the population of

Courland , Revel , and Livonia . The Germans also forced

a nd their way into Denmark made conquests , which how ever , when the real circumstances are presented in a no t , true light , and as they are deformed by cunning per versions and by a calculated confounding o f the pop ul ar

o r - language mother tongue and a taught school language , were in extent much less than o n e should expect from the neighbourhood o f a people who have everywhere shown themselves as the destroyers o f language and na v tio na lity amongst those foreign tribes they came in con tact with . And yet it was supported here in its Germa nis ing endeavours by unusually favorable outward circum stances , but at the same time met with a race that showed a toughness in res istance which w hs entirely wanting in the Slavonic nations , and in whose character enduring firmness and an affectionate adherence to the customs and usages o f their forefathers is such an honorable trait History cannot exhibit any other nation that has

so o f been , to that degree , destructive language as the German : led by a certain aristocratic conception o f the

u unequal value of lang ages , which shows itself in the terms high German and low German and as if to bring about that national unity in the languages which they wanted in a political relation , Germany has outraged her

e f s lf on her own lesh and blood . The low German was

n n an entirely independe t la guage , and as much used as

hi h a n b the g German , with extensive and valua le litera

v o f ture , de eloped in a number dialects and branches , ff di used amongst a population of several millions , who used it both in daily and public life , in speaking and

n . writing , and as a diplomatic language extendi g far beyond

f - o . low the boundaries Germany The german , which as a book - language allures the reader by its n aturality and beautiful simplicity directly the opposite of high - German has long since been expelled from literature and the schools ,

and is more and more supplanted from existence by the , 9 high—Germ a n which will n o t h e a r anything b y the side o f it except that which is itself. When the national m ovements amongs t the Slavonic tribes began to stir with greater power and gained im

da . portance yby day , Germany observed a peculiar position

a sh e At first it ppeared as if would not notice them , as

e a if the whol had no particular import nce , but would soon fall o f itself. Afterwards when a whole Slavonic literature arose , when ed scholars treated the language and history 0 bemia and other Slavonic lands in com

r udite m prehensive works , when i portant literary memorials ancient Slavonic literature were again brought to ligh when a successful endeavour showed itself to unite veral o f the separated Slavonic spoken dialects in one nage z then the Germans took it from the lite learned side ° it was an interesting

heno m e ro n literary p j ; a new and great field , that was

ex lo r io n o o ne opened for p lat ; they likewise disputed ab ut . 1 a no the r thing and j warned the Slavonians leniently , not to fall to a ny ity a n dabove all to take good care n o t to tra nsfe to life and the real circumstances which might have rights within the domains o f litera

u u t re and research . t the Slavonic authors went further

a l they Spoke , not with pride about the ancient glory o f the Slavonic tri but also with acerbity about their

a b o u t present oppression , j the debasement of the language o n and nationality , ab ut the wro gs which the Slavonians " had been compelled to suffer from the Germans from time

a to immemori l , nay , they even ventured speak of a unity o f n to the Slavonic natio ality in Opposition a German unity , and a future fo r the Slavoni a ns which was p a inted in such colours as in no way pleased the Germ a ns . The latter now answered with contempt : the Sla vonians ha ve e a nv never played any part in history , never p

0 s o thing great , nor will they ever come to ; the Slavonians were a Spiritually barren ra a sterile fi b eld , which could only become something y: being fer tiliz e dwith the rich German Spirit ; the German press overwhelmed the leaders o f the Slavonian mo irem e nt with

1 c contumely , ransacked the r private and publi i life , made m da n er bu s the suspected by the government as g persons ,

a and above all showed the same levity , co rseness and l want of truth which it has , since then , c early shown , to

ff o f its full extent , in the treatment of the a airs Denmark

and the North . The knot was tightened more and more

r and now the tie has broken . The Ge mans drew the

sword against the Poles in Posen , and a sanguinary battle

broke out , which is not yet ended . The Bohemians , Moravians and se v eral Slavonic tribes declared that they th would not acknowledge any unity wi Germany , they

' l a S . wou d have unity for themselves , a lavonian kingdom The Germans ans w er : Slavonian nati onality within the

o f territories Germany is a chimera , Bohemia , Moravia ,

Silesia , Lusatia are ancient German countries , the rulers of Bohemia have also been German Electoral Princes ; besides it is not possible for Germany to acknowledge

of w u the demands the Slavonians , for hat sho ld become

o f that great and united Germany , if nationality should

s et a im thus be forth as the greatest and highest , if all the Sla v onic tribes in Germany should recover t heir na ~ tion a lity and independence ? The Germans have laid their hand o n the sword ; but they have bethought them selves before drawing it ; for the Slavonians are numerous

u o . and powerf l , and the c mbat would be terrible Whilst the Germans will hear n othing whatever o f the Slavonian nationality they have shown much sympathy I I for the endeavours o f the Flemings to maintain their nationality against the prevailing French - Wallon race in

w Belgium . And this not ithout reason ; for the Flemings

‘ u are virt ally and originally a German race , who , with

th emse lv elv es o f difficulty , defend against the downfall their nation ality which is threatened by the French p c pu

o f B lation elgium , whose language is the prevailing one in the direction o f state affairs and all public concerns .

The Germans have also often spoken here , and at times warmly , but their voice has however been gradually more

o u and m re s ppressed , as they became observant that, with respect to the precarious situation in the Rhine p ro

o f vinces and its position to France , it was importance to pres erve a good and friendly u nderstanding with Belgium .

About Alsace - which however was a worthy aim for .

u l great Germany , both because it has here an eq al y great w po er to dispute with , and because it would here not be a question of making new conquests , but only to regain what they have lost there is n o w a n dthen heard a little , , but a very little sound , but it is soon deafened ,

the . and reason is not difficult to guess About Courland , l Reve , and Livonia they have at times spoken a little

' more loudly and complained o f the oppression which the

German population is said to suffer in these s o - called

German countries . The circumstances and state of affairs

a re here only known from German descriptions , and we are certainly n o t too bold when we suppose that there

. a is a little exaggeration in them So much is certain , th t

a re n o t the Germans here , the original inhabitants , but

a nd have forced their way in , and with violence sanguinary

d s o n oppression sub ued the land , and afterward carried a severe dominion during several centuries . They have therefore only a right to be protected within the boun I 2

da ries they have now once acquired , but have no valid claim to be henceforward the sole rulers over a subd u ed

population . But the cry o f the Germans has been h ighest and loudest against Denmark which subdues the ancient German

land Sleswick with its oldGerman population . No word

in the German language , so rich in strong words , has been strong enough to express the pain and exasp eration which Germany feels o n account o f little Denmark having dared to stand up against the great German nationality a ndwith many a rtific es and violence endeavoured to expel ” ” G ermanism from o ne o f its o ld districts . Thousands and thousands o f newspapers and pamphlets have showered t down in Germany , from the one end to the other , wi h the deafening scream about the wrongs and co ntumely ’ that Sleswick s German nationality has suffered from fana

to tical Danes . They have invoked arms in order save ill treated Sleswick from its Danish Oppressors and by incorporating it with Germany which it long since and for many reasons belongs to by right secure it from such injustice in future . The call to arms has been obeyed : a Prussian host and armed crowds from - the furthest districts o f Germany have broken in over Den

s et r marks territories . They have up the standa d of nationality , and it is a very good and useful flag , for

o u r it en nationality is a powerful word in days , finds

I S trance every where . There only this critical circum

o u u stance , that Germany this occasion comes in s ch a strong contradiction with itself. If they turn towards the

s a is East , then they y , nationality a nuisance that must be put down by force ; if they turn towards the North ,

sa they y, nationality is a sacred right that must be main

e ta in dby arms . Towards the East they level their bayonets I 3

a a inst h or g nationality , towards the North they level t em f nationality . This appears to be a contradiction . But perhaps there is more consistency in the proceedings o f the Germans than they themselves will acknowledge . Per ’ haps it is n o t quite correct with respect to Slesw ick s

fl of n German nationality , perhaps the ag ationality that

set u the Germans p against the North , is a false flag ,

fo r : serviceable to conceal another aim , instance that

f r o gaining a good country , with excellent harbou s and ’ a particularly convenient situ ation fo r Germany s aspirations and desires to play a part amongst the naval powers o f

o n Europe . If now it should closer examination appear,

ai that Sleswick has in the main point , not a Germ n but a Danish nationality , though much oppressed by the Ger mans , so there would , as far as the Germans are con cerned , amongst other things be thus much gained , that

o n a they not only the present occ sion act quite consistently , both in the East and in the North , but also act and have acted entirely in consistence with that principle which goes through their history , namely , wherever they could

so do , to suppress foreign languages and foreign natio

no w n a lity . We will examine this matter more closely in the following chapter . r e As soon as the dawn of history begins , and its la tions and events gain a more precise form , in the history

n r o f n of De ma k and the North at the close the eighth ce tury , we findthe frontiers o f the kingdom o f Denmark at the t Eider . From the distric around this river the Danes began their first serious battle against the Germans , when

Charles the Great , during his expedition against the Sax o ns , marched forward into Northern Germany and at last crossed the Elbe . The example of the subdued Sax o ns u t ta gh the Danes what they had to expect , if they did n o t in time place themselves in a posture o f defence

a . o f against the adv ncing conqueror The Kings Jutland ,

S i fr e d g and his bold brother Godfred , had an eye to

i fre d the danger. S g gave protection to the Saxon chief

W idek in d . who had fled to him , and supported him in his daring but unsuccessful resistance against the Franks .

o ut Godfred himself went with a powerful army and fleet.

H e forced his way triumphantly by the Rhine and Elbe , took the fortress which the Emperor had constructed by the Elbe , subjugated Friesland and made such progress

o f that he tho u ght . visiting Charles the Great in his city

f — - o . Aix la chapelle , where he resided The Emperor was however delivered from this active and dangerous enemy , as Godfred was assassinated by o n e o f his o w n men . I 5

s le ss warlike successor Hemming entered into a treaty hf pea ce with the Emperor at a meeting which was held

s near the Eider in the year 8 4 4 . The Eider w a thereby

he f fixed a ndsettle d as the frontiers of t kingdom o Den inark ag a inst Germany Godfred had however before m 5 death undertaken a work which , just as uch as his

rtia l a exploits , makes him worthy to be called the first guardian of the Danish frontiers against the This work was the remarkable Ku rv irhe o r

ev en ha m o f (from to guard) , a high wall defence

a o single entrance , pr tected by a moat in front ,

’ w b e hich , during Charles the Great s threatening progress n l 8 0 8 i Ho stein in the year , had thrown up , extending

of - from the Southermost point Slic bay , called Selker

or , to the river Trene or its arms . This wall was ore than a century a defence fo r the Danes against a D a nn eb o d o f l ttacks from the South , until Thyra , Queen Denmark secured the frontiers by a still firmer and stronger I o f defence , the celebrated Dannevirke , which

t o f the mos Western point the Slic , a little

’ N G o dfre ds orthward from wall , and ran in about the s to ame direction as it , but further towards the West , a rsh es which surround the Eastern banks o f the In order to complete the works o f defence to the South another wall was still wanting to cover f th e o S v a nsn. o n e u peninsula Such a was fo nd , and

W s G o dfre ds ithout doubt till older than , under the name of o l d o r the w a l l the East wall , which towards the

E n o t of E ernfior d ast began far from the inward bay g ,

- n which is called Vindeby Noor , and in a Westerly directio

A . . . z P e rt n . m . VII . 2 4 dam of Bremen hist eccl scriptor Ger vol , p 9

m c x cu m f E do ram Hemming pacem imperatore aciens , g fl u

« i t r vium a c c ep t regni e minu m . 16

- b e towards East beck , which streamlet with its din a

'

’ b fo rine d a deep valley , surrounded y steep declivities , sufficient defence for the rest o f the way until that b a y

- o f the S lie which is called Store Noor . By these several defences Denmark was as if closed against attacks from h e r continental enemies in the South ,

o n o f th e If the enemy would go round about , the outside w a lls o n w o f n , hich the sons the soil , at times in unio , h e with their Norwegian brothers , guarded the entrance , met with invincible hindrances ; first towards the East — E e rnfio r d to o f o ld . the broad g , then , the West the wall the S lie which was here a lso o f considerable bre and lastly to the West of Ku rv irk e and Dannevirke i sable morasses extended o n both sides o f the Trene they f th e la ndo . a t t reached the brave Frisians Besides , tha time the whole extent between the Trene and Eider w a s waste and uninhabited , filled partly with immense forests

D anischw a ld W a nd as Eastward , more estward Jernved ,

‘ so h o s partly with morasses and endless moors , that a if tile army , it passed the Eider , had very considerable difficulties to surmount before it could yet come to the works o f defence . But these fastnesses a re no t alone remarkable a s

o f s o e works defence , but still more b cause they in con junction with E g ernfio rdand the S lie likewise formed the na tiona l r ontier f , the boundary towards the South , for , the Danish people and the Danish language : N orth o f

a ll o f w a s this boundary was D anish , South it all German , as the waste districts situated to the South o f it were by

o n th e i degrees settled by natives o f Holstein . Th s na ’ tio na l frontier does no t however date first from G o dfre ds time ; it can be proved to have existed some centuries before . Namely when the Angles who dwelt in these

18

9 3 4 Some years later , about the year , the political ,

n ot o f f but the national frontiers Denmark , su fered an

Fu lefae n er encroachment for a time , as Henry g g passed

the Eider and after a successful war with Gorm the elder , compelled him to surrender the waste districts be tween

S lie w the and the Eider , hich were added to the former f existing frontier county in the North o Holstein . Adam

o f Bremen , who lived about a century after this event,

a . adds from a verbal account , that the Emperor placed Margrave in the town o f Sleswick i tself and sent a German

. a colony thither But this account , which in no way grees with what we know about the erection and situation o f

o f r Dannevirke , and what we besides know the late his

o f d h a s u tory these istricts , at length been given p by the German historians , who have long disputed it with the Danish . Dannevirke now contin u ed as before to be

! n the national boundary , and it did not last a hu dred years before the ab ove named patch o f land between the

She and the Eider was again united with the kingdom ,

' as the Emperor Conrad th e S ec o ndagain surrendered it 7 to Canute the Great in the year 4 0 2 . The Eider thus

’ again became Denmark s frontier , and thus it has been ever since .

Adam of Bremen may still be cited , who speaking as

’ a cotemporary witness , places the Danish people s Southern

S lie . : boundary towards Germany , by the His words are ”

- Nearest to us (the Germans) dwell the Danes , whom they ” l call Jutes , right up to the Slic . It is evident , as wel from the words themselves , as because he in another

a s place , somewhat previous , places the Eider the frontier

a The bird c tcher . I 9

b v S lie boundary of the kingdom , that he the indicates

’ ’ the nation s and the language s bo undary .

From what has been adduced it may be clearly seen , that the Danes have dwelt towards the So uth as far as

E e rnfio rd the She and g from the remotest times , and that

fo r b ut the Eider , more than a thousand years , with a

o f th e short interruption , has been the frontier kingdom towards Germany .

But there are other witnesses , just as imp ortant as those adduced , for the rest incontestible historical proofs , witnesses which the men o f that time have themselves handed down to us and wherein they speak with their

o w n . voices to us , their late successors These are the runic stones with their o ldnorthern inscriptions . Several

o r such are found in South Jutland Sleswick , namely the

H - stone near aderslev , the stone in the church yard wall o f n Biolderup ear Aabenraa , and a runic inscription with

- iron nails in the chapter house door in Sleswick . The most remarkable and important however for the object we have in view are the tw o s o - called Sleswick Runic

9 6 - 9 stones . They were fou nd in the years 4 7 8 o n the most historic soil that Denmark certainly possesses , between

’ ’ T h re s G o dfre ds Ku rv irk e y Dannevirke and , close by

- Selker Noor and near to the hamlet of W e delsp a ng . The greater inscription reads thus : p urlf ris pi stin p o nsi himp ig i S v in s eftir Erik fela g a s in v a r da u r o dre a r dren a r Ha i a b u ies p p p g j ( gj ) satu um p , im stu r a dr dri r dre n r o dr . ian han vas , g ( g ) harda g In the language o f the present time it is

T ho rlef H emb o sin reiste denne Steen , Svends j , efter

’ S ta lb ro der s o m B o m b eleire de Erik , dode , da eltene sade ( )

”

S t rm a n d o d . Hedeby , men han var y en saare g Helt w 20

T ho rlef o f erected this stone , inmate Swain after his

sa t comrade Erik , who died , when the heroes around H (besieged) edeby , but he was steersmate , a very good ” hero . O n the other runic stone the inscription is shorter O sfridr gerdi k u mb l oft S u trik sun sin That is in the present language ” O sfridgj o rde Hoi efter S u tr ik sin Son

frid S u trik O s made (a) hill after his so n .

r e These two runic inscriptions , which may certainly be

to o f ferred the tenth century , agree in the form the

language with the old northern tongue , which was spoken

in o f all the lands the North , and the contents have the

' same peculiarly short and pithy manner o f expression

that distinguishes the runic monuments . These ins c rip ti o ns therefore become undeniable witnesses that the same

tongue , which was heard everywhere in the North , has

‘ o f S h e also been heard by the banks the , and that the

popular customs and ideas , and the particular expressions fo r o f them , which prevailed amongst the inhabitants the

N . orth on the whole , were also equally at home here 2 1

Ill.

I r we go from ancient times to the following cen

turies , we find in them , for a long period , only a con

tinu a tio n o f the former , we find still in South as well as

North Jutland a Danish people , Danish language , Danish

manners and customs , laws , constitution and institutions . The ancient Danish divisions into jurisdictions and districts (S ysle r and He rre der) was found already from

the olden time in South Jutland . When the North in the year 4 4 0 4 by the institutio n of the a r chb ish op rick in Lund was liberated from its forme r dependence to the

o f o r Hamburg archiepiscopal chair , the bishop Sleswick

u Hedeby came , as it was natural , under the j risdiction o f o f o f the archbishop Lund , as well as the bishops O dense and Ribe who had certain parts of South Jutland i under their direction , and the general ordinances ssued by the archbishop o f Lund had also validity in South

. u o f Jutland As for agric ltural matters , the division land and taxation were the same in South Jutland as in the rest o f Denmark . The provincial towns with their a l

om w dermen , burg aster , town courts , to nships , town judges , peculiar taxation had their ' m unic ip a l institutions in com mon with the other Danish provincial towns . About the guilds and the laws o f these corporations which played s o important a part in the development of the provincial

. la w towns , the same remark applies The constitutional 22 and the administration of justice was not different in South Jutland from that o f North Jutland o r any other provinces o f the kingdom . Causes were decided here as well a s in other provinces of the kingdom in the court of the dis trict and at the general assizes by jurymen and crown

o f jurors , under the presidency the commissary or magis trate ; and the proofs were brought forward by witnesses

c o - o f h o t or jurors , in older times also by the ordeal iron . If the disputants were not satisfied with the deci

o f u a S S 1 z es sion the district co rt and general , they could appeal to the su preme court o f justice o f the kingdom called D a nneh o f. In matters of w a r it was the same as with the other public institutions : what was usual in North

o m Jutland , Sealand and S o ia , was also applicable to South

h rm n J utland . The noblemen ( ae ae d) were bound to constant military service with their horses , and for this service they

n e joyed freedom from certain taxes called Inne , Stod and

Leding . For the sake of the naval force South Jutland was divided , as other parts of D enmark , in certain districts with their steersmen , the inhabitants had the same duties here as elsewhere . The diocese of Sleswick is said to have sent o u t one hundred and thir ty ships o n being summoned to the naval armament . In all these things we meet with pur e Danish ele ments and nothing German . The most important memorials that belong to a people ’s

t a nd nationality are its laws , bo h by their contents lan guage . They show what customs and public institutions the people have had , and what language they have used in daily and public life

z In our days , when a considerable part of Danish citi ens have

been governed , up to the very latest times , by German laws and 23

The oldest of the South Jutland laws is the elder

Sleswick municipal law , given without doubt in the year

4 20 4 o f , which was not alone used in the town Sles

o f wick , but was also made the foundation the municipal

o f E e rnfio r d laws Sonderborg , Flensborg and g ; amongst the towns of North Jutland it was admitted for ‘ a long

Hib elt o ft time in Horsens and , and probably in several

other places . The oldest manuscript we have is in Latin ,

o f but a number D anish words , which remain standing

’ n n n o f u cha ged in the Lati text , bear witness the people s

language . Perhaps there has also been an original

Danish text .

The next is the remarkable Jutlandish law , written in Danish , and received by the people , during the reign

D a nn eh o f of King Waldemar the Victorious , at a general o r parliament in W o r ding b o rg in the month o f March

4 in l 4 2 4 . It was adhibited North and South Jut and and

E nnen with the adjoining islands .

The Flensborg municipal law , received by the citizens probably between the years 4 28 4 and 4 29 5 and con

te firmed by Duke Waldemar the Fourth , is writ n in

Danish . The Haderslev municipal law given by Duke Wal

4 2 9 2 to demar the Fourth in and agreed by the citizens , likewise in Danish . Two appendices are found to the Flensborg muni c i a l the 4 29 5 p law drawn up in Danish , one in the year 3 the other in 4 2 4 .

And lastly we have the Aabenraa corporation law,

4 3 3 5 . given by Duke Waldemar the Fifth , in the year

n y a w edicts , one ca not certainl dr such a conclusion , but in the

middle ages it was v a rv different . 24

lo w It is in Latin , and has besides a German text ; but the many Danish words that are interwoven with the ’ o f Latin text , witness sufficiently the people s language and seem to suppose an original Danish text . Of Danish laws there are no later to be found in

South Jutland than the last quoted , unless it should be

’ th e - la w C a nu te s guild for St guild in Flensborg , which with all probability may be referred in its present form to the beginning o f the fifteenth century . But there exists a great number of Danish documents and letters written in South Jutland in the first part o f the fifteenth century . The language in which these laws from the middle

- u ages are indited , disting ishes itself only from the Danish o f a n the present day , in so far as it stands nearer to ti u it w q y, which ill be evident by some examples

From the preface to the Jutland law from 4 2 4 4 .

rae ae rli h lic ae f r 4 . w re c a t o te Logh scal , r et , , landens

ze u e mlic h o c th rftaelic c c o enb a r a llae wan , q y p , sua at men m u ghae w itae c c un de rsta n dae huat lo gh aen saegh e r ; o c w erae e i g erth eth s cr iu e n for e nn en s manz s ae rlic

m ll hirft i nu o ae t . fE n wild , efter menz , ther i land bor g man scal dom ae geen then logh ther kumnung gine r o c

’ o la n d land taker with , num efter then l gh scal domes

k u nnu n n o c l c c raettes . Then logh ther g gi er olt and

e i efterta k ae eeller sk iftae taker with , den ma han uten la nz ens c c o e nb a re c c wili , eller hun ware p gen guth , tho mattae han acy tha gen la n ds ens

The law must be honest , ri g ht , tolerable , after the custom of the

a ll country , convenient necessary and clear , that men may know and understand wh a t the law commands ; and the law must not

a be made or written for the particul r interest of any man , but for

th e . the good of all men , who live in country Nobody must judge

26

assembly met here , both from North and South Jutland , ‘ i i n a n dc t z ens . laymen and churchmen , oblemen Amongst those who met were the bishops of Sleswick and Ribe

o f L u m with their chapters , the abbots yg cloister in North

R e Sleswick and y cloister in Angel , the burgomaster and

town councillors of Ribe , Haderslev , Aabenraa and Flens

borg . They made a declaration in the T hing or general

W hich assembly that Sleswick belonged to Denmark ,

ther eb is to r ov e tha t those in S ou th Ju tla n du se D a nish y p ,

la w a dha k m si e the la a F or s n v e ep t the nc w w s ma de.

th e second tha t a ll old r iv ile es w hich the cha ter s a nd , p g , p

’ G o ds h ou se h a v e in S lesw ick Ribe a ndH a der slev them , , F the k in s o the r ea lm h a v e iv en . or the thir d then g f g ,

w e k no w w her e the r ontier bou nda r ies a r e tha t D enma rk f ,

a ndH o lstein a r e se a r a ted so mu ch the mor e a s their p , ,

la n u a i S J l di D a i h i a g g e n ou th u t a n s n s to th s dy .

The original rtrns thus

Hu ilk et a ff b eu ise S en de r der er at , at de vdi Jud

b ru e c c haffu e h o ldet land g Dansk ret den , siden Loven

iu il d . Pr e ie r s o m g or is For det andet , at alle gamle g ,

’ C a itele c c a h a ffu e S le su i Ha de rsloff p G ds hus til g , Ribe , ,

f n i e n iffu T re di R s v d et . e dem ha f er g Konger g For det ,

v e e d G r entz ern e c c da mand huor ere , at Danmark Holsten

’ a dt o skillies , til met , da er j deris Sprock vdi Sonder

J l n D nsk u da d a e paa denne Dag . 4 4 24 A few years later , in , when the dispute was referred to the decision of the Emperor Sigismund , the imperial councillor Doctor Louis de C a ta n e is Ve ro nensis was sent to Flensborg to examine witnesses in the matter .

a ll These declarations of the witnesses , on oath , tend to prove that South Jutland had , and from time imme 27 m l oria had had a language , laws and constitution in com

o f mon with North Jutland and the rest Denmark . The Archbishop Peter Lykke of Lund th us declared r that the same laws , established customs and o dinances , which the inhabitants of the kingdom o f Denmark had ff fixed for themselves were also in e ect in South Jutland , in the same manner as in North Jutland ; he had seen it thus during the whole of his life , and particularly the

b e . last fifty years , which well remembered Bishop Hans J e rnsk j aeg (John I ro nb e a rd) of Ro esk ilde i bore w tness that S outh Jutland belonged to Denmark , because the whole land h a done and the same language a ndused the same laws as North J utland and the rest o f Denmark , and the tribunals employed , both in matters o f inheritance and in all other cases the same edicts and

established usages as everywhere in Denmark . Bishop Lage Glob of Viborg expressed himself in the same manner respecting the agreement in the language l and laws , and added , that if in a judicia dispute in South Jutland they were not satisfied with the given

verdict , the cause was taken before the general juridical

’ assembly of the kingdom in Viborg o r to the king s judi

c ia l assizes . H Marten ansen (Johnson) , officer in Viborg , made ~ a

a ll a n d declaration , that the provincial towns , provinces in So uth Jutland used the same laws and legal provisions

as . North Jutland ; the inhabitants had a lso the same mo

- o f ther tongue , with the exception the Frisians , whose

language and laws is different from the others .

O la vu s o f , abbot Rye cloister in Angel , bore witness ,

n that South Jutland belo ged to Denmark , and that the

castle of Gottorp , as the proverb ran , was the lock and 28

’ key o f Denmark s realm . He further declared that South Jutland had the same language and the same laws and constitution as the rest of Denmark . When he was asked how he knew that to be the

u case , he answered , that he had been present at the j dicia l assembly for legal transactions in South Jutland ,

' th e ' h er e and seen , that y exercised and observed the same laws a ndestablished customs as in North Jutland . 29

I N the previous chapters we have gone through the

most important points in the history of Sleswick , which have any signification for its nationality , and found it still in the fifteenth century as a Danish land in every

its o n thing essential , nationality the whole unspoiled and

co n inviolated with respect to language , laws , habits and

s titu tio n .

t Changes had however , taken place for a long ime already, in the public situation of the country , which had

n pernicious results for the language and ationality , and whose effects in the following times become mp re and more apparent .

The chief point herein , and that upon which all the

o f fief rest depends , was the transfer South Jutland as a 6 to Count Gerhard of Holstein in 4 3 8 .

It is true , Waldemar the Victorious had already in the year 4 23 2 made an enfeoffment o f South Jutland to his son Abel , whose successors governed the land as

Danish vassals u ntil 4 3 7 5 when the race died out . But though this became a source for endless disputes and sanguinary and destructive wars , as it also gave the Holstein Counts occasion to intermeddle with the concerns o f Me chtilde South Jutland Abel himself by marrying of the house o f the Counts of Holstein s o inimical to 30

o ut Denmark , pointed to his successors the politics they had to pursue yet it was without any particular in

flu en c e o n the nationality .

These Danish Dukes governed the country in Danish ,

the m u the edicts that were published under them , and nic i a l p laws they either gave , or after the citizens them selves had established them , confirmed , were indited in the Danish language . They had no right to give the

w o f general la s the land , the general body of statute

u J laws was also valid for So th utland , and the community o f law was continued under them , and long afterwards ,

’ by the chief tribunals for the whole kingdom , the king s

D a nn ho ff judicial assembly and the e o r parliament . The

’ o f Dukes were besides , members the king s council , and it was their right as well as their duty to m eet a t the

D a nn general eh o ff. The Dukes were also several times

o f recalled within the limits the bar , which their position t as vassals demanded , when they forgo their obligation , and compelled to ackno w ledge their subordination under

o f the King , their master , and their duties as vassals the kingdom . MThe state of things was however different when Queen argaret , occupied with the thought of uniting the Nor th e rn Me ck len kingdoms , threatened with an attack from burg and King Albrecht of Sweden , and not sure of the

d u fief Hanse towns , etermined to give South J tland in to 4 3 8 6 the Holstein Count , Gerhard in . It was without doubt her purpose to give way only for the pressure o f the moment , and afterward , at a favorable Opportunity, to take back what circumstances had obliged her to give over , in which proceeding she followed her wise father ,

’ Waldemar A tterda g s constant politics . She also made

sh e b ut a good beginning for this purpose , whilst lived , 3 ]

her thread of life was cut off too early to carry her plan

a n d o f m through , her successor , Erik Po erania , was not

u able to do it . South J tland now came into the hands

o f S cha u enb o r foreign , German Princes , the Counts of g H in olstein , whose whole previous life made them the

declared enemies o f Denmark . L o w German now became

o f the language the court and government , and also by

o f fi degrees the language men in of ce , in a considerable

o f part of the country , many whom came from Holstein .

t the New laws and edic s were given in low German ,

o ld t th e o f th e the mu Danish laws , bo h law land and

n ic i a l t t p laws were ranslated by degrees in o low German . t t t t It was just at his ime , hat hey had begun to do away wi th th e Latin language in public letters and law

a th e suits in Denm rk , where it had hitherto been usual

the t — t . language , and mo her tongue was adopted in its s ead A similar change took place a t th e same time o r a little earlier in Nor thern Germany : here th e low German took th e place o f the La tin and became the prevailing diplo

t to ma ic language a wide extent . Under the exis ting cir c u ms ta nc es it naturally forced its way into South Ju tland t from Hols tein . Thus at he same time that the mo ther t th e o f ongue again gained ground in rest Denmark , it t was expelled from public life in Sou h Jutland . Even the coun try was not allowed to retain its name : th e first Count o f the t Holstein , Gerhard , was also first who wro e himself Duke o f Sleswick ; the previous Dukes had a ll called them

o f t t selves Dukes Ju land or Sou h Jutland . It is true there also appears in the following times Danish royal

t o r t . fo r t le ters let ers patent , as ins ance from King Hans

(John) and King Chris tian th e Second ; but only at times ;

o f and of legal documents , deeds conveyance and extrac ts

the o f t few of records assizes here are not a in Danish , 32

to o f th e t t t even the close sixteen h cen ury , so hat Danish ,

th e t at least in Northern part of the coun ry , has not been

t o f the excluded from the ribunals justice , but at same time and place there also appear documents in low Ger

’

. to man The people s language continued be Danish . About the election o f Chris tiern the First in 4 4 6 0 and th e privileges given on that occasion this is not the

I u f place to speak in detail . t is s ffc ient to remark that

t e a c t th e t o f its t h from ime firs foundation , as far as it

nt t concerned Sleswick , wa ed essential condi ions for lega

l tha t t li y , and its following history is a con inual account

o f - t t t its non maintenance , un il it at leng h died en irely away and lay forgotten for a long period in the dip lo ma t1 c t ches t. It was first aken forth in latter times and hung i up as a useful flag for revolt . But in ts first existence t t t his act became , by that poli ical combina ion which it

u n a n ff t bro ght about between Holstei and Sleswick , e ec ive

th e to the means of drawing latter former , and by con tin u a lly increasi n g con tacts to forward a transformation of th e language and introduce German cus toms and laws . True it is that the act fixed and determined that Sleswick

t u t and Hols ein should each have its partic lar constitu ion ,

t ho v o r h t Urn e e d B ne o v e d e c . its own legisla ive diet on and ,

he e tc . t , but for election of the Prince a common diet t t was fixed , and his became an excellen point of issue 6 9 t . 4 4 the i for a further community In already , nobil y o f Holstein and Sleswick , under a pretence of the pre vailing disturbances in th e country concluded an alliance

t t to for mu ual defence , and fixed a mee ing , be held every half year ; b u t Chris tie rn the First found this alliance s o

t t t t . hrea ening , hat he dissolved it some years af erwards

the t the But in course of ime nobles however succeeded ,

t t . under favorable circums ances , in reaching heir aim

3 4

blessm s in o those g , that followed the footsteps f the Hol

d w stein nobility , and kept itself in those istricts here the

o f nobility settled in masses , until the beginning the pre

sent century , when the Danish government succeeded in

doing away with it . The district tha t is here specially

alluded to , is the part between Dannevirke and the Eider ,

‘ D a nischw a ld S v a nsO S v a nsen also , ( ) and the South East

o f part Angel , and as far as nationality is concerned , the tw o last named in particular ; for the others may be sup

posed to have lain waste , for the greatest part , at that

time , and to have been first cultivated by the Germans . By early and often repeated mortgages o f these parts to the Counts o f Holstein even before they were D ukes

in Sleswick , the entrance of Germanism was prepared

for here . This ad v ance o f the Holstein nobles towards the North

o f and the expulsion the Danish or Sleswick nobles , can

be clearly shown . The question about the possession o f

o f o f the crown lands and the estates the royal family , which a very considerable number just lay in the above

o n e o f n mentioned districts , was the most important amo gst the subjects for the continual disagreement between the D anish Dukes in South Jutland and the Kings o f Den

u t mark . To this was added the dispute abo the a dmis n sion of franklins , who for their e gagement to do military service at th eir o w n expense e njoyed freedom from taxa m tion . The Dukes co plained in particular that the Kings

o f availed themselves their right to admit franklins , every

in m where the Duchy , in a anner that detracted from the

o f f power as well as the incomes the Dukes . This a fair 4 3 4 3 was arranged by two agreements , as in the vear ’ Men v e d u Erik made over to D ke Erik all the estates in

4 3 4 7 en South Jutland belonging to the crown , and in 3 5 gaged himself no t to take more franklins in the Duchy D than those he already had , the uke likewise promising

’ ' into his no t to take any of the King s men service . The

o ne natural results , as might have expected from these

o r agreements were , that the Sleswick franklins nobles (for these notions now began to fall more and more toge ther) would have b e en liberated from their connection

n with the Danish , and that an independent and umerous

Sleswick nobility would have formed themselves , as the crown estates , which the . Duke had acquired , gave suf fic ie nt means to furnish them with fiefs and increase their numbers considerably . But in the last respect matters f went very diferently .

o f a O n the death Erik , which h ppened shortly after ,

s o n to o his Waldemar , then a minor , succeeded the g v e rnm ent H ; but the olstein Counts , first Count Geert , and t afterwards his sons , governed the land entirely , par ly by violence and partly by the mortgages they had acq ui

fief red , until they at length , obtained it as a , after ’ 3 5 f Abel s race was extinct in 4 7 . The formation o an independent Sleswick nobility did n o t at all suit their

n o n plans , a Holstein obility the contrary was extremely T he convenient . native Sleswick nobility was therefore 4 3 5 more and more superseded . Whilst before the year 2 the names o f Sleswick noblemen in conjunction with D a

n a f nish appear constantly in docume ts , they disappear ter that time constantly more and more and are supplied by l those o f Holstein . As fiefs for these noblemen the Ho

n stein Counts had abundant means in the crow lands , 4 3 4 3 made over in . Those estates which form the pre sent noble districts in Sleswick , were almost all estab lishe d o f 4 3 4 3 4 4 5 9 a s in the period time to , and their

t H i of owners , there appear no others han olstein fam lies 36

the nobility . Besides villeinage these noblemen bro u ght with them from their homes also a privilege o f private e jurisdiction ov r their peasants and servants , which at that time was scarcely known by the Sleswick or Danish

nobility . That the natives looked with ill will o n the many

w ho is Holstein nobles , came into the land , natural , nor

- is historical evidence wanting to p rove it . A German

author informs us that a Holstein nobleman , who in that

time had acquired possessions in Sleswick , by marriage , had to suffer much for a long time from the hatred and

o f n contempt the Da es , until he at length , by the advice

so o f H o l of his wife , sent for many his servants from

h e stein , that could afterwards be in safety . When we remember that it was the nobles espe

c ia ll 4 4 6 0 y , who in carried the union through , and that

the s o - called Slesw ick chivalry was nothing but Holstein nobility : so we see what lot and part Sleswick itself had in

that act . The Danish historian H v itfe ldwho lived in the X VI

’ century in speaking of Duke Frederick s (afterwards King

’ Frederick the Firs t s) resolution to allow the Duchies to keep themselves neutral in the war between Denmark 4 5 0 9 and Lubeck in , calls the nobility in Sleswick and

” ” Holstein den H olster A del (the h o lsteinish nobility) an

appellation which , quite correct and strikingly expresses f the real state o matters . It is manifest that the Holstein nobles who had

th e entered country , such as owners of estates , church ll im patrons , judges and those , who fi ed the other

o f portant offices the kingdom , must work injuriously o n the nationality o f the country in manifold relations im a ndin numberless ways . That it has also been an

portant c o - operating ca use that the laws were translated 3 7

m a a into low Ger an . appears from a very rem rkable pass ge 4 6 0 3 in the preface to the Jutland laws , in , where the his translator expressly says , that one of the motives for ” w undertaking the work was , that he thereby ished to serve those o f the n o bility who are unacquainted with

the n th e Danish language , and who evertheless , for sake of their patrimonial estates have a particular interest to ” f know what the Danish laws contain . Next a ter the

dominion o f the Holstein Counts and the. immigration of the Holstein nobility into Sou th Jutland no thi n g has affec ted the n ationality of the co u ntry more perniciously th a n the far extended influence o f th e Hanse towns in Northern

Germany . It is well known how the merchants of the

the t Hanse towns , from Fourteen h to the Sixteenth cen

tury possessed themsel v es of the entire trade o f the North .

a n d x t both of importation e portation , how hey established

in o f D themselves the towns enmark , Norway and Sweden , where a ll employme nt passed into the hands Of these

foreign traders , and even the public offices in several

w G places ere filled , in preference , by ermans ; and how they for a l on g time acquired l a nded possessions and

domineered over the inhabitants . They everywhere left

institu traces of their presence , in language , laws and

W he w a s tions which were but slowly eradicated . p this

o f the case in distant and more remote districts the North ,

as m Bergen , Gulland , and Bornholm , one can conceive

a ff in co n th t the e ect was not less Sleswick , where the junction with Holstein made the entrance easier . To this may be added the immense crowds of German workmen t who at that ime , as well as since , poured in over the

Northern lands and sought a living and employment here .

S v a nso As the nobles especially , influenced the country , in

c a and South Angel , the influen e of the H nse towns and 38 the German workmen was felt most in the towns : the

o f E e rnfio rd Germanizing g and Sleswick and , though less perfect , that of Flensborg , may for the chief part be ascribed to them .

fo r It was reserved Duke Frederick , as Danish King

! called Frederick the First , to dissolve an important tie , which from time immemorial bound South Jutland to the

o f rest Denmark , and which consisted therein , that the inhabitants in South Jutland could have their legal disputes decided before a higher tribunal in Denmark , formerly

D a nneh o ff o r the parliament , afterwards the Danish council o f the realm . This fellowship in judicial causes was also an important means o f preserving a commonalty in lan guage . But after Frederick the First had dethroned his nephew Christie rn the Seco n d by a successful revolt and he himself ascended the throne o f Denmark with the assi

O f o f stance the men Lubeck and the revolted nobility, he annulled the appellation from the tribunals in Sleswick

o f to the Danish council the realm , at a meeting in Kiel in 4 5 2 4 ; he likewise determined that the annual diet should not be held longer at Urneh o v edbut in Flensborg . This had for a result that the small landholders lost the exercise o f their rights to meet a t the legislative diet ; for a t the town hall in Flensborg where the diet was !

ea sa ntrv afterwards held and within closed doors , the p could not be admitted fo r want o f place . This exclusion of the D anish — Sleswick peasantry was a new step forward for the German nobles .

But just at this time , when Germanism broke forth so o f powerfully , the peasantry and citizens Sleswick gave a proof o f their Danish m ind and attachment to Denmark . Whilst the prelates andthe knighthood paid homage to

Frederick the First as the ruler of the land , the citizens 3 9

and peasants took the part o f the Danish and popular

Ch ristiern a risto c ra tic a ll ' m inde d , against the German and y

o r - Frederick . The peasantry land men would not acknow

ledge Duke Frederick , they assembled and armed them selves for Ch ristiern the Second and marched forward to ” l dhi ” l Urn eho v e d a n st ng o r genera assembly . Here the judge o f the district Nis Henriksen endeavoured in vain to move the peasants to fall in fo r the new ruler : he only saved his life with difficulty from the arrows o f the

- pursuing peasants . The peasantry o r land men could

. n o t however accomplish anything as the German troops

o r called in by Frederick the First were too strong . N

the b were the citizens in towns more successful , Aa enraa in particular had to pay dearly for its attachment to its

’ l . awful King The town was taken by Frederick s soldiers ,

u pl ndered , and men and women shamefully maltreated . 4 0

V.

T E n H Reformatio took place not long after . This

s o event , beneficial as it was in other respects , had how ever injurious results for the lang u age and nationality o f Sleswick . Whilst the Reformation brought the mother tongue to its right place and dignity in other places , by expelling the Latin language from the church and church . service : the o ne injustice and absurdity only relieved the

w G e rma n other in Sles ick , instead of Latin , the low by

a degrees , and afterw rds the high German , became the

o f e dific a tio n o f language religious in a great part Sleswick , and got likewise a far greater scope than the Latin had had , as it also extended to instruction in the schools . The

i relig ous movement began in Germany , the new doctrines w ere acknowledged and introduced into Sleswick by pure

Germans , the teachers in the Duchy , both in church and

an d in schools , got their theological scientific knowledge f o . the Universities Germany Herman Tast , Bugenhagen

W a n da l G S le e w a rd Johan , Eberhard Weidensee , erhard , whom Duke Frederick and Christian employed on the in troduction of the Reformation and the a rra n g e m enh o f church matters in Sleswick , were all German born , and

W a nda l . t i spoke German Even Johan , who af er hav ng been lector in the chapter at Haderslev became Bishop o f R s o f o n - ibe , understood o little Danish , that he making

4 2

was entirely Danish . It is recorded that Henrik Mikkelsen , who in the year 4 6 3 5 was a ppointed deacon in Haderslev

w a s b e displaced from his office four years afterwards , cause he s et aside the G erman lan guage and performed

w the hole church serv ice in Danish .

The church - superintendents in Sleswick in th e Six te enth and Seventeenth centuries had by the powers o f their office no little occasion to work for the diffusion of

w the German language , and , as they ere all educated at

German Universities , and , with a few exceptions , all born

l o f Germans , they seldom neglected to avail themse ves

S Cl s . te ha n o t the occasion One of them p , by birth a

w ho Westphalian , was General superintendent during the

o f 4 6 3 6 4 6 6 8 long period thirty two years , from to , is especially famous for his G erman patriotism and zeal f f o r the exterminatio n o the Danish language . Of this Glotz and the activity generally displayed by B the German clergy , after the introduction of the efor

mation , to supplant the popular language ; the historian

: Pontoppidan , expresses himself as follows ”At that time they sent for German students from

a nd s o n Magdeburg Wittenburg , without looking partie

l l c o n a rly to the lang u age . Yet the church service stil

tinned in most places to be in Danish fo r a long time .

. m r But ti e afte time , the clergy who alone studied in Ger many a ndfound much trouble with the Danish language sought to introduce German preaching in the country for

o f in the sake their ease , even those districts where the common people scarcely even understand a complete s en

I n to tence . some places they began first give every

a ll s n fourth , the n every second and at length the ermo s

no t n in German . Such things could happe , if the deacons

and especially the General superintendents , as German by 4 3

no t . birth , had had the same principles as the clergy For as they in their visitations to the ' r c o ng eg ra tio ns often

u n o t f t the v co ld e fec anything , wished to introduce that

w a s which best known to them , although almost foreign

I n to their c o ng eg ra tio n . this respect I pretend that the General superintendent D octor Stephan Clo tz ha s acted

un u stifia b l o f very j y , as he in the middle the former

the X century ( VII) , did away entirely with the Danish and

introduced the German language , to the great grief and

o f vexation the common people , though to the satisfacti on

o f n the priesthood in all the churches of A geln , belonging

w to the deanery and jurisdiction of Flensborg , here Danish

’ w is spoken in every peasant s house , but here a Danish sermon is never They however s o O n began to be no longer satisfied with the introduction and enforcement of the low Ger

man language . From the end o f the Sixteenth and first part o f the Seventeenth century they occupied themselves

l a as zea ously to make high German prev lent , first in the

o f ff management temporal a airs , and afterwards also in the churches and schools , as they had previously endea ’

' ' v r ffu l m o u e dto di se the o w Ger an . Nor were they more particular as to the means fo r enforcing the u se o f the

lo w high German language by the exclusion of the German ,

O f G z x f this same lot , Pontoppidan e presses himsel in his Ann . 2 ” . I V . . . 4 4 : z eccl Dan in the following manner Dr . G lot undertook

an affair of very important consequences , which did as little

ff o f honour to his o ice here , as it could b e use to those souls

e x m a o ru committed to his care , when he as a man , who gratia j m h a da free hand in almost every thing in the jurisdiction of Flens h borg , did away partly wit the Danish and partly with the lo w

‘ u o f German in ch rch service , and in the place these languages

s w forced on the poor peasant the high German , hich , as long as

the church stands , ill place an insurmountable hindrance to all

edific a tion . 4 4

than they had before been to procure the entrance o f

the latter at the exp en c e o f the Danish . Thus the Duchess

Elisabeth Maria commanded Ingvar Petrei , priest in Osten

feld , who in the last part of the Seventeenth century

l to o n stil preached low German , preach high German

fi t pain of losing his of ce ; her cour chaplain , Volkhard

Paysen , was translated to another living because he could not preach high German ; the clerk Hans Lammert in O stenfeld was discharged from his office in the year 4 6 7 8 , by the superintendent because he could not or

would not sing anything but low German . These endea v o u rs of the persons in power to diffuse the high Germa n language was however in o n e respect a fort unate circu m stance fo r the preservation o f the Danish tongue . For to expel the Danish , first by the low German and after wards by the high German w a s a double work and took

It ha s 1 double time . not yet succeeded n making the

o f high German a popular language in any part Sleswick , neither in the South nor the North . The frequent divisions of the D u chy in those times

h a n d threw the Danes and Germans amongst eac other , , as Germa n was the language o f the court and govern

n o t ment , the Danish tongue could but be worsted by these divisions and the joint government united with it .

u Haderslev , where D ke Hans (John) the elder had his

m - seat , and where he founded a German gra mar school

o f n for the inhabitants the tow and neighbourhood , Nord

Gluck sb o r borg , Sonderborg , Augustenborg , g , became just as many outlets for German customs and German language

o f s o t ca n in the midst a Danish population , tha it only be attributed to the people ’s love for their mother tongue that the effect of these nurseries for Germanism were far less than o ne could have supposed . 4 5

n Notwithstanding all the u favorable conditions , under which the Danish to n gue n o w continued its existence for m several centuries , notwithstanding the any inimical endea

r o ld a v o u s to expel it from its territories , notwithstanding

o f the German families distinction , the German secular o flic e rs o f , and in a considerable part the country German clergymen and German schoolmasters a lso : yet the popular Danish language was not to be shaken from its old

o f boundaries . Still in the middle the Seventeenth century the Danish lan guage and the frontiers of the nation were the same as in older times , perhaps with the exception

S v a ns o o f of the district , South the Slic , where low German had already ga ined a footing as well as the

a Danish . As witness we will here cite an author who wrote in 4 6 5 2 and whom the Germans also generally

: D a n c k w e rth respect as a good authority It is Caspar , who in his Neue Landbeschreibung v o n S chle sw ich und Holstein expresses himself as follows about the frontier boundary of the people and the language in his time

” In this time of ours there d w ells in this Dukedom

o r . Danes Jutes , Saxons and Frisians The Jutes possess the greater part thereof , as all , namely from Kolding to the firth of S lie and the town o f Sleswick are Jutes o r

o f Danes , who speak the Danish language , the town

Flensborg alone excepted , where Danish and Germans are mingled. The town o f Sleswick and what there besides lies between the She and th e Eider and Levens — rivulet

n is for the most part inhabited by Saxo s , who speak the lower Saxon language , as do also the inhabitants of

Fe mern o the island of n the East coast . From the fron tiers o r the S k u db o rg - rivu let to Tondern there likewise dwells none but real Jutes , but after them come the

o - n o t o f N rth Frisians , who are alone in possession the 4 6

- Marsh lands from Tonder to the Eider , but also inhabit

a part o f G e e sten or the high - land which in former

F o re e e s t. times , was called the Frisian g The Frisians certainly speak at the present time common German o r i lo w er Saxon ; those who dwell towards the North can also Speak their Danish and besides that their old Frisian

so language , that this people are in a manner (trilingues)

three tongued . 4 7

VI.

T a n different Princes to whom the Danish Kings

o f ff resigned parts Sleswick as feo s , and namely the most G important amongst them , the Dukes Of ottorp Shewed

o f but little gratitude towards the crown D enmark , to whom they owed their possessions . They always showed themselves as not to be relied o n in decisive moments and at length went Over to decided enmity a gainst Den 4 6 2 7 ” mark . When Wallenstein in , during the time that Christian the Fourth took part in the defence o f the pro

R a testant eligion gainst the emperor , fell into the penin sula , Duke Frederick the Third of Gottorp concluded a separate agreement with him and garrisoned the imperial

His troops in his castles and towns . subjects , namely the

Frisians and Angles , showed however greater fidelity towards Denmark than their regent , and yielded Christian the Fourth powerful assistance against the enemies o f the country . It is worth while to notice these returning ex

’ pressions o f the people s attachment to Denmark in oppo si tio u to the very different conduct o f the regents of the

o u t country In the following war , which broke with

In later times also , in the remarkable years 4 8 0 4 and 4 8 07 the

inhabitants of Sleswick showed a lively interest and enthusiasm fo r

. the Danish cause The celebrated Danish actor , Knudsen , travelled

S w a n d v ff t n about in les ick ga e performances in the di erent ow s , 4 8

Sweden in 4 6 4 3 Duke Frederick the Third acted in the

o n f 4 6 5 same way , and the breaki n g o peace in 7 he took open part for Sweden . With that success which

— s o n - in accompanied the arms of his law Charles the Tenth ,

o f Ro e s k ilde 4 6 5 8 in he succeeded at the peace , in , getting the sovereignty O f his part o f Sleswick made over

s a his ff to him , that is to y , the abolition of feo ment to

fo r Denmark , yet only himself and his male heirs . The hostile position w hich the Dukes of G ottorp had

u a l taken p gainst the rea m , and which in the following times was formed into a fixed political system , as they concluded alliances with and constantly sought the support

o f and resort of the enemies the country , could not but call forth a Similar determined and firm endeavour o n the part o f the Danish government to humble a power that had raised itself by foreign arms within the boun da ries of the kingdom . An almost uninterrupted series o f violent disputes and bloody wars was the result hereof. Hereby the Danish language and nationality o f the inba b ita nts ff su ered much , as the Dukes vented their anger o n s a w o f them , and in their oppression a means loosen ing the land more completely from Denmark . Duke Frederick the Fourth who bore an inveterate hatred to

D enmark made no concealment o f it. By his command the old national flag , Dannebrog , had to give way , in

4 6 9 6 o ne . He , for a new composed by himself also

amongst others in Flensborg , for the benefit of the wounded and t 4 0 4 prisoners in the bat le of 8 on the road of Copenhagen , whereby

o f 4 8 0 7 th e rich contributions came in . During the events , post of fice in Flensborg was as if besieged at a ll times by masses of fl persons who waited for the news from Sealand . A volunteer ri e

‘ corps was formed to take part in the defence of the country . ff a s National poems and songs were di used in Sleswick , as well

in the o ther parts O f Denmark .

50

and by degrees also in the churches in a ll p la c e s where

’ l the e o le the Danish language was stil alive amongst p p ,

u o f and likewise , in the sec lar administration the country ,

ffi : by degrees appointed Danish men to o ce then , if his successors to the throne had worked in the same dire c

u tion , the Danish tongue wo ld now have sounded just as purely and unmixed in the south of Sleswick to the

S lie th e , as it sounds in the north , and complications of the present time have been avoided . But nothing was

n o t k done . It is the least , that Denmar has to complain

o f her German - minded and partly German - Speaking

s o a Kings , that they in high degree neglected their call ing , that of maintaining and protecting the Danish lan guage and nationality in Sleswick : It must n o t be for

gotten , that Germanizing had its free course , not only in

o f the ducal part Sleswick but also in the royal part, h G t at the General superintendant lotz , under King Frederick

4 6 5 0 o f the Third , about , executed his work destruction ff unhindered ; that German sheri s , magistrates and judges , g overned just as fully in the royal part as in the ducal If part . any excuse can be made available for those

Danish Kings , then it must be , that the mother tongue

and nationality were at that time empty words , to which

there was not any notion united in thought , and which

did not awaken any feeling in the heart . But yet we

u have seen that the D ke of Gottorp , Duke Frederick the

u o f Fo rth , towards the close the Seventeenth century , understood very well their signification during the war

with Denmark .

If we go somewhat further back in time , then it is

i 1 n evident ; that the progress of German sm South Jutland , must have been powerfully forwarded by the Germa n

thi‘ o ne Kings who , the one after the other , ascended the 5 1

o f i o f Ba Denmark , Erik of Pomeran a , Christopher

Christie rn varia , and the First three German Kings in the course o f half a c entu rV ° the n Frederick the First

and Christian the Third , who even did not understand Danish ; at length Frederick the Third and Christian the f Fi th , at whose courts the German language and tone

c o nfida nts was the ruling one , and whose favorites and

' were Germans . Therefore it is not alone o f the Dukes f l o Gottorp that o n e must comp ain .

It however appeared as if Christian the Sixth would ,

o f a n d as far as possible , make good the fault his father

his predecessors . It cannot have been any particular interest for the language o r nationality that thus led the

h 1s King , for usual conversation was German , and he

never wrote anything in Danish , but much in German ,

o f and the whole those about him were Germans . His feeling o f justice has been rather s e t in motion by learn ing the debasement and Oppression which the Danish language suffered in Sleswick ; but it was however the religious interest that drove him on most . As a pious and christian man he was apprehensive , that so many

w o f souls would perhaps be lost , because the ord God was made known to them in a language they did not

o f understand , and the doctrines Christianity thus preached as to the deaf. He felt himself pressed in his con

n his science , that such thi gs should take place during

to se e . reign , and determined it remedied The trans

o n o n actions that were carried , this occasion , are not so remarkable for the fruits they bore for they were very inconsiderable and scarcely to be traced in the fol

’ w dis lowing times as thereby , that they she the King s

n o t position and intentions , and give some uninteresting

o f particulars about the state the language at that time .

4 . 52

The King cha rg e d the clergy and secular dignitaries

o f of the Dukedom , by a command dated the Tenth July

4 7 3 9 o f , to give in an account the position between the church and school language and that o f the people towards each other in the different districts of Sleswick . These

w accounts , which came in by degrees , ere all drawn up

a o in Germ a n . From the jurisdiction of Haderslev the count was satisfactory ; the church language and that of

the people was here the same , namely Danish ; in the town of Haderslev they at that time preached three Danish

’ sermons a week for two German . They however added

this hint to the account , that it would not be unserviceable

w n if the inhabitants in the country , as well as in the to , ” were instructed in German , in order that they might in time be the better able to understand the laws o f the

land , and edicts which were indited in the German lan

o r guage , whatever else was to be expedited in that

’ la ng ua g e f It is this erroneous argument that has brought about

s o much misfortune in Sleswick ; they concluded that the Danish people ought to learn German because the laws and ordinances are German ; instead of w h1 ch it ought naturally to be : the laws and ordinances should be

in Danish , because the people are Danish . The accounts

from Aabenraa and the jurisdiction o f L yg u m - cloister are

u most remarkable , because in these the sec lar dignitary ,

the judge of the district , and the church dignitary , the

dean , stood up against each other ; the former defending

h. the German , the latter defending the Danis The dean

h - - remarked , t at in the country the church and school lan

guage in both jurisdictions was everywhere Danish , but

L u m - in the hamlet of yg cloister , though the inhabitants

a nd t only spoke Danish , scarcely a thir ieth part under 4 6 8 4 n stood German , yet in , whe the place stood under

ih the rule of the Dukes of Gottorp , German had been

d e o f tro du c e and preached every second tim instead Danish ,

w o f which ho ever on account its inutility had been changed ,

r s o that German was preached every third time . He p o

u s e o f posed that the German preaching should be restricted , o r as far more injurious than beneficial , entirely done

o f away with , or at least the bad custom abolished singing m German psal s and saying the benedictions in German , in the Danish church service The judge o f the district

t ff e : r O o s1t1 o n mean di er ntly his p p to the King was , that

o ld everything ought to remain in the way ; for , firstly ,

inh a b i they were now once accustomed to it, secondly , the tants understood sufficient German , and thirdly that the

w h o Hamburg lace merchants , came to the place , would be much displeased and perhaps plague the King with ” ” their peevishness , which might be avoided if they let f everything remain as it was . These reasons o the judge were found valid by the King , who ordered , that it sho u ld remain in that way which was n o w the custom ; yet Germa n psalms and benedictions Should be done away with in the Danish divine service . In the account from the jurisdiction o f T ender the

w Frisian parishes are reckoned , here the inhabitants

Speak Frisian , but the church and school language was

n c o n e ra tio ns German , the the Danish g g where the church

bu t and school language is Danish , lastly there is added

L u m Hu m tru Bra deru ~ Ka r the parishes of Uberg , yg , p , p , lum , Ladelund and Middelby , where the popular language

w is Danish , but here , as it states , there was formerly preached more German than Danish and the instr u ction m in the schools almost continually co municated in German . t Yet it is said , tha they had already begun fo r some 54

time before to forward the Danish more in several places ,

o ne and that in of the parishes , Uberg , arrangements w ere made for Danish preaching and exa m in a tl o ns . Ho w it ‘ has gone in the following times with these congrega

o f r tions , so deserving commiseration , we , shall speak mo e

O f f Hcier a . o fully fterwards the parish it is remarked ,

a D that the preaching is cert inly in anish , but that hitherto they had sung in German ; yet now care wouldbe taken that they always used Danish psalms . The King resolved that in the appointment of the clergy and school teachers in the whole jurisdiction it should be provided that those appointed understood both languages . In the account which came in from G ottorp it is remarked , that according to the statements that had been collected from all the parishes in Angel , belonging to the

o f jurisdiction Gottorp , the inhabitants certainly spoke

n G e r D anish amo gst themselves , but likewise understood

s o w man ell , that instruction in the schools and church co uld be communicated to them in th e German language

e dific ti n without danger to their a o and progress . And besides there was not found , in the whole jurisdiction of

o r Gottorp , a single clergyman schoolmaster who was

o f able to fulfil the duties his office in Danish . There appears this remarkable expression in the

’ ! ” King s Resolution that it was his purpose , by degrees to introd u ce the Danish language agai n into the Duchy of

Sleswick , where it had fallen rather into disuse . He therefore declared it as his w ill that the offices in the church and schools Should in future be filled by persons

u who understood both Danish and German , and co ld

o f execute the duties their office in both languages .

o f The statement from the jurisdiction Flensborg ,

in t t u which came las , contained in eresting information abo t 55

of the state o f the language . In the whole deanery

Bredste d a w a s Flensborg and the district of , high Germ n

- the church - and school language . About the Frisian dis

trict Bre dsted , , it is remarked that , the inhabitants use the German (low German) together with the o ldFrisian

u o f e o f tong e , with the exception perhaps the parish s f Fio lde and Joldelund , where Danish has di fused itself as

lo w no tw ithsta ndin - well as the German , g the church and

school language is high German . In the four collective districts which form the jurisdiction o f Flensborg, namely

- N - U e l- c e - Husby district , y district , g distri t and Vi s district ,

- o f that is , North Angel and the middle part Sleswick ,

- - n the church and school language is high Germa , but the

o f o f e language the inhabitants Danish , and in none thes districts are the inhabitants able to express themselves

N - perfectly in German , except perhaps in y district , which

o f is the nearest to the jurisdiction Gottorp . It would therefore be useful if the clergy together with German

is a lso understood Danish , as it Spoken here . But most

o f - to s o the clergy there are also able do , as they are

born here in the country .

- o f In Husby district there are the parishes Adelby,

N lsk o v H H G ru mto ft . H y , usby , yrup and ere the Danish

N - d is much more in use than in y istrict , and in parti

o nlar amongst the women , there are few who are able

. Bu t s to Speak German in the three first named parishe , the clergymen are also natives ; whereas the two last have native Germans for clergymen , who cannot make themselves understood in Danish . ’

N - Of the five parishes which y district includes , there

in ca se o d are native clergymen in the two , who f nee can speak Danish with their parishioners . The rest are b o rn it Germans , who do not understand Danish , but 56

e dific a tio n o f a does not injure the the inhabit nts much , as those in this district are n ot entir ely str a ng er s to the

German language . In Ug g el and Vies district Danish is Spoken in a ll the parishes , but the clergymen are also natives , who in ca se of needcan express themselves in the language o f their parishioners . W d ith regar to the clerks and schoolmasters , they h are altogether natives , and as suc can avail themselves o f the Danish language as it is spoken here in the dis

I n o f trict. consequence this statement the King com ma nde d o n a o f l that , the ppointment c ergymen and school masters the preference should in future be given to those

w ho h persons understood both German and Danis , and the last particularly in that dialect which was Spoken in

every place . The resolutions and ordinances o f Christian the Sixth for the preservation o f the Danish tongue in Sleswick

bore no fruit , and it may easily be seen why . If a popular language is to be saved from the destruction with

o n o f its which it is threatened , account having been

fo r o f neglected a long time , through the forced introduction

u a foreign tong e , and again raised to its lost dignity and

’ respect , then it is not enough , that the people s teachers speak t o them in the usual careless dialect o f the com m o n people ; but they should raise and purify it by

in using the language its purest and noblest form , just

it o f as appears in the cultivated language conversation ,

n and in a good and aturally written language . Besides the clerg ymen were not even charged to preach Danish

to their Danish congregation , but only to understand the

so common language , as to be able to Speak with such o f t heir parishioners as coul d not make themselves under

VI I.

a r was done by the Danish government in the nearest subsequ ent time fo r the preservation of the Danish language in Sleswick , is confined to a Patent of the

o f 4 7 4 3 n First April , where the Sleswick and Holstei students were enco u raged to frequen t the university in

Copenhagen , with the promise that their stay here Should

o n be taken into consideration their promotion , also that they by an additional patent o f the Twenty second o f

June should be exempted , , in such case , from taking th e examination for admission to the university o f C O p en

But hagen . as there was no arrangement united . with the University to meet the necessities of the Sleswick

u th e students for an ed cation , that had regard to parti o o f nlar state their native district , namely by lectures on the law and administration o f Sleswick : it was of course without any great fruits . The matter was besides badly conceived , as the patent also extended to the German students in Holstein . From the reasons adduced , the

t o f reasonable and otherwise correc resolution the King , dated the Twentieth of O ctober 4 7 5 8 to the th e olo

” ic a l S lesw ick ers n o g faculty , that the native , less

o r N n than other Danish orwegia students , should be ad mitte d s o b to enjoy board in the college , that the su jects in Sleswick ought no t to be regarded otherwise than what 59

w i they actually are , namely real Danes and born thin ’ ’ o f n the boundaries Denmark s kingdom , had ot any particularly remarkable results A strange contrast to the

o ne design , which must suppose was the reason for those two royal notifications , forms the edict published ten years 4 7 6 8 afterwards , viz in , whereby it was a duty imposed o n the Sleswick students to stay at the university o f Kiel for two years . One might reaso nably have expected a greater and m ore active care for the oppressed Danish language in

G uldb er Sleswick , from the g ministry , which otherwise ,

n o t its and that without , was praised for Danish !reason r o n disposition , than that which exp essed itself the appointment of a teacher in Danish fo r the students at 7 4 4 8 . m the university of Kiel , in It ust be without ff e ect as long as the students , educated at the grammar schools in Sleswick , which were all German , did not bring with them any knowledge o f the Danish language i o r acquaintance with Dan sh literature .

Frederick the Sixth , who , if he did not possess much policy , had however a popular mind and much feel in fo r o n g justice , could not look coolly! the pressure and injustice that rested on the Danish population in Sles wick . He made known , by several royal ordinances , that it was his will to se e a change brought about in this

u respect . Th s in 4 8 0 7 all the royal colleges were charged to make the royal ordinances know n b o th in Danish and

I n o c nnexion with the above , it must be called to mind that Fre

k , 29th 4 6 6 9 deric the Third by a rescript of the of December , d referre Sleswick causes to the Danish Board of Justice , but his

a fe w successor on the throne bolished it a months afterwards , by

2 6th o f u 4 6 7 0 instructions to the German Board of Justice of the J ly ,

a o ccording to which most of the Sleswick causes were referred theret . 60

i

w . German . It a s made known by several resolutions in

4 8 4 4 w the year and follo ing years , that in the appoint

to fi ment of persons of ce , there would , under otherwise m equal circu stances , be a preference given to those can dida tes who possessed a knowledge Of the D anish lan

guage , and they were charged to produce evidence thereof

o n petitioning for offices . It was particularly important

u and very promising , that , by a rescript from the s perior l 4 8 4 4 tribuna of Gottorp , dated January the nineteenth ,

to all the magistrates in the Dukedom , it was declared

’ as the King s will , that the Danish language should by

u i degrees be introd ced in divine service , in nstruction in

o f the schools , in the courts justice and all public con

his cerns in those districts where it was spoken . To t

o f 4 8 4 4 was added the ordinance the Fifth of November , which gave the theological candidates , who had passed

o f their examination at the university Copenhagen , the

o r right to appointment in the Dukedom . Lastly by an

dina n c e 4 8 4 4 Ia n . regarding the schools , in , the Danish guage was introduced as an object o f ed u cation in the m gram ar schools . But the weakness and vacillation of the Danish government , which we have Oftener had occa

to . sion complain of , we must also complain of here It

n is true , the ordi ances that were issued from the royal

colleges were made known both in Danish and German , but the proclamations of the magistrates continued to be

in issued only German . Danish , it is true , was made

an object of instruction in the grammar schools , but how it has been carried into effect with that instruction was

clearly seen some years ago , when the North Sleswick

i juridical officers , a whole generat on after the introduction o f - h the new school ordinance into the grammar sc ools , ! declared , that they did not rightly understand D anish 6 1

The most important and worst was however , that the

n th e royal purpose , that of introduci g Danish language

th e into public life there , where it prevailed in daily life , was never realised . O n e of the pressures that rested hard on the Danish

' r esu lt o f population of Sleswick , as a the ascendency of

Germanism was , that the German language had made

o f th e itself valid in the courts law throughout land , right f f to Ko ng e a a en ) . German laws and courts o justice and

a s the German language in those courts , was valid well as the Danish ; which was n o t yet entirely rooted o u t ; not only in those districts where the church - and - school

w a s language German , if even the popular language were

Danish , but even in these jurisdictions where both the popular language and school - and — church language was

o n E m A 15 T en der L u m Danish , and , in , Aabenraa , yg cloister and Haderslev jurisdictions : directly outside the gates o f Kolding o ne saw Germa n placards with judicial

u . edicts , notices and proclamations stuck p The Danish citizen and farmer had to seek justice at a German tri

o n bunal , the evidences and explanations made oath , in

w er e ' tra nsla te d his mother tongue , into German , Ger man advocates pleaded causes and German judges decided

u them . R inous misunderstandings , perplexities in the t causes and endless law suits , were the inevitable resul s

o f thereof. Several those German jurists a fterwards de cla re dthat they did not v r ightly understand Danish ! The many kinds of German laws which forced their way in amongst the Danish , produced such a chaotic confusion m in the law and ad inistration thereof , that it was almost

‘ w The Kin g s rivulet , hich forms the boundary between the king

dom a n dthe duchy of Sleswick . 62 impossible for a ny man to know what was juridically f right o r wrong . More than thirty dif erent statute laws are valid to this day in the Duchies , besides numberless edicts and resolutions , and in Sleswick alone there existed ,

o n e and certainly still exist , hundred and fifty seven dis f tricts for the administration o justice . Under such a

o f h state things , the advocates , of w om an immense num h er are found in this little land , thrive and flourish ; under such a state o f things la w suits have rich mainte nance , for which reason they also begin to be a common

o f fault with the inhabitants the country , who are other wise so respectable in character . Christian the Eighth

o f o f marked the first year his reign by an act justice , which had for its aim the abrogation Of an important part o f b e o f o f the evil , as by a rescript the Fourteenth May 4 8 4 0 ordained that the Danish language should hereafter be introduced into the government affairs and causes in the courts o f justice m those districts where it was the

- - His church and school language . claim to a grateful a p preciation would have been more undivided , if he had possessed just as much power to make the law valid , as a fe elmg fo r justice and equity by affirming it . But a terrible resistance arose from the whole host o f Ger man jurists , and it became still more violent , when the peasants according to Danish custom now also began to

o f fo r introduce courts arbitration amongst themselves , this was trea dmg to o close upon the advocates . Christian

n the Eighth was not able to co quer the refractory parties , he w a s obliged to give his just command several r estric tions , and the law was , as the inhabitants complained , continually avoided and se t aside . A nation is generally accustomed to find protection a nddefence against injustice from its representatives . The 63

Danish people in Sleswick have not been s o fortun ate . O ne o f the causes is the unpopular nature of the election ’ h a s laws , which prevented the people s wants and Opinions from being properly made known in the assembly of de p u ties ; the strongly represented Sleswick aristocracy is entirely German in mind and speech . Another cause is , that the bureaucracy , which is likewise entirely German

o f a n dlike a net encircles the whole Sleswick , has , by m its influence in any places , been able to work on the choice even o f representatives . The advocates and jurists o f the town o f Sleswick formed about a sixth part o f the assembly of representatives . There is no trace what

in o f o f ever the ordinances the assembly , any special care for the national benefit of the Danish population which the condition of the coun try claimed in so commanding a manner . In the beginning the representative assembly showed itself however reasonable ; even in 4 8 3 8 it gave in a

v io motion which , it is true was only received after

of fiv e lent opposition and with only a majority votes , that the Danish language should be introduced in all g o v ernm ent and juridical causes in those districts o f the

Dukedom where the church - and - school language is D a

f o f nish , also that the o fices in the Danish part Sleswick should be filled by men w h o were fully masters o f the

D anish language . But this was also only a mistake ; the assembly soon after came to its senses and a better acknowledgement . At the next meeting already in the

e a r 4 8 4 0 y the assembly declared , in excusing itself , that ” it , by the former motion had allowed itself to be ” l e dby a certain feeling o f humanity it acknowledged ” ” n o w 3 3 its error , and moved , with a great majority , against 9 that the rescript o f the Fourteenth o f May 64

4 8 4 0 o w n , which was called forth at its request , might be abrogated , or postponed for further consideration , as far as it concerned the introduction o f the Danish as a judicial and business language ! But the assembly surpassed itself on meeting again i 4 8 4 n 2 . At the close of that year , the notorious meet

r eS 1 dent o f ings were held , in which the p the assembly refused the Danish deputy , Peter Hjort Lorenzen , to make speeches in his Danish mother tongue , whilst the mem bers of the assembly m ade an alarm and uttered insulting t ejaculations during his Speech , and at length the presiden closed the last of these scandalous meetings with the de cla ra tio n P H L , that he would prohibit eter jort orenzen by force from admission to the hall , if he did not lay aside

’ his Danish speeches . The King of Denmark s representa

Re v entlo w C rim1 n1 l o f tive in the assembly , , president the

- H o f Sleswick olstein board justice , remained mute during

u fo r these scenes , tho gh his assistance was called ; just as he in previous transactions , when insulting expressions were used against Denmark , had shown himself hard of hearing . The secretaries declared themselves unable to underta ke the entries in the minute book in the Danish language , which they had however done often in the years

’ 4 8 3 8 4 8 4 0 P H L o r enz en s and , and eter jort Sp eech was ” give n in the German and Danish edition of the Provincial Estates Gazette” with the words ” Pe ter Hjort Lorenzen

” ” r edete a isch and Peter Hjort Lorenzen for tfu hr

” D anish z u r eden ; Peter Hjor t Lorenzen spoke Danish and Peter Hjort Lorenzen continued to speak Da

b e nish These words have Since , in all their brevity,

this come an eulogium rich in matter , over now deceased

to man , whom the Danish nation owes a great debt of

* f fi S O selves to be su ciently masters of the German language , as to be able to avail themselves thereof in their Speeches ” in the assembly . Thus when they could not Spe a k

erml ssw n u se German correctly , they then first got p to their unworthy mother tongue ! This was the m ainte

” nance o f the na tu r a l r ights ! Every Danish m a n felt the blow that was given to the dignity o f the Danish

” r language , eve y one felt his national honour humiliated

- by this decisio n o f the case . A petition with pressing representations against the patent o f the Twenty ninth o f

s e t d March was in motion and elivered to the King , con taining signatures ; the Sleswick union , con

o f l o f sisting the smal land owners North Sleswick , like

in to wise gave an address the King , wherein a bitter

o f feeling humiliated right expressed itself , and several o f the North Sleswick deputies made a declaration that

no t o f they would meet in the coming assembly deputies , as long as the patent Of the Twenty ninth o f March was ff in force . But all was without e ect . The German coun s ello rs were so powerful in the halls of the Danish King

o f even in these las t times . The state the language

o u t remained thus , until the breaking of the Augustenborg

revolt . 67

W e v have seen , that that which go ernment did for the preservation o f the Danish to n gue and customs of the

people , in Sleswick , was extremely little ; that it was

o r n w a nd either accessory careless , or , whe it acted , eak

s o irresolute , that it either was not able or soon forgot to procure strength and validity to those laws and ordi

nances which itself gave . But what did the people then do when the government attended so badly to its duty ?

’ Under an absolute government , such as Denmark s , the people are only passive and suffering good o r evil according to circumstances ; the government is the

a ctl v e sole element in the state . Therefore at that time

the people could do but little in exterior acts . But no sooner had the absolute power received a considerable

modification , if not in form , yet in being , by the intro

o f o f n duction the assembly deputies , tha the awakened Spirit o f the people also moved powerfully amongst the n o f ff atives Sleswick . Hitherto they had sighed and su ered in : a c t - silence they now began to , and as those , whom

es e c ia llv it more p concerned , to defend their rights and their mother tongue themselves . It was a Sleswick peasant ,

o f L ilho ldt Nis Lorenzen , , who , when the provincial as s embl fo r th e f 4 8 3 6 y met irst time , in the year , brought

u se forward the motion , lately mentioned , respecting the

5 * 68

o f the Danish language in all public transactions , in those

- - districts where it was the church and school lang uage . At that time however the deputies could not find time to disc u ss the motion ; but repeated in the year 4 8 3 8 t and supported by many petitions , amongs which several

u 4 5 0 0 from the j risdiction of Haderslev , with signatures ,

it passed through , though after violent opposition . We have already stated how the deputies sought to overturn

w 4 8 4 0 their own work in the follo ing meeting in , and

’ Peter Hjort L o r enz e n s manly combat for the Danish lan 4 guage in 4 8 2 . The union that was formed by native

S le sw ick e rs 4 8 3 9 in the year , amongst whose members

’ e d e the student and p asant s son , Nis Hansen , istinguish d

his o f himself by activity , for the diffusion Danish literature in Sleswick . To those evils which resulted from the u nnatural condition that existed between Sleswick and

n : the mother country , there also belo gs this the Sles wickers were formerly almost excluded from the produc tions o f the Danish literature . Ho w vividly this restraint had been felt , was shown by the eagerness with which the aim of the union was met and supported by the inhabita nts of the country . Reading clubs were formed everywhere and many thousands of Danish books were distributed . To this there was suitably added the publica

o f w tion a Danish newspaper , hich , under the name of 3 8 h D a nnev irk e 4 8 . . w o was begun in by P E Koch , has

w t . edited it i h much ability , until the present time This paper , which has gained an extensive circulation , has fro m its first b e g mm n g contained almost entirely original articles by native S lesw ic k e rs . Another Danish n ewspaper afterwards appeared in Aabenraa , published by Fischer . The indefatigableness and obstinacy o f the German oppo

u sitiou party , at length ta ght the Danish population that, 6 9

in order to effect anything they must join together and

w a s act in unity . The fruit of this acknowledgement

o f the S lesw ick u nion the foundation , for which the appeal

was m ade by tw enty five peasants in the year 4 8 4 3 .

- It has sustained many a hard struggle , and the time following its commencement b e en the ce ntre of almost all endeavours that h a dfor their object the defence o f the

’ mother tongue , the nationality , and the people s rights . D uring the combat they felt vividly the loss O f that cul tiv a tio n which the higher schools a n d institutions for

education ought to give the children of the country , but

S lesw ick er which is denied to the Danish , if he will not give his mother tongue in payment as school money . In order

te n to remedy this want, four clergymen and peasants issued an appeal for the purpose of founding a high - school for peasants . This appeal met with a response , and the school in Rodding ha s now worked successfully for several years

’ i to extend Danish S p irit a ndeducation amongst the rural populat1 o n o f Sleswick They have endeavoured to strengthe n one another and enliven their courage and Spirit during the combat by meetings and public assem

n k mlin s blies . Amongst these the popular meetings o S a g bank are particularly celebrated over the North . Here the peasants L a ur ids S ha u and young R a v n have shown in eloquent Speeches that they not only speak Danish in

w b ut . Sles ick , good Danish

- But even in those times , when the people were excluded from public life , and dared not express them selves in outward acts , the Danish people in Sleswick did : the did however much for they were persevering , y ,

That all these endeavours of the S le s w ic k e rs found po w erful sup

in ports Denmark , it is almost needless to say ; or else Denmark

was not Danish . 70

not give up their mother tongue . If it even durst n o t e sound from the judgement seat , if even the peopl might

’ in a not hear it God s house , though another langu ge was

o n imprinted the children in the schools by force , nay

’ under threat o f the schoolmaster s punishment they were

o ut o f even charged to practise themselves , school hours ,

in in talking low or high German , as the school boys the middle ages practised themselves in Latin : y et all this was not able to root ou t that deeply rooted love for their

n o t mother tongue . They did forget it o n this account

o f in the domestic circle , amongst the members the family, ti during their daily occupa ons , in familiar intercourse with neighbours and townsmen , it now sounded as before , refreshed and nourished by an oldchronicle about the deeds of their forefathers , which in the early ages had

o r o f strayed into these districts , was the remains older and better times . There is a strange p ower in that tongue ,

o f which sounds by the cradle the child , that clangs in his ears during his growth up to the youth and man ,

’ during life s pleasures and sorrows , great and small events ; there is in it a tou ghness and resisting power which scarcely anything is able to conquer . The mother tongue

’ is bound u p with a people s inward root and marrow ;

o f fo r it has a sort immortality , it lives as long as a

o r people themselves do not die bodily spiritually ,

o f the m It is owing to this peculiar life other tongue ,

and this true adherence to it received from their fathers , in conjunction with different accidental and favorable out

'

ward circumstances , which Shall be afterwards touched

u i on , that the Danish tong e in Slesw ck , after all the

so pressure it has had , has still lost proportionately little

o ld . of its doma ins Though covered with scars and bruises ,

and bleeding with fresh wounds after the long combat, 7 1

the Danish S lesw ick e r has still in our days the greatest part of that domain o f language in his possession which

ha s belonged to him from olden times . We should not lay this aside without stre n gthening

it by unexceptionable evidence . We shall here , as we

r ma have regula ly do in the previous chapters , and will

the o u r do in following , chiefly ground assertions on those o f German authorities , born Germans , or German authors . If we appealed to Danish authorities o u r antagonists would naturally not neglect to make them suspected as partial

and willing witnesses . They belong to the close o f the former and the beginning o f this century and thus hav e

t o n o ne s o the advantage , tha they the side stand far

‘ from o u r time that its violent combat has n o t been able to se t their passions in motion and mislead their judge

o n so r ment ; the other side they are nea it , that their statements can also be applied to the situation o f the present time to denote its nature .

The German author L . A . G ebha rdi writes thus in ” 4 7 7 0 : o n in In the town of Sleswick itself and further ,

H fin ds a straight line , until usum , one the Danish there

bu t (towards the South) quite unknown and uncommon ,

’

‘ dir ectly in the neat t v illa g es of A ng el the common ma n SPea k s

” o nly D a nish .

. . H a n o n J F ansen , author of esteemed work the

o f Duchy Sleswick , expressed himself in the following

4 7 7 0 o f terms , in , respecting the relative proportions ” : d the language In the juris iction of Gottorp , as far as h the Slic lies to the Nort , and in the jurisdiction of Flens

D a nish is ener a ll s a /fen b the ea sa nt borg , g y p y p , although the Danish church service is only performed in high ” German . 7 2

. f i m rsh . o D t a J A Bolten , a native , determines the

’ 4 7 7 7 th e fo llo w in : boundary in , in g manner ” Even to the present time o n e perceives by the lan

u a nd g age how far the Danes Saxons dwelt formerly , a s on the N or th o the S lie a t lea st in the cou ntr a ll f , y ,

S ea k D a nish p , but on the South , nothing is heard but ” German .

f en dsb o r . . o R H O Scheel , a native g , in a work

in 4 7 8 5 which he wrote German in , and which was

n afterwards tra slated into Danish , expresses himself as follows ” That Jutland (North and South Jutland) has al w ays

o ld is been an cimbric and therefore Danish province ,

n o t a lo ne b the D a nish la n u a e w hich is s ok en proved , y g g , p a s fa r a s the S lie and the above mentioned South Jut

u o f land Boundaries , but also by the constr ction the wall ” Dannevirke .

o n e An anonymous German author , but particularly t well acquainted with the nature of the subjec , writes in 4 7 9 9 ” I will now point o u t the boundary between these

T hi i S l r m two people . s bo u nda ry s the ic a n dthe w a y f o

H u u m A n el b he S li is e tir el D a nish S lesw ick to s . g y t e n y a ndso a r e a ll the inha bita nts o n the N or th side of the

b bo m l i w a y etw een th n a edp a ces a ndthe env r ons. Those who live nearest the South side of this way are not a ll

t o f Germans , but for the most par a commingling both ” nations .

K . Aagaard , clergyman of the parish of Agerskov in l S eswick , a clever man and one well acquainted with the localities of the district , and who has written an

o n T ornin lehn o f esteemed work g in Sleswick , speaks the

7 4

T o h this owever the author adds the remark , that

S v a nso o f the S lie just as , South , was before Germanized , s o does the low German make its way more and more ” o ld o f into South Angel , as if the language their fore

fo r fathers was no longer good enough them , just as if the equally plain Holstein tongue was so much more ele add gant . To these somewhat elder authorities we shall

c o f . . an eviden e taken from the present time ; that J G Kohl , s o w n well kno n to the E glish reader , from his travels in England and Ireland ; and who has travelled and remained in those districts we have alluded to , in order to make himself acquainted with the state o f the language and

He 8 : nationality . writes in the year 4 4 7 ”It is certainly possible that the Danish language will hereafter succumb much q uicker and more completely than before in the surrounding districts . I say it is pos l sible , but until further this fact stil stands fast , that the German language since its first contact with the Danish

S lie in the district around the , during its combat with the same for nearly a thousand years , has only perfectly rooted it o u t in a little district o f scarcely fo rtv square miles (English) . Notwithstanding that many German knights , and m any German priests have immigrated thither ; not

o f withstanding German administration justice , German laws and German family customs are introduced and made valid

e t there , y the German language has only gained ground and driven the Danish entirely out of the e ig the enth part o f the area of the whole Duchy of Sleswick , about seven

w hundred square miles . When we think that the hole o f Jutland with the Duchy of Sleswick is about tw o thou

in sand eight hundred square miles extent , and that con sequently the former part contains about the seventieth

o f w o f part the hole Jutland , which it has taken about 7 5

u e so o n e a thousand years to conq er ntirely , can after that make a tolerable calculation o f ho w long a time the Germans have yet to wait before they s e e their wish accomplished ; namely those Germans who prate so much about that lance s haft which the Emperor O tto once stuck

a L iimfio rd a e down in the soil of Jutl nd , by the ; who pr t a b ciu t its flourishing and shooting forth of branches ; those

w ho Germans , find something glorious therein , - namely

' that the Danish lang uage shall once h e supplanted by the

German , which should then prevail right up to the cap e o f

We have cited a series o f witnesses from 4 7 7 0 to 4 8 4 7 , and that witness , which even the most zealous

German will not be a ble to reject very well . According to them therefore , it stands as certain , that the domain o f the Danish tongue during the long combat for its 0 p pressio n has been expelled but very very little from its o ld o n a u i precincts , the East side bo t e ght miles (English)

S v a nso towards the North ; that it , besides , has only lost

o f o f a piece Angel , along the firth She ; and that the

r n o t s it low Ge man does , even here , particularly fast,

do we shall soon bring forth reasons fo r . We Danes not therefore complain s o much o f the loss we have s u f fere d (though it is always hard to lose any part o f

o u r to those domains , which forefathers have confided their successors from generation to generation as a sacr e d

inheritance , that they should guard and preserve them undiminished until the latest times) as of that con

tempt , debasement and oppression , under which the Da

ff uff nish language in Sleswick has su ered , and still s ers ,

’

. . . da nis c h e N a tio na lite t w J G Kohl Die Deutsche und in Schles ig . 4 — 7 . . 4 3 5 3 4 8 P 1 7 . 76

‘ o f a and those dangers with which the future thre tens it , if a barrier be not placed against that encroaching Ger

n o w manism which advances m o re strongly than before . We shall now see more particularly how matters stand within the o ldfrontiers of the p e ople and the lan

guage , and take a view of the particular districts . That ' part w hich is bounded on the North by Husum

v i S lie s) ri ulet , Trene , Dannev rke , the , the remain of the

- E e rnfio rd o Eastern wall and g , and towards the S uth by

o ld - fo rms a n o w , the Eider and the Levens beck , which

o u t o f l part of the Eider canal , lies consideration , as wel

o f F em ern as the island , which has partly a Slavonian , and partly a German populatio n that has emigrated

~ hic . a rt w h thereto afterwards This p , , as it has been remarked , lay desert in the olden times , except towards

b e en ul the West , where the Frisians dwelt , has c tivated by degrees and taken possession o f by Germans and has never been Danish . F o r the same reasons we will not

o f Ren dsb o r take notice the Sleswick town g , which lies

erm ‘ n in the original G a n tra ct o f land . With the Frisia s

n o t we have properly anything to do either , if it were not in order to draw attention to the remarkable fact, D that the anish language in this part gains in extent , and

u ite ea e u ll i d o f that q p c f y a ndu nconstr a ne . The parishes

Klixb ol L ack F o lde Aventoft , , , Joldelund , j , Olderup and S v esing were originally Frisian and the Frisian language was spoken there ; but the Danish langu a ge has diffused itself amongs t them by degrees . That this is an entirely

a peaceful cquisition , is best perceived thereby, that at the same time that the Danish language has gained a fast footing here , the high German both has been and is the

- - church and school language . One can b e less astonished

o f that Eiderstedt and , generally , the whole tract land 77

Hev e rstr e a m between the Eider , and Trene which was

i a originally Fris an , has dopted the low German language ,

as German church - and - school lan guage has been intro

o f du c e dhere ever since the time the Reformation . But

m y the Frisians , once a strong and anl tribe are now

u pon the whole a sinking and expiring race , who , without showing any power of resistance against that which forces

o n S itself them from without , seek to ecure themselves

by withdrawing within themselves . They ha v e also shown

this in the present revolt , where they would sustain a

o n sort of neutral position , but the other side also without

supporting their lawful prince .

n The Frisia towns Tonning , Garding and Husum

u F r e which have adopted the low German lang age , and

der ick sta dt w , hich is a Dutch colony , does not belong

to our province to speak of here . The first tract of land we m eet with above the

' o u t S v a nso boundary we have pointed , is the peninsula of

E ern fio rd o ld la n d between g and the Slic , an Danish ,

as Danish as a ny other can be . All the names o f the

: Flaek k eb older villages and estates are Danish , such as y ,

E ernfio rd E sk ilsm a rk E rnu m Vindeby and the town g , , ,

Krisb Nordby , Sonderby , Gammelby , Borreby , Stubbe , y ,

S isb Vindem a rk S v a n ds b o r E s e naes N o naes y , Stavn , , g , p , ,

Ul enaes Be enaes Bij a a p , g , g , Nyby , Skovby , Tumby , Soby,

' ’ Ko thov e d a E hov e d , Kob ek , Egholt , g , Barkelsby , and Bro de rsb y . The old Danish division into districts (he rr e der)

u was sed here , the inhabitants were free Danish peasants , and Spoke Danish . But in the middle o f the Seventeenth

‘ it h a d so sa : century already come far , that one could y ” The inhabitants make use of the low German and Da ” nish language . At the close o f the Eighteenth century ”

. it is stated in the D a nish . A tla s 4 7 8 4 : Here low . German 78

c is generally spoken , except in the towns by the Sli ,

- where they speak a corru pted Angel Danish . And at ' ” length in c ur days it is said there : Within the memory o f man Danish has still bee n heard in some villages by

S lie N o w n o r the , Danish is neither heard Spoken

v there . S a ns o is lost to the Danish language and natio n a li ty . The Germanizing has been so well based that

‘ even the German manner o f building has dislodged the

n o t . w e Danish in many places , if in most If ask the cause , the answer is not far distant, when it is remembered what was stated before about the intrusion o f t h e Hol

n l stein obility into these districts . This ittle land , about E seventeen square miles ( nglish) in extent , with

’ no bleme n s o n inhabitants , numbers twenty seven estates , which the inhabitants are divided . The population was until the year 4 8 0 6 in a complete state o f v illeinage to the nobility .

fine S lie In Angel , that and fertile land between the and Flensborg - firth with a populatio n o f persons in sixty square miles (English) the combat has been H particularly violent and the Oppression great . ere also the Holstein nobility forced their way into the inviting H districts by the S lie and the Baltic . ere are twenty six estates o f the nobility with a population of about l persons . Here a so the D anish peasants were the serfs o f the Holstein nobility ; but the rooting o u t o f the Danish language went o n more slowly here than in

‘ - o ff S v a nso that little cut land , where besides the whole population came under the nobility , whilst in Angel this

s n was only the ca e with less tha a third part , who in the rest o f the population o f the country had thus a sup

fo r . port their language This therefore maintained itself,

e o f as we hav seen , until the close the former century 7 9

the as a general and popular language over whole land ,

o f direct to the Slie . Nor did the people Angel always w illingly a nd quietly submit to their Holstein masters

o n giving them Ge rman clergymen . Thus the peasants the estate of Gelding made objections in the Sixteenth

o f century , against the appointment a clergyman because f he did not understand Danish . We have be ore shown

o w G o f h the Westphalian , lotz , made use his office , for

‘ the diffusion o f the German language . He found a worthy 4 7 5 0 successor in the Eighteenth century , , in a clergy

in man Hyrup , who amongst other things expressed him self thus to his congregation :

” H a v e I no t tried to tea ch ou G erma n ou a k y , y p c of dev ils a nd w ick edw r etches ? Bu t of w ha t u se is it?

’ T he dev il s a ck k ee s to its senseless D a nish to n u e a t p p g , ” home a ndev eryw here.

The congregation also entered an action at . law against him , which resulted in his dismissal , as his expressions were proved by witnesses . Of the state o f the three

o f n u E k sriis parishes Angel , Gelti g , Ster p and at the close o f the former and beginning of this century a valid

o f authority , Mr . Jensen parson in the parish Gelting in ” Angel relates the following : The catechism was the chief thing a ndeven old people were examined wh en they k went to confession , if they new their catechism ; but, when the meaning o f it was asked it was a difficult matter for people to express themselves ; for their sto ck o f German words and expressions was confined to w hat

o ld they had learned by heart , and the people were

” Habe ich euch T e u fe ls g e s in de und Holle nb rande nicht Deutsch reden lehren wollen ? Was h ilfl es aber ? Dieses T e ufe ls g e s inde bleibt h e y ihrer tollen danis ch en Sprache im Hanse unter sich

” und allenthalben . 80

therefore well satisfied with Pastor Kiesby clergyman 4 7 8 2 4 7 9 7 in Gelting from to , because he , being born

ex ress himself in Tonder , could p , with equal facility both

in Danish and German , also took Danish answers , and when he could not make himself understood in any other

. o f way , put his questions in Danish Pastor Bielefeld Sterup 4 7 5 8 to 4 7 9 9 distinguished those children who were able to answer with their o w n words and

encouraged them to it ; for . the Germa n would not Ho w

w w freely from their tongues , hen the sentences ere not

. P o f learned by heart astor Rinze Esgrus i. e E sk riis

” ’ ” from 4 7 6 6 to 4 8 0 4. the children s friend as t l he is s ill often cal ed , paid much attention and care to

youth and brought the children to speak , by jesting

. o n i and seriousness Directly his taking the off ce , the

use of the stick was laid aside , without the help of which they at that time th o nght it was impossible to conduct

any school . That the clergymen and schoolmasters at that time took - much pains to bring the children to speak German nay that there were those who punished the l chi dren , when they spoke Danish amongst themselves , has been much reprobated in some books abo ut the disputes respecting Danish and German ; b ut o ne must

w W consider that this was necessary , hen one ould go !” 4 beyond a simple , thoughtless , learning by heart )

3 4 64 7 . 4 4 4 . 8 4 . . . 8 N . A Jensen Beschreibung von Angeln Jensen

a was himself clergyman in Gelting until lately . That person l chas

tis me nt o f e has been applied late to children , who spoke Danish ,

3 9 . 29 . 4 8 C . Paulsen brings forward evidence in , Dannevirke No .

4 4 5 . P .

For the rest Jensen , whose evidence we have often cited ,

and will partly have occasion to cite , ought not to be judged by

n his last , above me tioned expression about enforcing German by

help of th e rod . He shows himself everywhere as a lover of f truth , and in many cases as a liberal thinking man , ree from the

82

cla ss es w ith the Danish despised amongst all the upper ,

in whom he comes communication , the stranger generally hears the taught German first , but when he continues to speak Danish , the peasant soon comes forward with his natural tongue . As the Germanizing even in that tra ct

w of land , hich we have designated as Speaking low Ger

u n man , has not gained the p per ha d before the beginning of this century , the inhabitants , as was to be expected , in many places still understand the Danish ; this is also f streng thened by creditable authority from the latest time ) .

u The previously cited German traveller , Kohl , fo nd even among the inhabitants o f Angel who have been

n Germa ized , a striking agreement in person and manners with the real Jutes and a strongly marked difference from li h the German population South of the S e . W en the tra veller , for instance , asks about the way , the lower Saxon then gives the stranger direction s in a few and Short im f words and then lets h go o n his way . It is di ferent i when one comes over the S l e to the Angles . Here the

’ n a stranger s question is not first answered , the i h bitant of Angel begins with a friendly mien to worm out o f

l n the travel er , where he comes from , where he is goi g to , what is the object of his journey , how the corn looks in other places exactly like the Jute and then he

D - a 3 . a n n n k . . a e v e 0 4 8 3 9 . s : C Paulsen , in No thus witnes es th t c o uple of years ago his D a nish address was understood by young

Urm a rk O h rfe ld o men in Tolk and ( ) , which lies within the menti ned

l o w ‘ boundary for the dominion of German , and in the list of cri

mina ls 4 8 3 2 for the first half part of the year , the criminals from Ra v n k j aer and the estate O (likewise w ithi n the low German houn

dary and close by the S lie) as speaking German and Danish .

” Compare the same author Ueber V o lk s th umlich k e it 1 m H e rz o g th . ” 2 . 8 . Schleswig . P Note , where he speaks of having conversed in Danish with peasants from a couple of parishes (Sigersted and e S rup) , which lie a little more Northward . 8 3

i first beg ns with great explicitness , and good natured

chat , to tell the stranger that he can come to that place

he is bound for , both by that way and that way . To

this Kohl joins a remark , which gives an almost touching evidence of the contin uing a ffe ction of the native of Angel

for his Danish fatherland , and at the same time contains

a remarkable elucidation o f the state of the language . ” His words are : In many other things also the old Sag a

is said to be confirmed , that Dan , the primitive father

r o f of the Danes , and Angel , the primitive fathe the

Angles , were brothers . Thus it is said , for instance ,

ev en in the distr i cts w her e G erma n is s ok en that , p , a par i l t c u a r affection exists for the old Scandinavian tra ditions h as well as for t e r ea ding of the o ldD a nish histor ia ns.

n o w People , also , assemble here and there around one o r another o ldman in the villages who still understands

o ld o r - Danish , and can read the chronicles , Saga books

and listen attentively . e Kohl it is tru , now adds , that only few quite

understand the reader , some give themselves trouble to

w refresh their Danish , others express their sorro that they

. But th a t have forgotten it it is self evident , when we gather around a man in order to hear him read some

in thing aloud , we then understand the language which he reads . The difference between him and his auditors can

c a n ' r ea dD a nish only be this , that he , which the others canno t

These expressions o f Kohl find a remarkable c o nfir mation and explanation in the notorious fact which appeared

r u r du ing the advance o f our army lately into An gel . O Jutland and Sealand soldiers to whom however the Ger mans have not yet awarded the German language as

o f something , which they should already be in possession ,

6 ; 8 4

t but only promised them as a gif in future , found in all diffi places , where they marched forward in Angel , no culty whatever in Speaking with the inhabitants , they understood them and were understood by them . Jutes ,

S e a la nders o f , and Angles conversed like sons the same people in good Danish . It w a s as if the German varnish that

in had been lai d over the D anish Angel , dissolved itself and let the Danish appear again in its natural form and colours . The soldiers showed the peasants the King’s proclamation B dD i le sw ick ers . u t r ea a n h l to the S s they cou dno t. The h l . o soldiers read it up for them N w t ey u nder sto o dit w e l. The towns E g ernfio rdand Sleswick belonging to S v a ns o and Angel have long since , even earlier than the surrounding

n . land , bee Germanized The popular language in them is low German . The town of Flensborg has preserved its Da n ish

a n sympathies better than its Danish language . It is old

w damage , the reason for hich must be sought , partly in the general causes which effected the diffu sion of the

German tongue in S leswick , and partly in the steady and extensive connection of this trading town in particular

‘ with Germa n places . Already in the first part o f the Sixteenth century Danish and low German was spoken o n e with the other . Yet the Danish is still in full vigour with the simple man , and this language is preached every S u nday in the church of the Holy Ghost ; goods are cried

in and offered for sale in the streets Danish , and Danish

’ the sea m e n s songs sound in harbour . IX .

T o the North o f Angel we come at le ngth to distri c ts where the Danish tongue is not only heard amongst the

l r . people , but a so in the chu ch and school It is Spoken

t T en der in the greates part of the jurisdiction of , the

o f L u m — whole Aabenraa , yg cloister and Haderslev juris

d T ornin lehn lE r o . ictions with g , the islands of Als and Althoug h the language has been fa r more protected here

S v a ns o than in Angel and , yet it has been annoyed in

d o f manifold and various ways , as well by the hea s the c lergy with the ge neral superinte ndant o f the district at their head by clergymen , who Should preach Danish , i

do r but diMd not understand it or did not care to it p o t perly ) , as by the secular au horities , both the judges and directors , who were German . These abuses extended

' e ven to that remote place JE r o. They complained in the

T o rning l e h n together with eleven more Southern parishes are how

a a ever to be excepted , as they , in ecclesiastic l ffairs , are under the direction of the Danish board of justice and the Bishopric o f

Ribe . v The many comic and partly scurrilous traits of misunderstanding

u and corruption of the language , d rin g the preaching and other

a d church service , caused by the w nt of a sufficient knowle ge of Danish in those clergymen appointed by the German church super

intendant , we regard it as suitable to pass over here , although the truth thereof is b u t too often s tr engthened by the peculiar na

ture of the case . 86

4

s la t part of the former century , that the inhabitants were continually treated in everything on a German footing , by f German o ficers ; all orders , ordinances and decrees were communicated to them in the G erman language ” In some places the German divine service even crept in amongst the Danish population and the D anish churches

w a s round about . It just like an advanced post , that the

o u t tr Germans sent towards the North , in order to y if there was any ground to be gained there . Thus in

u Nordborg , Sonderborg , A gustenborg on Als , and Gra v en s te e n in S u nde v id. Als and S u n de v idtogether with th e jurisdiction o f Gluck sb o rg in North Angel were divided

fie fs did as amongst Princes of the Sonderborg line , who not neglect to extend the German as far as they could .

I n Gluck sb o r the five churches , which the g princes had

S u n de v id in , German preaching was introduced alternately with Danish , and the instruction in schools was changed to German ! It even happened once that they appointed a clergyman without inquiring if he understood anything

’ o f b e the people s language , and , as it appeared that

C 0 only knew German , he had to be sent in haste to p e nh a g e n in order to learn a little Danish before he i entered on h s office . After the decease of the last of th e Gluck sh o r 4 7 7 9 g line , in , Danish has again become

- — the church and school language . But in the church of

G ra v en s te en w , hich belongs to the Duke of Augustenborg ,

German is still preached every third Sunday . In the

4 5 . V II . 4 Danish Atlas It is remarkable that , just as the island , which had previously been divided amongst different lines of the o house of S nderborg . came again , by degrees , under the Crown ,

n a a Germa Sleswick court of justice was , after represent tion of

t a b y o 4 7 3 4 h e German uthorities , introduced here the edict f and

’ 4 7 5 0 s o o f la w , that , f r instance , Charles the Fi th s criminal (Die

a o . K r lina) , is valid in this Danish land 8 7

Gluck sb o r G r whole jurisdiction of g in North Angeln , e

m a n was preached to the Danish - speaking peasants a n d

e the school instruction was G rman , as long as the princes

o f G luck sb o r in no g possessed the jurisdiction , and this

c w a s a to hange undert ken , as it devolved the crown in

9 I n e o f 4 7 7 . the palac church Augustenborg German is

r a n d p eached , in Nordborg German is preached every

o t fou rth Sunday . N only princes but even a single Ger

man nobleman who ventured so far up in Sleswick , could

s e r n o t but draw Ge rmanism with him . Thus German mons have been introduced every third Sunday in the

c o f v hurch Kliple , between Aabenraa and Flensborg , by

t h a v e the Hols ein nobles who owned the estate of Sogaard ,

to which the ch u rch belongs .

’ o f lE rb e sk tib in The towns in this part Sleswick , j g , S a onderborg , A benraa , Haderslev, Tonder and the hamlet m L um clo is te r . a n a of yg , are all Danish Every underst nds

c o f Danish and speaks it also , ex ept some the authorities

- and several others , who , from Sleswick Holstein fanaticism have determined not to Speak anything but German , which they have learned at school . Fo r the language in the

in no t w school , and partly the church , does ans er to the

’

n o f E r e sk ob in . In people s language , with the exceptio j g

’ in Haderslev, where there still , Christian the Sixth s time , w a s Danish preaching three times a week , for twice Ger m a n ha s s 4 8 0 6 n , the Danish ince bee referred to the h a ospit l church , where a Danish sermon is preached on

’

. G Sunday mornings at seven o clock In Aabenraa , erman is p reached in the morning service by the parish clergy

in man , the afternoon , or in summer in the morning early , the curate preaches Danish ; German psalms are however sung to the Danish service ! I n Sonderborg it is the same as in Aabenraa : the p a rish clerg yman preaches 88

in a German the morning service , the cur te Danish in

a ll e the evening service . In thr e places the instruction

’ l in the schools is German , a though the children , when

n they come first to school , do not in general u derstand a word of German . In T a nder there was formerly at least matins in

Danish every Sunday , and at the close of the former century there was a Danish school ; but in the year 4 8 3 0 th e u matins were done away with d ring the winter , and a half indemnification given in the afternoon service , every 4 8 3 5 other Sunday . In matins were also s et aside in the Summer , and compensated for in the same manner , s o a that now , D anish service is only he rd every other

Sunday afternoon . The school instruction has now become exclusively German . The hamlet of L yg u m — cloister is the last outpost t that the Germans have sent forth towards the North Wes ,

o f i in the midst a Danish populat on . Here they have also been satisfied with a modest beginning ; German is

s ch o o l i instru ctio n preached only once a month , the is

fe w Danish , and only a hours a week are devoted to th e learning of G erman . This gives an index h o w they have gone forward in other places , from the lesser to r the greate , until at length the mastery was gained . W ith all this the language is yet , as we have said , better secured in this part o f Sleswick than elsewhere ; with the exception of those Single Spots where the Ger

ha s la nt man fixed itself like a parasitical p , the Danish

church — and - school language gives the inhabitants a secu

rity for their mother tongue . It ho w ever becomes other w ise when we again turn towards the South and regard

of S lesw ick ‘ fr o m th e the midland part , Southern part of

’ T en der a n ddo w n n the jurisdiction of to Dannevirke , bou

90

the m things in life in do estic circle , and learned infantile

m o f prayers from a pious other , all which went easily

to the heart , because they sounded in the tones of their

m th er q tongue . But these shoots were to be broken , the whole o f this development was to be stopped as by

w a sudden check , and everything begun ane , and now

in a language that sounded cold and strange , and which

they should first learn to understand . They are like plants that are taken away from their natural soil a ndtrans

o n e planted in a foreign , where they are no longer nou

r ish e d by the dews of heaven and the fresh air , but by l artificial warmth and watering . They shou d exchange

’ o life s riches in excitements and instruction , for the p

o f verty the school , and that of a school which is doubly poor , because it must apply the most of its time to instil

a knowledge of the unknown language into the children , and , as the expertness which can be acquired herein

u d ring the school hours , must always be highly sparing , fro m this reason alone the whole religious . instruction and everything that is taught besides , becomes something ex te rio r , something that does not penetrate to the heart ,

” m etw a s a u sw endi or as the Ger ans themselves express it , g

” E r lerntes (something outwardly learned) . This is the bar b a rism of the middle ages , which again appears in these

lo w n later times , only that Germa and high German take f the place of monkish Latin . Nor do the results hereo

in conceal themselves . Every one th at has travelled these districts , could not but have been struck by the dullness , indolence and reserve which is fou n d amongst the inh a b i

‘ o f th es e - S lesw ick ers tants parts compared with the North , who in general are lively and intelligent . In order to secure ourselves against being accused o f t t a n exaggeration , we shall q uo e wha impartial German 9 1

writing author , (N . A . Jensen , clergyman in Angeln who

o f has published an account that country) , says about

several o f these parishes . About the parish of Uberg he says

” ’ The people s language is Danish ; the church - and

school language German . Danish is however sometimes

’ p re a ch e df O f S en de rlyg um

” The language of daily life is Danish ; the church

and - school language German ; yet it is customary to preach

Danish every fourth Sunday , many official duties also occur ” in this language . Of Ladelund ” The parishioners are Danes and the children do

n w not understand Germa hen they are put to school ,

u where German shall be ta ght , as in the church there is also German psalm singing and for the most part Ger man is preached , yet every fourth Sunday Danish , as

also other o ffic ia l » duties are occasionally performed in

this langu age . O f Karlum

’ ” T h e scho ol instruction is German , although all the k children spea Danish , the church language is also Ger

in i man general , unless the clergyman will at t mes preach ” a Danish sermon . O f Hu mstr up ” Most of the children do not understand o ne Ger ” m a n word when they come to school . Of Bra derup ” The children do not understand o n e German wo r d

when they are placed in school , where German is taught :

” and where German is also preache d in the church . 92

' Of Klixb ol

”

- - The church and school lang uage is German . The

’ ” people s for the most part Danish .

M: Of iddelby ” The conversational language is Danish . The childre n

do not understand any German before they come to school . ” Danish is also preached at times . Of L eek : ” Partly Frisians and partly Danish in the

o f A chteru S a nda ck er u villages Stadum , p , , Sprakeb ll and

n is in several sing le places , where the Germa mostly unknown to the children before they come to

- - church and school language high German .

‘ Of Va lsb ol : ” The popular language for the most part Danish ” - — u the church and school lang age German . Of Joldelund : ” T he children when they come to school only know

” sf Danish ) . Wha t has been stated here will be more - appa rent by the aid o f some statistical observations . Outzen was the first who attempted a statistic representa tion o f o f the state things , and as a fundamental reason for it he took the number of parishes . According to his account there are in the land , when we leave the

- town churches out of consideration , about forty parishes

2 . . 9 . Jensen . Kirchl Statistik von Schleswig p . Jensen says of this trac t of land There are sixteen or twenty parishes between Ton

o dern , Bredstedt and Flensborg with a population of fifteen t

seventeen thousand persons , where the children when they come to school must first begin by learning a foreign language ; how

disadvantageous this must be , and what an impropriety strikes ” t the o bserver . Bu t b o th h e parishes a ndthe population is much

greater . See forward . 93

in which Frisian is Spoken , and full forty German , in

which that language - is both spoken and employed in church and school ; one hundred and eighteen parishes in which Danish is the conversational as well as the church

- a and school language , and bout sixty parishes where Da

u n ish is the popular lang age , but German that of the

school and church . The balance is therefore decidedly )

o n the Danish Side ; but although the number o f parishes

is correct , this calculation would not however give any

o f correct picture of the actual state things , as the more Southern German parishes a re better populated than the

o . m re Northern Danish We will therefore , (although it

t o f ought not to be overlooked , tha that area the land

over which the Danish tongue is extended , has also some weight in judging o f the relative proportion of the lan

th e o f w guages) , keep to number inhabitants and follo

Professor Paulsen in his representation . 4 8 3 5 According to the census of the year , Sleswick had o n its surface o f 6 8 0 square miles (English) a p o

l tio n o f p u a persons . Those parts o f the country in which Danish can be reckoned as entirely o r partl y l the popular anguage , may be placed under the three following divisions First division

’ Where both the people s language andschool - and - church language is Danish On about 3 0 0 square miles in 4 4 6 parishes Second division l ’ Where the peop e s language is Danish , but the church - and - school language fo r the most part German On about 4 0 0 square miles in 3 7 parishes 94

Transport Third division Where the people for the mos t part understand and in part still Speak Danish

O n about 5 0 0 square miles Total The rest o f the inhabitants of Sleswick are part

Frisians and part Speak German . Those Speaking Frisian Those speaking German Total

By the census o f 4 8 3 5 the population in the Duchy of Sleswick was in the following five years it

4 8 4 5 a rose to in the year , it was bout

w 4 8 3 5 4 8 4 5 Thus in the space of ten years , bet een and the population has got a n increase of about per

. u f sons As it is a reasonable s pposition , that the di ferent divisons o f the la nguage have increased during that time

m a in about the same equal proportion , we y without

t o f in danger of any faul consequence , distribute this f crease in an equal ratio in the di ferent d ivisions . Thereby w e get the following amount o f numbers which will come very near to the real state o f the case at the present moment :

First Divisio n with Danish language

a nd the same church - and - school ’ language o n an area o f 3 0 0 square miles ( English) in 4 4 6 parishes Second Division where the popular language is Danish but the church

a n d- school language German on a n area o f about 4 0 0 square miles (English) in 3 7 parishes 95

O n about 4 0 0 English square miles in 4 5 3 parishes

Third Division , where the people for the most part understand and where they partly Speak Danish

The w hole of the Danish - speaking p o p u la tio n is then on an area of about 5 0 0 square miles Speaking Frisian Speaking German Together 3

in o n Thus there are Sleswick persons , an

4 0 0 o u t 6 8 0 area of Square miles of square miles , for

n whom Danish is the mother to gue , pure and unmixed ,

o r . whilst only Speak low , high German The proportion becomes still more fa vorable when we add to this the third Danish Division , which we are entitled to , as Danish is here the original and natural language , which t is understood and partly spoken by the mos , and main tains its ground of itself , whilst the low German is a forced language only kept alive by the German school instruction . The proportion would then be as

Danish to German . I f we reckon the Frisians to the Germans (which we are far less entitled to , as the Frisian stock o f words is almost equally as different from the German as the Danish is from the German) then the proportion would be Danish to

German , consequently the majority is still considerably o n the Danish Side . If however we exclude the third

n Danish Divisio , but continue to reckon the Frisians to

o f those speaking German , then the result the proportion

: would be thus Danish and German . 96

If we leave the third Danish Division and the Frisians o u t o f consideration : we then get the first given propor

u tion of speaking p re Danish , and

lo w o Speaking r high German . Consequently whichever way we take it , the Danes have a majority over the

Germans , both with respect to population and that extent o f country they inhabit . That the Danish language in Sleswick after having gone through s o many a dv ers itié s ha s yet been able to come to such a favorable result is owing to several exterior and accidental circumstances which , in some m degree , have formed a counterbalance against the any misfortunes . To those must be first reckoned the geographical

f n o f situation o the country towards Germa y . That line communicatio n which Sleswick has in the South part with

S lie Germany , by Dannevirke , between Trene and the , is extremely Short in propo rtion to the Size o f the land .

Ha d- u o f f the co ntry , instead o fering this short line of communication , extended itself in its whole length along

o f the frontiers Germany , the circumstances would have been far more unfavorable and the German language more difficult to keep o u t . The district nearest to the North of

firth . s that is also very thinly peopled The many , which cut their way into the land from the East and form just as m w any peninsulas , were like ise an important hindrance to the entrance of this foreign language . It is true , the

Holstein nobility passed over Egern - firth and occupied

' v a nso S lie S , and afterwards over the into the Southern part of Angel : but that this geographical position ha s not been without import , may be concluded from this cir c umsta nc e t , that it is first from this century , hat the low German ha s got a sort o f mastery over the Danish in

98

t two languages af er each other , cost double work and time , and poor as it is to reckon this amongst the for tu na te circumstances , yet it must be added thereto . That

o n the German tongue , although it has been worked during centuries , has not been able to gain any ground t in that grea district between Friesland and Angeln , where

Danish is spoken , must be almost entirely attributed to the circumstance , that schooling is much more neglected

a n here than in y other place in Slesw ick . The fields in o f this part the country are not enclosed , therefore the children are employed a considerable part of the year

a n d h to watch cattle , t us neglect the school . Unnatural

ff u h e circumstances produce unnatural e ects . What m st complained o f everywhere in the world under o ther cir c u m sta n c es h a s as a misfortune , must ere be accounted a fortunate event . We Danes cannot but wish that the German school instruction in these parts may continue to be as bad as possible , that the schools may be much neglected , until a natural state of things is brought about , by the introduction of Danish school instruction .

But first and last it was however , as we have

f o f already stated , the true and insurmountable a fection th e D anish population for their mother tongue , and its o w n o f t inexhaustible life and power resistance , tha placed a barrier against the advance o f Germanism . That the S Danish language in leswick has a sound , fresh , and strong living root , and where it is expelled is only expelled by violence : o f this the leaders o f the Slesw ick

Ho lsteinism party must themselves bear witness .

’ th e D rohse Thus when Sleswick deputy , came for ward in the provincial states assembly in 4 8 3 8 with the

r assertion that Sleswick was a Ge man land , he was

u w ho o n ref ted by Counsellor Falck , the same occasion 99 replied to several expressions in a similar spirit and thereby remark ed

” I must deny that the Germa n language will in a

o n e Short time become the general in Sleswick , there is no prospect of it whatever in those districts where the

— - Danish is church and school language . Thousands o f years can y e t pass away before this be the case . The Danish language has been expelled by violent measures in the ” South Eastern part of the D u chy .

s o We attach weight to this testimony , not much it for the case itself (for that is certain enough without ) ,

m a n o f as because it emanates from a , who is one the most renow ned and indefatigable champions of Sleswick

Ho lste inism a S le sw ick e r , born , regarded as an able historian and teacher o f jurisprudence in the university o f Kiel . This may perhaps serve to open the eyes and ears o f o f some those Germans , who made blind and deaf by

” o ne sided fanaticism , will not believe the Danish assertions . 1 00

X.

Ba r in order to complete the picture o f that mise ry l whose pressure has , during a ong time , rested and still

o n rests the Danish language in Sleswick , some traits are

u yet to be added which will make it nderstood how. the German has been able to make its way into the upper classes in the towns and extend itself in some districts

: in the country . To this account there first belongs the

circumstance , that all the upper institutions for education

n o f are German and under the directio German teachers .

h e l o f There is not to found in the who e Sleswick , a

grammar school , not a commercial school , nay scarcely a school fo r the lower classes o f the people in the towns that is Danish ; the peasant schools in a part of the country are the only Danish ones ; but even these are exposed to the infl u ence o f Germanism as there are no

D anish high - schools for school teachers ; the only seminary for parish schoolmasters is German , and founded in a

- German minded town , Tonder . When the students leave

- the German grammar schools they are , in consequence of

o f 4 7 6 8 tw o the edict , bound to stay at least years at the German university in Kiel . Thus all the institutions whence the higher human education and accomplishment is derived , where the na tio na l literature should be cultiva te d and the language

1 02

If the b o y after w ards went to school he got German

‘ teachers a ndh e a rd only German around him . He now S h e oon made t reasonable conclusion , that Danish must c o m be an extremely inferior and unworthy language , in

a p rison with the German , and useless except in the very

simplest circumstances . What the school had given , was

o f w confirmed and continued at the university Kiel , hich k he at length left as a perfectly G e rrn a n rs e dS lesw ic e r . Thus the intelligent S lesw ick er has learned to despise his

u o n e s mother tong e , and what does not re pect , it is dif

if ficu lt to love ) .

u n ter eiten ” ” s ch rc t n ich ts kann Sie Z nicht verstehen . Du kannst l h

” ” d ” ” a s o l n o c h . h e s e en n D s l m achen Unsere i r i e Mitbruder . ich

” ” ” ” th a n . o z S : a [ I hall certainly do it , Danish Jeg skal nok gjor

” n ich t w er th u n ” Das ist dfangen an .

: A few other examp les are communicated by C . Paulsen (Ueber

V o lk s th umlich k e it im S i k 3 ” 7 . 2 : c hl e sw c ) P . Note Komm ein ;

” Iauf a u s ; geh mit ihr durch a n dbring sie dann um . Kohl therefore justly says ab out the Germani z ed S le sw ic k e rs

2 4 5 : r l language P . For the e st l m u st confess that amongst a l those

S . who speak low German , they peak the least agreeable German

” ” A s an example of low German we may cite Jensen on A ngeln .

' ” . 4 4 7 : W i h e m o a w w i D u dsk P s nst D nsk esen , men nu siin

h law e n !"

O n e Counsellor Falck may serve a s a n excellent example . should

o E think that this m an , who is b rn in the to w n of mmerlev in the

T n dr e e . S o jurisdiction of where Danish is p ken , and where the

R ! w church even , belongs to the diocese of ibe ould , both by

a n d u a s h o rn his birth sit ation , regard himself the and ap pointed

guardian of his oppressed mother ton g ue , and embrace it with deep

f . af ection But far from it . He cannot , as a historian , avoid acknow

o ledging the existence f incontestible facts ; but he has no kindness ,

no a . S feeling for the D nish language This he has hown , amongst

O t a m her things , by standing up ag inst those , who thought it ost

— t - just , tha German church and school language should give place

to th e Danish in those districts where the people speak Danish . Ten years ago he expressed himself as we have previously quoted ;

' if he would n o w do it after the m o re h o strle position he h a s since

a o h a s t ken up , is d ubtful , and it is not impossible that he changed

a his opinion bout this , as he did about the succession in Sleswick ,

which he once reg arded a s being the same a s in Denmark . 1 03

These effects even extended themselv e s further than to those in public offices and the higher classes o f citizens

in the towns : they also extended to the peasants . The

to peasant , in general , stuck close his mother tongue ;

t e but when he heard the clergyman , h schoolmaster , the e judge , and the high r classes of citizens in the towns

speak their German , this opinion could not but be easily

n u confirmed in his mind , that Germa m st be a far more genteel langu age and that it was well if he could speak

a n d it together with the Danish . The mismanagement

o f - - complete want care in the church and school , to which the Danish language was submitted had however a much

f u to worse e fect . A popular language that is th s left di itself , stands in the greatest danger of being spoiled an

- degenerated . Just as the book language , in order to pre

v n ser e its freshness and aturality , requires to be fertilized

m o f u by the living strea the popular tong e , so must this again b e held in awe by the stricter rules and discipline o f - l b the hook language , if it shal not be broken down y

g . as b carelessness , dullness and i norance It is y a mi racle that the popular tongue in these distrrc ts has main ta in e d r e itself so long under such conditions , without

c e iv i ng greater damage tha n it has . A Sleswick clergyman expressed himself in the follo w

o f n ing manner , at the close the former century respecti g several of these points in question : ” O n e cannot imagine anything so unnatural , and for

s o ff w a Dane o ensive , as that sway hich the German language has obtained in a real Danish province , where the whole of the commonalty scarcely understand a com

le te p German sentence . At the tribunals where the good

’ n old King Waldemar s Jutla d law should still be valid , all causes are carried 0 11 in German . You can easily 1 04 imagine the foolishness o f eight Danish peasants having to stand as public witnesses and listening to what tw o

German pettifoggers quarrel about at the general assizes . How grievous it would be for y o u o r me to hear o u r cause pleaded and judged in the Russian language . I pray y o u to imagine curiosity and stupidity painted in the faces o f my congregation when I must read from the

o r stilu s cu rice pulpit a German edict , placard order , whose in its long and screwed up meani n gs is so in c o mp reh en

mv s elf sible to , that I must previously arrange a short

th e context thereof in Danish , and , after original has been read , tell my congregation , in our mother tongue , m what it is . Here never comes the least order fro the

l ff o r ff bai i of the district , the chief clerk , the estate baili , except it be in Ger man . One might wonder how this ff could be , as most of the baili s who come to Sleswick , are Danish , but the cause is easy enough to conceive

a w h o f s o u a D nish courtier ormerly , m ch the worse , heard more German than Danish at court , comes to live here in a p ro v in cra l town here he hears the traders and public officers all speak German , such as it is ; for their

every - day language is miserable ; and from this b e con c lu des that the whole jurisdiction is German w hen how if ever , he spoke with a thousand peasants in his district

w i not ten o f them could ans er h m in German . In the

int0 ' o ffic e next place , if such a Danish courtier comes

and into business that he is unacquainted with , he can n o t for the sake o f formality even use his good Danish

sense . He goes carefully forward , foot by foot , after

o ld his v custom , in re olutions ; a practised and accustomed clerk m u st be taken ; this clerk who does not know how

w o f u a n to rite a line Danish , p blishes everything after

cient forms in German , and always the same terms in

106

’ t th e w h o le struc ion of the language , the syntax and gram

o f mar , very considerably from high German ; the stock of d e wor s it has a far gr ater mass in common with Danish , than the Danish and high German have reciprocally in com mon ; it a p proaches by its simplicity and naturality in the construction of the words and spirit o f the language just as

is much to the Northern tongue , as it removed from the affected and perverted construction of sentences and high

- flown bombast of the high German . When there now comes to th e former original a pproach and agreement between low German and Danish , this circumstance , that

l o w in those districts , where the German has forced its

h in way in , between the Danis , it has been a very con sidera ble h degree penetrated and sprinkled with Danis ,

U filled p with Danish words , peculiar Danish expressions

u : s o and t rns we shall find it reasonable , that this low German has a far greater resemblance w ith Danish than w ith high German , and that the reason which the Ger m ans adduce from this kind of language , in order to prove that Sleswick is a German land , does not signify much .

o f n u We then also understand , that a language this at re could find a mu ch easier entrance into the Da nish fron tier districts . 107

the Germans have n o t been satisfied su p

pressing and , as far as it lay in their power , rooting

out the Danish , language in Sleswick ; they have even ” sought to deprive it of the name of Danish . Ein Volks ” Ba b e n dan ish l patois , (A vu gar patois , gibberish) are the honourable titles with which they designate this lan guage ; it is s o hatefu l to them because it is a Irving

’ o f o f h o w witness Sleswick s Danish nationality , which , ever willingly they would , they cannot in any way get

. sa n s o rid of Yes , if they should y their real meani g ,

it is in fact a German language , which by the help of

the Danish church - a nd- school language has only got a

eine da nische sort of appearance of Danish ,

” T w elve Fables in the North Sleswick dialect with a transl a ti o n in

the written language . Collected by Dr . Gottlieb (probably pseudo

m . 7 n . m 4 4 4 . y ) With a preface by Dr C . Heiberg . Husu 8 Page

” h a s Dr . Heiberg says : That the dialect in the North of Sleswick

m o a a ore of a Danish c lour , is simply expl ined thus , that the origin l

u b y the popular tong e has , centuries ago , been enriched modern

- - Danish church and school language . Thereby they h a ve received

” o ” by degrees a Danish c louring . The twelve Fables in the North

Sleswick popular tongue , as the title says , are translated into the written language : and that written language in which they are trans m G er a n . Fa l ek h a s . lated , is Counsellor also understood Dr Heiberg , w h o x if does not e press himself in very intelligible words , as he

a meant , that the Danish in Sleswick w s in fact German . 1 08

in We might fact leave these assertions to themselves , as long as they are not supported by any r easonable grounds , and confine ourselves to advise such a doubting

s o German first to learn Danish , that he can perfectly l understand it , and not only be able to Spel his way

s et through a book , and then out for Sleswick , hear the

c a rs . people speak , and then believe his own Yet we

u o ur o n will not ref se to meet opponents this point,

w e although are in some perplexity , as we seek for their i reasons and cannot find them anywhere . We come n

o u voluntarily , hearing these German judgements about the Danish language in Sleswick to think of the story

w h o about the Frenchman , made a trip to Germany and

n o came back and told his countrymen , that they had proper language in Germany , but Spoke a sort of gibberish

. b e which no one could understand Yet added , they kno w well enough how to make themsel v es mutually u nderstood . I n e v ery co untry there will al w ays be a considerable difference between the written language and the spoke n language ; and the spoken language of the educated classes will again div ia te much from that of the less educated . But the difference will be still greater if we look to the

e c u different provinces of which a land consists . Many p lia ritie s appear here which have their fo u ndation in the different ways in which the words are pronounced ; in o n e i di th o n s prov nce they are fond of long vowels or p g , in another short ; the transposition of certain letters is

n in favoured more in one place than a other , some pro vinces certain consonants are exchanged for others ; and lastly the accent and the whole modulation o f Speech differs very much in the different provinces . In the N orth o f England they do not Speak as in the South of Eng

1 10

Without p lacing o u r language in comparison with t any other language whatever , withou praising it in any

o f way or extolling it at the expense any other language , o r debasing it by comparison with other languages , I will only say this one thing about it : it is o u r real old language . t For in the country , where we do not meet wi h such a mixture o f foreigners and foreign languages ; where

’ l lik e to o ld s l they in genera keep to custom , the anguage

l o n w is , generally regarded , stil the same , the hole still ff unchanged , although a little di erent according to the dialects I believe that a lower o r a higher dialect o f o n e and the same lan guage can very well exist and h e suffered beside each other . Yet the peasant in Sealand and Fu n en not only Speak s quite differently to the townsman

O dens ee b u t s o of Copenhagen and , much more than in a

Danish book . And has this ever been otherwise amongst persons speak ing a more o r less refined language ? So ”

so . it was in Italy, and it was in Greece There is a peculiarity in the popular language both in South Jutland and th e greater part o f North Jutland

. . n that may be stated in a few words It co sists in this , that the inhabitants do not affix the definite article to the

o f end the word , which is the custom in Danish and generally in Scandinavian languages , but instead thereof place a n ae before the substantive in the singular as well

n o t sa as in the plural , and therefore do y Manden , (the m a n B b ut ao ae ) , uset (the house) , Mand , Huus (the man ,

Maen den e B the house) not , usene (the men , the houses)

b u t as Maend se . , Huus This peculiarity is extended over the whole Danish part o f South and North Jutland u p

k Himm elbier to the lakes around S anderborg and g , then I l l

G — l follows the uden rivulet unti it bends towards the East, then turns towards the West and passes to the East o f i L imfio r d . Viborg up towards the , likewise including Thy

w This peculiarity , in connection ith the natural frontiers , certainly indicates an ancient separation between the tribes

— ' o f the peninsula but it is not sufficient to make the

in . N o r Danish , either North or South Jutland , German has it ever been received into the written lan guage : neither in r um c inscriptions nor in the laws of South f Jutland is there any trace o it .

What most perplexes our German judges of language , who are s o little acquainted with the Danish and Northern tongue , is the number of words and inflections that appear

a b u t in the popular langu ge of South Jutland , have gone

i o r out of use in the pr nted language , have never had

o f a place there . A great number these are to be found

l - again in the O dNorthern or Icelandic . Icelanders who have travelled in South Jutland have been astonished at the great number of Icelandic words and phrases that still existed there in the popular tongue ; The most of

in them appear likewise in other Danish lands , the lan guage of the commonalty o r are found in the elder Danish

- book language ; others are used in Norway and Sweden , partly in the written lan guage and partly amongst the people ; some also are to be found in the English lan

a n gu ge , which is near aki to the Danish . We shall make this clear by a fe w examples

A a b o d ia ' , remuneration ; used the elder judicial lan a guage ; Seeland bot .

A u ss el . sex] o r aexli. , excrescence ; Icelandic

D a vr e m , breakfast ; used amongst the co mon people

o f d e in most the provinces ; Icelandic a g v rdr . 1 12

Fik k e , a pocket ; elder Danish and still used in ~ fick i. Swedish , Icelandic

’ fi e b a nk er g , to strive , to after ; appears in elder

u . f k a st . Danish , still sed in Swedish ; Icelandic at y j

’ feig , death s , destined to die ; still used in this

in f i r . signification Norway ; Icelandic . e g

l . Gild , able , brisk , active ; e der Danish Icelandic ild g r .

G ra n destev n e o f n e i h Grande , ; neighbour , a meeting g

bours and townsmen , elder Danish and still used

in Norway and Sweden . Icelandic g ra nni and

ef g ra nna st na .

sa : a . Jatte , to promise , to y yes Icelandic j ta

Ka a d . , cot , hut ; elder Danish ; Icelandic kot

Karm , a state carriage ; elder Danish . k n ov , witty , smart , active ; used in several provinces ; k f nae r . Icelandic , kuyste , to cough Slightly ; used also in North Jutland

u and F nen .

Krik , a cricket .

ifr . a . le Leve , a loaf ; elder Danish , Icel ndic

— u Lime , a sweeping brush ; elder Danish sed also in

a n d North Jutland several places in Sweden , Ice

la n dic . limi .

l . Mool , a t hick cloud ; Swedish Mo n

‘ m lre I c ela ndic mn i Mulle , a number ; akin with y ; g ,

number . N Mude , to bribe ; still used in orwegian and Swedish ,

u . Icelandic , at m ta

S k ra nne u , to roar with la ghter ; used both in North

and South Jutland ; Swedish sk ra tta .

Stout , proud ; elder Danish and used both in North

and South Jutland .

1 1 4

This proof was the b efore mentioned twelve fable s

o published by Advocate Heiberg , in the South Jutland p

i w a s pular language , w th a translation , as it called , in e . This the written languag , which was German attempt however ended in a complete prostitution . The publisher was so unfortunate as to prove directly the contrary of that he intended and wished . He hovered between the endeavour to Show that they Spoke gibberish o r German

a nd s in South Jutland , unfortunately came to give proof that the common people th e re speak just as good Danish

o f as in any other part Denmark . ' As examples we Shall present the two first pieces with which the book begins

The popular language . The written language . Da 0 11 e Dyr i gammel Da alle Dyr ene i gamle

’ D a n kund snak med h v o r Dage k unde sna k k e med a nne r v a r h v era ndre de r , der en Mand , , var en Mand so m a hv a s o m a v h v a d tit g Aut deraa , tit g Agt paa ,

a a S k rov e t 1 s a de o sk r ev o di soy , op en de g , g det p

1 gammel Bog . De er saadan en gammel Bog . D er er

' Histo r e r s o m en sa a da nn e so m , e Born g Historier Bor

Ia fo rtael a a s o m erne fo r dem , gam nene gj lade dem

N tt a a ac a o mel Folk har y Gaun t ll , g som gamle Folk

a a derfo r e i N tte o a f 0 a , heller let har y g Gavu , g

m b a r derfo r gl em cr . Vi no Sogt heller ikke let glem

. i h nauer Fo rtaelling er u r a den mer . V a r nu sogt nogle

a a F o rtaellin er u da f gammel Bog , no kan I g den gamle

' s ell a a s ee hv a 0 e j lois dem , Bog , g nu kan I selv l ese

Forstand der er derr. dem o g se e hv a dForstand

der er deri . 1 1 5

s o l s a de See , y den lille Mikke , See , g den lille Mik

H v a der har e Raun taun den kel , der har a nen t get

sa a a den O st s om ea Vost , som vi l eng har , vi saa l nge

h a v t L st u v i hay L yst te ; k und vi it tei har y til ; k nde

h a m hv o naer o ll n a a r v i en fra , vi ikke tage den fra ham , ” ” sammel gik lois a a ham ? a lle sa mmen gik los paa ham 7

” ” ” ” a a er s o a a er an De g it , y den Det g ikke

sa de gammel Mikkel , seer do it g den gamle Mikkel , ” han er o ller ee flov en op a a seer da ikke han er a llere de

' ”

fl oien o hoieste rae . de h oie st Trae . p paa den T

English translation . When all the animals in former days could talk with o ne another , there was a man who often paid attention

to o ld . what they said , and wrote it down in an book They are such stories as children are fo ndo f hearing

o f related , and which old folks have use and profit , and therefore do not easily forget . We have now taken some

o u t o f o ld m tales this book , and now you can read the yourself and se e what sense there is in them .

See there , said the little fox , the raven has taken the cheese we have so long had a desire for ; could we ” n o t u him ? take it from him , if we all together r shed upon

” ” ’ n o t o ld o u se e It will do , said the fox , don t y ” b e that has already flown up into the highest tree .

Of the story o f the Prodigal son we communicate the following as a Specimen o f Danish spoken in the province o f Angel 1 16

Anglo danish . Danish .

o ha v de : En Man hoi to Sonner , En Mand to Sonnet den yn g e st a dem s o i te ae o g den yng ste a f dem sa g de Far : Far gi m ae den Diel til Faderen : Fader giv mig

as s mae . a f G o dset a Gos , der hor (te) den Deel , der

’ m ell m l e O b a n dield ae Goss i borer mig til . O g han de e t

la nt der etter G o dset imell m . O . 0 a e dem int , dem g sa a sa a nk e dt den yng est ikke laen g e der efter sa a san S en olt sammel o dra uw u r kede den yng ste Son alt

ac L a ndla a nt v aek sa mm en o dro u da f a . o for g g Lan komm der sit Goss m ae det langt v aek o g fo rk o m der

‘ E l uv sit i i lirr ele L aev nd. a han Gods med l derl g t Lev

fo rtaert o lt sit sa a . b a n ha v de no hoi , net D a nu for

dr taeret sit sa a blev blow der en stur y Ti i alt , der ’ hiel Land 0 han b egyn dt en stor dyr Tid i hele Lan

o b a n e n dte a a vant . O han gik hen det g b gy at o holdt sae te jin a ae Folk mangle . O g han gik hen der i se Land ; den S k ik k e d o g holdt S ig til en a f F o lk et ham te Marks 0 v a rr a a ae der i Landet ; denne S k ik

a n tefr aees a a a S v iin . O b var kede ham til Marks at t ge ’ k fyll sin Mau mac Mas te vare paa S v inene . O g han ae S v iin aad o Inne g a ham var tilfre ds at fylde sin Mave

s o m v inene naur . med Mask S aad

o g Ingen gav ham no g et .

m A man had two sons , and the younger of the said to his father ; Fa ther give me that part o f the estate that

b m. falleth to me . And e divided the estate between the And n o t long afterwards the younger s o n gathered all together , and took his way into a far country , and there S wasted his ubstance with riotous living . And when he m had spent all , there arose a ighty famine in that land ,

1 18

(English translation . ) I now became a little serious and so 1 said to him will y o u then rather be separated from your father and your mother ? Who should then help me to c ultivate the farm when I become o ldand feeble ? Who should inherit it after me ? When I broke up some of the heath and the Lord let fine corn grow there , where there before

n s o stood li g up to the knees , it was always my greatest

”

a . pleasure to think , th t I worked for you le It must appear to everybody , that the examp s taken

u - n from the pop lar language of South Jutland and A gel ,

to u are just as near , if not nearer , the written lang age , as those of North - Jutland

s o The attempt , previously mentioned was clumsy ,

’ on e that of the parties own spokesmen ; Counsellor Falck , found himself calledo n to reply a gainst it and express f h o t e . his disapproval , both form and contents , of Dr

’ He ib er s o w n w h o g libel , and thereby he did his party , had been too much prostituted , a good service . His words are as follo w ’ That the language which is spoken in the N orthern part o f Sleswick belongs to the Danish family o f Ia n

guages , no p hilologist or impartial man can for one mo

. H ment be in doubt The honourable editor (Dr . eiberg) certainly seems to dou bt if the dialects in the Northern

part o f Sleswick belong to the Danish language or not .

o f If we understand him rightly , he regards the dialects

North Sleswick as German . He describes them in part

as not Danish , and partly he asserts without further cir cum sta n c e that these dialects have received a Danish

colouring from the modern school - and - church language ;

th us they must in fact be German . The same view o f 1 1 9

i o f the case is expressed n the title the book . Ho w such a conception of the matter can have taken place is in conceivable to me . According to all reason there cannot exist any doubt whatever , as the case is clear in itself. Every possible doubt must entirely disappear if we only

’ c ompare the North Sleswick dialect wi th the Danish people s ” d t in ff o f ialec s the di erent parts the kingdom . 1 20

1111.

A S the German philologists are th us no t able to make the popular tongue in Sleswick to anything else

is : s o is than what it , namely Danish there another t point , in which it may seem that their endeavours migh be crowned with better success . If even they must acknow

o f ledge , that the language the commonalty is Danish ,

G e r they affirm , that the intelligent part is exclusively

o f man , that the whole the higher and Spiritual life touches

and moves o n German ground .

u We have previo sly stated , how the Danish Sles

Ire his wicker , if will not abandon mother tongue and

nationality , is excluded from all the institutions for educa

tion , through which the state everywhere else procures

u m en o f her f ture science , poets , national authors and

- u place men that higher ed cation , which is the condition

a s . a ll l for their future activity , the Latin schoo s , commer

cia l n schools and seminarys for schoolmasters are Germa ,

and the foreign university , where the students are bound i s . to stay at least two years , likewise German If there

o u r fore the matter stood exactly thus , as Opponents

n o o r assert , one would find it strange unexpected , but

! o f t u only regret it as a result hat great inj stice , which i is done to the Danish S lesw ck er.

1 22

a Amongst the griculturists also , and amongst the citizens in the towns there are found many Danish - Speaking Sles

b e m wickers , who may lay good claim to reckoned a ongst

u the ed cated classes .

As representatives for Danish - Sleswick education and refinement we must further reckon those men o f science

n and the many civil and military officers , who bor in

o f Danish districts Sleswick , are afterwards appointed to

m a places in the kingdom ; the painters , sculptors , and sicia ns who leave their native place for the capital , which f opens a wider field for their activity , and of ers them means for improvement and cultivation , which they felt the want of at home . They live here as Danes , Speak f and write Danish , and no one observes any dif erence between them and Danes fro m other parts of the king dom . This one cannot regard as something accidental , nor can it be explained as a result o f the influence o f the Danish circle wherein they live . Fo r there are also many Holsteiners who live in Copenhagen , but they are ,

o f and remain , German , although their circle friends must

o n n o t also have an influence them , if there were some v d thing in themsel es that prevente it , and that is their foreig n nationality . But the Danish S lesw ick er feels and behaves himself like a Dane amongst Danes , because the

is . nationality the same This is just the bond o f union . Other S lesw ick ers have passed through the fiery

o f ordeal , for their mother tongue and nationality , the

German schools and German university , without losing ff their a ection for them , and have stood up in their own homes as their defenders with s h much greater zeal and

o w n warmth , as they. of their long experience knew , in what debasement their mother tongue was held . As such we may name the chief defen ders in the combat fo r the Sles 1 23

’ : wick language and nationali ty , C . Wimpfen a ndC . Paulsen ;

as well as Nis Hansen , who was educated at the Ger man grammar - school in Sleswick and has since shown himself as an able workman in the Danish cause .

o f s The state things that hows itself is remarkable , whe n we consider the connection o f the Danish S leSw ick erS with literature . According to the assertion of the Ger

o f mans respecting their sole possession the intelligence ,

u cultivation , and education througho t the whole Duchy, o ne might expect that all o r yet mos t o f the S lesw ick e rs had deposited the fruits of their literary labours in Ger man ; and none o r few in the Danish literat ure . Bu t the state o f things is quite otherwise . If we examine L ybk ers and Schroders au thors ” f 4 7 9 6 to lexicon , which comprehends the period rom 4 8 2 8 and regard those authors w ho wrote in that period and were born in that part o f S tesw ick where Danish is

o r : l exclusively in preference spoken then we shal find , that a considerable number o f S le sw ick ers have been active

w fello workmen in the Danish literature . As examples we shall only name a few J D H . ho ld . er t . , Professor , ( born in Aabenraa ) A

J H or ne . W celebrated author, particularly in physiology . m nn a Hi e . . , Professor , (born in r ) A celebrated botanist

Vibor ‘ C . o f g , Professor , Director the Veterinary school ,

n (born in Aabenraa jurisdictio ) . A celebrated author in

Z . . G . o e a botany and Veterinary science g , (born in Dahler)

a A celebrated arch eologist . Also from those districts which lie more to the South

b o unda rv than the line here mentioned , there are not a

: few Danish authors amongst others , Captain Abrahamson ,

(born in the town of Sleswick) . A renowned Danish poet.

w ho and excellent popular author , has written many 124

o n distinguished works Northern literature and antiquities .

o f . o Mani ns , (born in Angeln) Author writings relating

to medicinal , historical and antiquarian subjects . It deserves to h e remarked that those authors who

have been named here , from amongst a vast number , have a prominent place in the Danish literature and belong

h l . . Her o dt B to its best ornaments , ornemann , C Viborg

Z e a . o and G g are celebrated names , known far beyond ' f the boundaries o Denmark . N o r must it remain unno ticed that amon gst the Danish S lesw ick ers there are two

. . n in l renowned orators , H G Clausen , Dea , (born Kar um f T f o ender . ld . G u t e t in the jurisdiction ) and F C , Dean , (born in Haderslev jurisdiction) for eloquence is o f a na tic h al o r nature , and it seldom never happens , that any o ne obtains a name for eloquence in a foreign tongue . If we go through the rang e o f those authors from

w k the same districts of Sles ic , who have kep t to the German litera ture and observe the same rules in present in to g them the reader , as we have done with the pre ’ n L ubk ers vio s ones , named in and Schroders author s

o r lexicon , we can at most find but two three names o f o any great importance , and the most imp rtant of these ,

o . the Entomologist Fabricius , wrote m stly in latin The

o f number those not named here , as being of less impor tance , both in Danish and German , is much less in the latter

o than the f rmer , and the contributions which these Ger man - writing S lesw ick ers have given to German literature cannot in any way be compared to that which the Danish

- literature owes to the Danish writing S lesw ick ers . In the most popular and national o f a ll the branches o f no t literature , poetry , there is to be found in that

o r period of time we have named in any other , any

’

- important name amongst Sleswick s German writing authors ,

126

HA T T language which a people uses , is not only living o n the lips o f the people or preserved in their

r na w itings , but it is repeated in personal mes and the f o . names towns , villages , farms , streams and rivulets etc t l The las c ass are , almost without exception , formed o f o f words , that find an explanation in the language the

u . a co ntry This remark also pplies , for a great part to personal names ; yet there are also several to be found

a re which borrowed from other places , namely from the

' in th ese n o t bible ; but even , nationality does hide itself, as the people Show a preference for certai n groups o f names , and reject others .

N ow o ur 0 if Sleswick were a German land , as p pon a nts assert : we should then find German words in

o f o f the names towns and places , and the names per sons must likewise agree with the general German names .

But the case is quite different . The far greater mass of those personal n ames which are found in Sleswick are D anish and Scandinavian ; a far less part emanate from i German families , who have mmigrated thither and have taken up their abode in the country ; amongst them are

o f o f a number the families the Holstein nobles , which still partly exist as noble names , and have been adopted

‘ partly by inferiors and servants o f the nobility . All the 127

o f - older names villages , farms , , and towns are Danish ,

' o f n ew e r fa rm s o r and only a part the , bought built by

h v . the immigrant Holstein families , a e got German names

This we shall Show more pa rticularly . It is a pec uliarity with Danish and generally Scan

n div ia n (as also with English) family ames , that they are

‘ a o f son o r sen frequently formed by the ddition , annexed

to th e proper personal name . ’ o f is fo re i n This manner forming names , which g to

a . Germany, ppears very frequently in Sleswick names As

: instances we may quote the following , at random Lassen ,

H Ka llesen Knudsen , Nissen , Jepsen , enriksen , , Johansen ,

Bo n de s en Bro rsen , , Klausen , Feddersen , Nansen , Jensen , H P ansen , Jessen , etersen , Henningsen , Ebsen , Nielsen ,

Fa lles en Ipsen , Olsen , Paulsen , Christensen , Mikkelsen , ,

Jespersen , Andersen , Sorensen , Jorgensen .

: T hy esen Further Eriksen , Magnussen , Johnsen , g ,

’ Villa ds en T hostes en A ds ers en L a u e sen Ketils en , , , , Iversen , , i l ~ N e sen G unnes en T ru elsen . Thorsen , g , , We may observe how very general and extended over the whole o f Denmark the first part o f the above

o f quoted names are , and what a stamp ancient Danish and Scandinavian origin the last have ; several o f them appear in our ancient manuscripts and must be explained

o ld by the Northern language .

: Other current names are these Bruun , Juel , Uldal ,

Ma rk H Ra v n Birkedal , , Skon , Storm , Lund , Krogh , jort , ,

‘ Ba rfo d ev . Bjorn , , Balsl These names are also well known to f Danish ears , and the very signification o the word proclaims them Danish

S Bruun signifies Brown ; Juel sign . Wheel ; Uldal ign . Wolfsdale ;

S . o . ; Birkedal ign Birchdale ; M rk sign Dark ; Sko n sign . Wood Ra v n . R Ba rfo d . Biern sign aven ; sign Barefoot ; sign . Bear etc . 128

Besides the many amongst the ' custom ary Danish

n u O le christia names , such as Kn d , Peder , Niels Hans , ,

t u Chris en , Jens , J eppe , and the less freq ent , but ancient ,

T h e A dser l ' T ru e ls as yg , Thoste , Laue , , Keti , Gunner , ,

Iver , Erik , Magnus , which are already amongst the family

'

‘ ha v e cite d sen : names we as ending in , we should add

Bo e E nev o ld G de H Arent , , Broder , Bonde , , Trelle , y , agen ,

Mo ens T elluf Ingvar , g , Ove , Thorsten , Tjelle or j ; and the

of Vo ldb o r . names women , as Bodil , Thyre , Gunder , Gye , g We should have much difficulty to find anything

German in these names : all is Danish and Northern . The same remark is repeated when we regard the

u names of places in Sleswick . We shall g o thro gh a ’f part o f them after their ending s ) .

A a a Bo ndea a . , (rivulet) Linda ,

Ager , (field) Broager .

a a H ae a T o rb aek B ek , (brook) Egeb ek , olb k , Vedb ek , ,

e fE sb aek . Leerb ek ,

Bro . , (bridge) Stokkebro

G u nnelsb a By , (town) Borreby , y , Kj erby , Ketelsby

D ren esb o Svensby , g y , Gammelby , Br dersby , Viby ,

T r u elsb . . Adelby , y etc etc

‘ l l T ho rsb olle v Bol , bolle , ba le , (dwel ing place) , Sko

The most of these endings are intelligible of themselves ; an ex planation o f a few only is necessary : the ending tldis supposed

hill a m om to signify , and is of Northern origin , or is the old

r a dr u dative in plural , which was used to indicate a place ; p , p ,

t u f T a r r p , comes rom the word p , and signifies a town , which is A de lb en r r de built out of and erected from the chief town , y ; y , y ,

r od indicates that the place is erected by the rooting out of woods ; the frequent ending tea or top comes from the Icelandic l ei a r letfd(effects o f a person deceased) or in plural f (ancient v td remains ) and then it signifies landed property. The ending

v ed i f . or sign fies orest , wood

1 30

G e nto ft T e rk ilsto ft Toft , (a small field) Havetoft , j , , Bir

r es to ft F a a reto ft He ste to ft Ko lto ft Va ldema rs to ft , , , , ,

L n f to t Ru ne to ft. y g ,

Bre dv d a . Vad , (ford) , Bogvad , Dybvad

' G a a rdv a n Vang , (a small field) g , Sovang .

o r Ha n d e d u e v . S nde id i i v L n de v d. Vid ved , (wood) ,

S ollin v ra a F o lde v r a a . Vraa , (nook) g , , Aabenraa m o L u m Borlu m . Um or , Stubbum yg , , Karlum , Klintum

'

O Vaev ero . , (isle) These names sound familiar and homely to every

in o f l Dane ; they appear all districts Denmark , severa o f them also in Norway and Sweden . A great n umber m have also beco e far extended family names . They are ff taken from di erent parts of Sleswick , but principally from the Sou thern part where Germanism has more or less forced its way in . Many occur however two o r three

m S v a ns o ti es , both in South Angel and and likewise in the most Northern pa rts of the Duchy . In the jurisdictio n o f Husum and the So uthern dis tric ts o f of the jurisdiction Gottorp and Flensborg , the

: following are found amongst several more Joldelund , Skov

' Va n dru T o rn sk o v bolle , p , , Sigersted , Stendrup , Gammel

u Hu u sb Br e nr H E sb ersto ft lund , Soller p , y , g y , unding , ,

T h o . Kra lu n d rsb aek . g , , etc etc

In Angel . there also appears the following amongs t

: O ae T h o rb aek T h o rsb a lle T h o rsk ilde others sb k , , Thorsted , , ,

G u nn elsb Ketilsb o T r u elsb Svensby , y, y, Borreby , Br dersby , y,

Bo n de a a , Kollerup , Sattrup , Ulstrup , Tostrup , Arrild ,

' E sk mr E llek aer E eho v e d S to rhoi j , j , g , , Iverslund , Bogelund ,

' K h o lm He sth o lm Fa a relo k k e G a mm ellok k e G rimsnae s y , , , , ,

' E sk riis Birk en a k k e Vinn er Bo e rod , , y , g , Gjentofte , Rune

T e rk ilst o ft H esteto ft T hin sk o v G a a rdv a n toft , , , g , g , Linde

Vaev e rti . vid , etc 1 3 1

' " What a mass o f Danish names there ap pears in

‘

S va nsb . , has been already stated , (P

o f m A great number these na es have , it is true , t ff been turned and distor ed by German writers , baili s and h o‘ i i . S n o s S chna hoi estate owners Thus g made to g ,

E sk riis Ko ldk ee r n to Esgrus , j to Kalte kirchen , Kirkeby to

E sk ilsma rk to E s ch elsma rk Urma rk O hrfeld Karby , , to

Ronha v e Rb nhof R ek lo ster to , Bregning to Brekling , y to

Ruh ek lo ste r Ulv ek ra t Ule ra f N isv r a a , to g , to Niesgrau ,

‘ ' S ma a b ol S chmol T h o rsk ilde T o rds chil to , to , Skovlund to

S cha a flu n d L n ste d L ov e nste dt T o lv eslev T o llschla , y g to , to g ,

f u m f Ru n eto t G r to t u . to Rundhof , to Grundhof or Gr nhof Here it must however h e remarked that this dis

to rtio n o f n names . is retained only by Germa writers

' ih and men in office ; the common man , even the Southern

districts generally pronounces the names correctly . The

O v v enra a common man says Harslov , and not Hadersleben ; ,

L k sb o r Gla ck sb o r and not Apenrade , y g , and not g ; Graa Stee n and not G ra v en ste en ; Ru nto u t (Bunto ft in South

G ru mto u t G ru mto ft Angeln) , and not Rundhof ; , ( in North

n o t G rtinh o f. Angeln) , and Grundhof or That German writers have thus been able to bungle

s o and Spoil Danish names , one cannot however be muc h

o ne astonished at , when reads in German works such

learned explanations of Danish words , as appear in the

” f : Bonde mu agricultural a fairs of Sleswick , stated thus st ” b e der iv edfr om einem g ebu ndenen whereas the meaning of the Danish word Bonde is one who pos

o r sesses landed property , originally by purchase gift from the lord of the soil .

A bounden man or bondma n . 1 32

L a ndilde is deriv ed r om einen la ndlichen g , f whereas it signifies the yearly rent which a F aesteb o n de o r farmer pays to the o w ner o f th e ' e sta te ; Ornum (a n o ld o u t m Danish word Signifying ground that is taken , fro

’ o f fo r a community landed property , a single person s possession) ewp la in edby h eilig en H a inen v on O rnu s

’ bitu men the German s explanation of this word becomes doubly ridiculous , when it is remembered that Manna - ash (O rnu sb au m en) does not appear in the

a North of Europe , the most Northern part where it p pears is in Tyrol ' and Ka rnth en ! They do not howev er fare much better with their o w n language which they fill with a n umber o f Danish expressions , borrowed in particular from the language of the courts o f la w and agricultural affairs which have a very strange a ppearance in German .

A rural feast .

— r u s a u m n A consecrated grove planted w rth Manna a sh (O n b e ) .

134

flowers from the bosom of the earth . The deeds of the o ldheroes and of departed days draw tradition within

o f its circle , and unconcerned about the words history,

o w n the people transform them according to their image ,

s o w fashion them as they must be , that they may ackno ledge them as theirs .

I f e then Sleswick r ally be a Danish land , and its

Danish - speaking inhabitants o f Danish root and extraction just as well as those o f N orth Jutland and F une n : then it will n o t disown itself in the domains of tradition ; a communion o f mind gives a common world of tradition . Though this place does n o t admit o f a detailed treatment

this l s o of rich theme , yet we shal adduce much , as to

n make it clear that it is Danish ground we tread on , whe , we move amongst the traditions which live in the memo rials and conversation of the Danish population in Sles

e o f wick , that they are the rem mbrances antiquity , Danish

n feelings , representations and images of the mi d which we meet with here . There is an old tradition existing both in North and

t u South Jutland , respecting the changes tha the J tlandish

ff I o n peninsula has su ered in remote times . t is said the

o f - firth island Sylt , and in the country around Nissum

o f in North Jutland and in the interior South Jutland , for

instance , in the parish of Agerskov , that a Queen of Eng

land has caused this damage , through vindictiveness . She

o f was betrothed with a King Denmark , but he would not keep the promise o f marriage that he had given to

her . In order to be revenged she commanded the neck

o f land , that united England and France to be cut through ,

e this work lasted seven years , but when compl ted the s ea burst violently in and washed away a great part o f f o u . the peninsula J tland Geologists , by an examination 135

o e f the physical condition of the localities , find it confirm d ,

e nu that o n e of the oldest and gr atest i ndations , which a e has destroyed Jutland , was c used by a br aking through o f s e a b a the , where y the channel between Engl nd and

France w a s formed . The traditions about the old Gods are ne a r to be extinguished in the Northern lands ; it is only here and

in m there , solitary and re ote districts that a single tone is now and then heard from the most distant times o f l antiquity . The most durable are those memoria s that

o f a attach themselves to the names places , as they be r

l o r witness that the Gods have been cu tivated here , that e vents have h a ppened which the people have placed in a connection with the history o f the Gods . O f such n mes n o t a few are to be found in South Jutland . In the parish of Bjert in Tyrstrup Herr o d (j u risdiction) there is

v rlla e a large place , near the g of Binderup , two hundred and sixty feet in circumference , surrounded by enormous l blocks of granite , the peasants Show this place and stil

’ T ho r s I call it Have (Thors garden) ( celandic , hof , the house of the Gods) . In the So uth of Sleswick the name o f this God is likewise frequently to be met with ; thus

’ T h o rs b aek T hor s br o ok T h o rsk ilde we find in Angeln ( ) ,

’ ’ T ho r s w ell T h or s la ce ( ) , Thorsted ( p ) and several others ,

o f as well as the names persons , Thor and Thorsen , which O i ’ a re . dn s in i e very frequent name lies Vonsild ,

’ O dins ild O dinsh o i O din s hill Vo nsb re k i e or ( ) , in , O dins

F r i ae . e s B k (Odins Beck) name is refound in Froslev,

Frorup . Tyrstrup a ndT iislu n do r Tirslund bear witness T B l o f the God yr . a der s name appears not only in Bol le rsle v and Biolderup but the tr a dition still exists o f his

G o d being slain by the Hoder or Hader , whose name is

u o f found again in the neighbo ring town Haderslev . The 1 36

n n o f game of Balder Ru e , which also remi ds us this God , is still practised by children in several places of South

o f Jutland , namely in the neighbourhood Flensborg and

o f m H . a su rel in the jurisdiction aderslev This y , v be sufficient to Sho w that Sleswick also has had lot and part in the o ldmythology o f the North

o f N S tcerk o dder The hero orthern tradition , , is not forgotten in Sleswick where they point o ut the places which he frequented , and it is still less the case with

l D /! e O l er H o er a ns . g ( g the Dane) Some few years ago ,

- when a Sleswick Holsteiner in the provincial parliament,

’ conjured the Emperor Frederick Red - beard s shadow from the grave , as a terror to all Danes , a Sleswick peasant ,

N is m L ilh o ldt Lorenzen fro , was not behind hand in pre

D n sk senting him Holger a e to meet him in the field . Holger D a nsk e is one o f the herbes o f past times with whom the common people of Denmark are best acquainted and on whose deeds they love best to dwell . He sits in his burial vault , prepared to step forth as the saviour o f Denmark in the time of need . The North Jutlanders relate t hat the Turk with this name they signify the dangerous enemy Shall once in time come s o far that he can water his horses in

Viborg lake ; b u t then Holger D a nsk e will step fo rth and

u p u t him to flight . But the South J tlanders do not allow ’ the Turk to come further than to Ko ng e a a en (the King s r ivulet) , which forms the boundary between South and — k . l D a ns e North Jutland When he has reached it , Ho ger Msteps forth from his sep u lchral chamber in the hill near ogeltonder and saves Denmark , as he expels the enemy

O din (Wodan) , Thor , Frey , Balder , Tyr are the most celebrated

Gods in the Scandinavian mythology .

1 38

v o w to wander as a pilgrim to the holy sepulchre . O n

his departure he begged his wife , who was pregnant,

sh e s o n that if gave birth to a , that She would then have a steeple built to the church in Broager ; but if she gave

she birth to a daughter , should then let the church remain

w a s . m without , as it When after co pleting his pilgrim

s a w age , he returned and approached his home he two steeples rise above Broager church : his wife had born him two sons . This is the tradition about A ds e r Ryg o f

F enne slov lille l E sb e rn j and his two sons , Absa on and Snare , celebrated in the history of Denmark and which tradition

n i has wandered from Sealand over to S u de v d. N o t only the o ldballad beginning w ith the words

” ” e s S tev ne i Lunde Kirke yp p en , ( in Lunde church a meeting took place ” ) announced the sanguinary contest that

T iislun de Vo nsen w took place in church , where Tule g sle

Svend Graa , who had insulted his mother , but the tradi tion exists in the place itself. The scene for the song ” o r o f about Mr . Tonne the power the runes , is the isl a nd of Als .

o Queen Margaret , who the comm n people , on account of the dark colour of her face , called Black Peggy , or

' H sh e s o the orse burster , because rode swiftly , is known in history as a woman o f a masculine and strong willed

w h o character , governed the kingdom in difficult times with much wisdom and prudence . Tradition does not

s o f however peak much about her in the rest Denmark ,

" but so much the more in Sleswick which was the chief

ale theatre for her operations ) .

She lived in the 4 3 th century and must not be confo unded w ith

a 111 111 0 4 4 1 1) n the other celebrated Queen M rgaret , who lived ce tur y and in the end of that century broug ht about the union bet w een th e three Scandinavian kingdoms . 1 39

Here she herself took the field in order to maintain

s o n Gli in o f the rights of her Erik p p g , a boy twelve

o f she years , against the Counts Holstein , here made

herself famous by fortifying Dannevirke anew , as it had

become ruinous , and which the commonalty in that part

’

f . still frequently call , a ter her , Margaret s wall

’ Queen Margaret was never the people s favorite , any

‘ A tte rda more than King Valdemar g , great as his merits

' were . Her dark , serious aspect , which was increased

sh e by the black dress wore as a widow , the severity

sh e she m o n showed , the hard works i posed them , and

her unwomanly manners , as they thought , did not please f the common people . They accuse her o having had the assistance of evil Spirits in completing the fortification o f Dannevirke ; they therefore often s e e her at night in her

o n - black dress , Sitting a snow white steed and darting restlessly away over Dannevirke between Hedeby and i H o ll ng ste d. If any one has laid o u t plantations or erected

n she buildi gs on the rampart , then destroys them ; for sh e does not like that people build o r dig in the r a m part which sh e has erected for the defence o f the king

. KrO he den dom They show a hill on p , between Danne

and E D ro nnin ehoie n virke the ider , which is called g (the ’ Queen s hill) , wherein a hostile prince , whom She slew

to in single combat , is said be buried . Even down in

Holstein and Northern Germany , they show fortifications that sh e is said to have erected when she besieged hos

tile towns . She appears often a t night to the fishermen

by the Slic , and procures them a good draught of fishes ,

when they obey her commands , but if they trespass against

them , it then becomes their ruin . She conquered her enemies just as much by stratagem as by bravery ; when

’ S he u rode about in the co ntry , she often had her horse s 1 4 0

o n so n o shoes placed the wrong way the hoofs , that

one knew where She was . She also possessed the gift

- ma n Of prophecy , and has left v prophecies about Den ’ mark s future state .

w a s u It not only G rre castle , between Elsinore and

A tterda so Fredensborg , which King Valdemar g loved

n of highly, that he would willingly resig the joys heaven if he might only be allowed to hunt in the forest around

G urre . The Sleswick tradition attributes to him the same

f 1 a fe ct o n for the country around Bau near Flensborg . Here b e o f one day , during the pleasures the chase , let fall the same presumptu ous words ; but as a punishment h e

n u O must o w h nt there till doomsday . The noise f his wild hunting t umult even forces its way down to the moat by Flensborg , when he at night , with his retinue

Of huntsmen and dogs , darts through the air . This the ” commonalty call Kong Volmers Jagt ( King Valdemars chase ) . Nor is tradition quite silent about the battles o f the

Danish Kings with the later Dukes o f Sleswick . It is

t n i rela ed , that a Danish King , whose ame it not g ven , was surprised in Bollerslev by the people Of the Duke and had nearly been taken prisoner . But a faithfu l Sles wicker saved the King , by stratagem , from the suspend m ing danger , and as a reward he got an exemption fro taxes for the property he owned in Bo llerslev . The farm

e is called Fr ip lo v (i. free plough) and still preserves its o ldexemption from taxation .

of The whole world supernatural beings , with which the common people Of D enmark like so much to occupy their imagination with , belongs just as much to Sleswick

E E lle i e rn e as any other place in Denmark . The lves ( p g ) perform their light dances in the meadows o r the Op en

1 4 2

in Also Angeln and several other places , they Often

hear Similar beautiful music sound from the hills .

The belief in mountain - folks or dwarfs or subterranean e people , as they are called , is extended ov r the whole

o f Sleswick . It is found not less in Angeln and S u nde v id

than in North and West Sleswick , and what is more

Finn remarkable , they have preserved the Old name , with which such demons o r sprites wer e designated in the f t o . sk rlful antiqui y the North They are still smiths , as

is the Olden time , and the traveller can Often hear them

at work with hammer and file within the hill . Sometimes the hill rises and stands o n glowing pillars S O that o ne

se e n . can rightly , what they are Occupied with therei

They have much familiar intercourse with human beings ,

- borrow their work tools and furniture , which they return

u p nctually when they have used them , are often self invited guests at festivals and marriages and take a secret

n part in the meal . This does o t happen now so often as before , as the King of Denmark is said to have ordered their places o f exit to be closed a n dplaced sentinels

s o ffi . before them , that they can only escape with di culty

o r In Sleswick they also call the Nisser brownies ,

o r - little boys Nisse boys , because they look like little

sa boys . In other respects they also y the same about them there , as everywhere else in Denmark . They are

m o tro n active beings , always in both day and night ; when they are well treated and get their dish Of groats in right time , they are very useful , help the servants with all sorts of household jobs and bring luck to the house they stay in ; but if any harm be done to them , they then do not neglect to revenge themselves effectually .

The belief in the Were - wolf o r wolf - man prevails also in Sleswick , and there are many tales about the de 14 3

af He lhe st s o b v testable ) , which is much feared the Danish

to commonalty . Proverbial Danisms are also attached

sa o n e this belief. Thus they y Of who has escaped from ’

’ a dangerous illness : H a n ha r giv et D O den en S hj cep p e

” ” ” ’ ' H a v r e o r ha n h a r a h obt si medH el ha n ha r lr rrbt /j g , ( j

’ f i. . He o sig a f medce H el.) e has given death a peck

c a ts o r O ff . T O , he has bought himself with Hel one

” : D u er o da t who performs an errand Slowly , they say g

”

H Y o u . sk ihk e efter re el. ( are good to send after Hel )

o n e . The word is , as is well known , an Old Scandinavian That the dwarfs exchange the children of christians and place an oaf in their stead , likewise belongs to the

a nd common belief in Sleswick , they apply the same means of precaution against the exchang e a s everywhere else in Denmark . Nor are tales wanting about hidden

riffins . treasures , dragons and g , that brood over them Amongst others a great treasure is said to be buried in

O f O ld o f the ruins the castle Duborg near Flensborg , where there is also a he rp e nt with a crown o n its head . There were giants (Jaette r) as well as dwarfs (D v aerg e r) f im in the co u ntry formerly . As proofs o this are the m e nsely large stones which are Often found not far from the churches . These stones the heathen giants would have slung against the churches , but they have mistaken their a im so that the stones have fallen down at some distance

. n from them Such stones are seen , for instance , ear

Arrild , Spandet , and Middelby churches . A giant would once throw such a stone from S undev idover Flensborg

v aern firth and far into Angeln against the church in Q ,

Ha tlu nd but it came no further than to where it still lies .

The fabled three legged horse ; from Hel the goddess O f death in t the Northern My hology . ’ l ’ Near Dollerup in Angeln there ies a large stone , which a giant has thrown over from F un en ; it is called the

.

Ennen stone to this day . Near D yp p elbj erg in S u n de v id

u there is a stone which , although they have taken m ch o f o n e it away by blasting , is still hundred feet in cir cumference . . I t lay before on Als ; but a giantess slung

A lssund in it over the sound ( ) after a giant , who had su lte dher .

a r e There numerous traditions united with churches , towers , steeples , bells , baptismal fonts and other sacred

o f Objects , which explain the cause the church having

o n been built , the reason why it lies that place , and not

o r in any other , which seems far more convenient , relate

o n w h o about the punishment that has fallen them , have sinned against what is sacred . They are repeated with almost stereotypical invariableness everywhere in Denmark . The most prominent feature in these traditions is the p e c ulia r pleasure which the popular belief has found in letting what is sacred be accomplished just by profane

o f powers , who have lent their assistance in the hope but destroying christian souls , disappointed in their wicked calc ulations have been obliged to work without reward .

’ T O O f E v a ds cite an instance , it is related g church that the builder had u ndertaken to have it finished at a certain time , but saw himself unable to keep his word . Troubled in his mind he went about and pondered over what he

l a . dw a rf should do . Then there came a litt e being , , up to him and Offered to complete the church within the

n a m given time ; but then the builder should find out his e , o r else belong to him with life and soul . The builder laughed at the little fellow , who he thought could not

he execute the great thing promised , and without thinking

' further about it he entered into the proposal . He thought

1 4 6

We have pointed out a part of the more prominent features in the popular belief of the Sleswick people and found , that the traditions both in contents and form agree with those which exist amongst the rest o f the Danish commonalty . This common agreement in the traditions is not less demonstrative o f the nationality of the population than the community o f language : for both are direct ex f pressions o the popular mind . What we have here stated t we can , if necessary , streng hen by the evidence of a ll h ff . . Mu en o German author Mr , who possesses a cele b ra te d name in traditional literature , states , in a work he

a S chle s has lately published , (Sagen M rchen und Linder aus H wig , olstein und Lauenburg , Kiel after ff having mentioned di erent peculiar D anish traditions , that

w . are met with in Sles ick , p VI that these traditions

tha t the G er ma n prove just as definitively as the language , na tiona lity ha s her e fo u ndits bou nda ry . 1 4 7

XV.

Pno vnns s , adages and figurative phrases are of no

’ mean signification as expressions o f a people s peculiarity .

They have once been pronounced , have been received and diffused themselves amongst the whole nation . They pass as sentences between man and man , which , short

u V o f and pithy , fo nd an Opinion , express a iew the

o f o r o f m condition life an observation ans nature , and

f i no one ever thinks o impugning the r authority . But they only acquire such authority because they are an expres

’ o f v v c sion the people s iews , meanings and con i tions ; and

t s o just as their conten s express the national peculiarity ,

i n . I n s their form also determi ed by the same . order to

’ illumine Sleswick s nationality from this side also , we shall o here quote some few pr verbs and sayings , which are s general among t the Sleswick commonalty . Most of them are used everywhere in Denmark , and the few that are peculiar to Sleswick , every Dane will directly acknowledge as Danish in form and spirit .

b e En Tosse kan Sporge mere end ti Vise kan sv a r e .

ca a n One fool can ask more than ten wise men n sw er .

ra a b er v fa a er Som man i Sko en , man Svar . the As we shout in wood , so we get an answer . 4 0 * 1 4 8

Det sildi na a r er for g at spare , man er kommen

til Bunden .

It is too late to Spare , when we have come to the

bottom .

Rigm a nds Datter o g Fa ttig ma nds Stud b liv e r ikke

gammel i Gaard .

’ ’ The rich man s da nghter and the poor ma n s o x do

n o t get old in the farm .

N a a r sla a er ibla ndt Flo k man en Hunde , da piber

den man rammer . When we strike amongst a pack o f dogs then the

o ne that we hit howls .

a a er l sti t sa de T o rdensk old Ku lerne Det g y g , g j , da g p eh ham o m O rene .

I t T o rde nsk o ld goes merrily , said j , when the balls

T dnsk o ld whistled about his ears . ( or e j is a renowned naval hero) .

ma n sa a . Som reder , ligger man

As we make ou r bed so we must lie .

r sla a es . Den der giver , til han tigge , skal til han ligger

He . that gives til he begs , shall be beaten till he falls

Rom er ikke bygget paa een Dag . m Ro e was not built in o ne day . f i Nye Koste e e b e dst .

New brooms sweep best .

v a le or Een S gj ingen Sommer .

O ne swallo w makes no summer .

s a de Ha Det er kun en overgang , g even , da man

Bael en f trak g a ham .

It is only a change , said the fox , when they pulled ff his Skin o him .

1 50

‘ v d i en a a rl . Det er g Kone , der laster sin egen Kaal

o w n . She is a bad wife , who blames her cabbage

N a a r Kr bb en sla a es H estene . y er tom ,

th e e . When the crib is empty , hors s strike k N a a r u ae b ees . M sen er m t , er Melet

When the mouse is sated , the meal is bitter .

a N este Aar kommer atter en Ju le a ften .

- Next year there comes a Chris tmas eve . ‘again T v e l r yv troer h r Mand stj ae e .

The thief thinks every man steals .

tidsno k so m b liv e r h a . Den kommer , engt ved Lys

He is b a n ed comes time enough , who to be g by candle light .

Dagen er en Herre til at sye Polse ved .

The day is a master to make sa usages by .

tv iv le de sa de T aek k er fik Jeg nok , g Peer , da han net 1 Helv e de I had my doubts , said Peter Thatcher , when he was refused in Hell .

' ‘

I s iser til . Mjols , der p man Brod Pols

‘ In Mjols , there they eat bread to sausage .

of (They are fond fat dishes in Sleswick , but Mjols t lies in a poor district where they mus live frugally, which is expressed in this manner) .

H l e de is — e v , (Hell) a road side inn , where Peter courted the

girl and was refused . 1 51

XVI .

T HE t o o l faithful adherence what is din customs , memorials , language , proverbs , sayings etc . , which , not l withstanding the many changes that have taken p ace ,

so S lesw ick er shows itself clearly in the , also betrays

o f o ld itself in the preservation various Danish institutions , which have maintained themselves here , at least by name ,

o r whilst they have disappeared in the rest of Denmark , only appear q u ite exceptionally . In Sleswick they have

S a ndemaend S a ndemcendsto R a nsna zv nin e'r still and g , g and ' f A llema ndsthz ng . (Names o various ancient institutions for

f n a the administration o law) . In North Angel the ssizes

4 7 25 o n were still held , in , in the Open air , the grounds

- ld o f the former Ry cloister . Even the o Danish mode of valuing the soil after mark gold and mark silver is still

o f u retained in certain districts Sleswick , tho gh the names now do n o t naturally denote the same value a s in the olden times . O n the whole these things stand more as

a nd v shadows memorials of past times , than ha ing any signification in the present . When the judicial proceedings became German , the Danish jurymen and crown jurors must naturally have become an insignificant form .

But there are . other sides o f life and manners of living in Sleswick where ancient things have maintained

l o ur themselves in fu l strength up to days , as they . also 1 52

‘ w agree ith what is the custom everywhere in Denmark .

To these we will first reckon the style o f building . Over the whole o f Danish Sleswick it is perfectly Danish in its ff character , and substanti ally di erent from the German o r u Saxon style Of building , which begins to the So th Of

lie the S and Dannevirke . The peculiarity o f the D anish style o f building con it sists , as is well known , in this , that the farm buildings

of are formed by four rows buildings , which are built together in a square and enclose the farm yard . That the d w elling is . strictly separated from the other parts o f the building , which are used as stables , barn , granary i . . h a s ts etc etc ; and that it chimneys , and that whole length forms the front o r facade . The dwelling house extends in a directio n from East to West and has the f garden behind it . The two ranges O buildings extend

to up to the ends Of the dwelling house , Opposite which ff is the fourth range , applied to di erent uses such as

- waggon sheds etc . etc . , and here also the entrance into the yard is found ; the side buildings form the stables ,

. tw o o n e barn etc Sometimes there are entrances , by end Of the barn and another by the end of the stable . In the middle o f the yard is the dunghill which is kept

' so th e ca n o n very neat in Sleswick , that y bleach yarn

f w . e it Some deviations from this rule may appear , such as that O f the four ranges o f building not being joined

o f directly together , for the sake danger from fire , but yet they form a square . The cattle and horses stand in the stable in stalls with their heads turned towards the

outer walls . The entrance to the dwelling house is through the

lobby into the kitchen , from which a door leads into the

o r parlour daily room , which is generally towards the

1 54

the inhabitants . F o r the Danish populati o n agriculture is

the chief thing , and the breeding Of cattle a subordinate

fo r x the o n matter ; German population the contrary , the breeding Of cattle is the main source Of their subsistence ,

of o together with the preparation cheese and butter , sm ked

n meats etc . Travellers have remarked that the Germa population have darker coloured countenances than the b Danish , and explain this circumstance y the continual smoke in which they live ; for when the weather is n ot still the whole house is filled with a smoke that is ih supportable to those who are n o t accustomed to it . Other

i it o w se ascends and passes al ng the ceiling , smoking the quantity Of sausages , hams and beef that is hung up there . The smoke also penetrates through the crevices and Open ings in the ceiling , into the corn and fodder that is laid u p there and smokes it through . But the cattle are so

e accustomed to this smoked fodder that , when th y come

no t into Danish districts , they will at first eat the fodder that is not smoked . The style o f building in Angeln departs from the general Danish style in s o much that it has n o t the square form ; but otherwise it has everything in common with it . s It has chimney and not the characteristic Saxon hearth , and the rooms in the dwelling ‘ house are separated from the stables and barn ; the side range and no t the gable

u end forms the facade towards the road . A thoro ghfare passes right through the b uilding dividing it a ccording to the breadth in tw o principal divisions ; o n the o ne side

o n they have dwelling house and all belonging to it , the

' u other side the sta bles and barn . From the thoro ghfare there is an entrance leading into the kitchen , which by a door stands in connection with the daily room that lies towards . the South ; behind this is the large room and at 1 55

’ the side the guest s and bridal chamber . As the disposi

- s o tion o f the rooms is the same as in . South Jutland ,

o f s n a mel D O rns P are also the names them , y , esel and

O f Klove . On the other side the thoroughfare there are stables o n each side for the horses and cattle , and the

floor between is used as a barn floor .

S v a nso o n In Germanized , the contrary, the Danish style o f building has in a great measure given way to the Saxon .

It is self evident , that deviations from the style here noticed can appear in different places in particular details ;

do . wealth and poverty , fancy and accident , can much But the fundamental type we have here mentioned appears again in all places .

o f m o f In many other traits also the anner living , the fraternal resemblance between the South and North Jutlander and on the whole with the entire Danish c o m m o na lty does no t disown itself. At marriage feasts (as also at funerals) the wealthier peasants invite an immense number of guests , at times amounting to several hundreds . The festivities last three days ; but o n the third day the

r r nearest relations only emain . Every waggon o carriage with new guests is received with drums and trumpets , o r flutes and violins . The procession to the church is

o f s Opened by a number horsemen , and ometimes with

th e music before them . After returning from the church

in dinner begins , which lasts several hours , and which

w Risen rod rice , boiled in milk and s eetened , (called g )

i to never fa ls be o n e Of the chief dishes . The great expenses which the feast occasions , are compensated by

o f i o f the bridal presents the guests , wh ch consist silver f & & c . c . on e articles , urniture , provisions , Every who has been present at a peasants wedding in North Jutland 1 56

o r Sealand will recognise these traits . The strict ordin ance respecting the precedence o f rank between G a a r d maend H u u smaend o w n and , (farmers who cultivate their

e o w n land , and cottag rs who a house and a slip Of land) ,

s o which is rooted in the Danish peasantry , and which l expresses itself as we l in other relations , as therein , that the farmer will seldom o r ever give his daughter in

s o n . marriage to a cottagers , is also found in Sleswick

o ne Even in eatables and dishes , can Observe a remarkable difference between the Danish and German

S lesw ick er population . When the Danish makes a feast the first dish that comes o n the table is yellow pease boiled thick with a lump of butter in the middle of the dish ; the next dish is beef or hen soup , with the meat

um in the soup , to which is generally added boiled pl s ; the third dish is the favored boiled rice with butter . It is more seldom that white cabbage comes instead Of the

u sto ck fish . so p , and still more seldom The german population h a v e other dishes ; but they

n o r are not so fixed as amongst the Danish , yet are they alike in all parts Of the co untry . They have generally several dishes , amongst which there is usually meat soup

i . or broth , and thick r ce is not wanting The two other

‘

ff ff . dishes are Of meat , but di erent in the di erent districts In some places a roast goose stuffed w ith a pples and

in u plums , other places flo r dumplings with bacon and fa t sauce (the German dumplings) . The daily food o f the inhabitants Of Angeln in the

is Vaellin morning and evening g , (barley grits boiled in

o r r o r milk) , thick milk po ridge with bread and butter sandwiches ; and that o f the North S lesw ick ers is the same .

Mead is a favorite drink , at least in North Sleswick .

1 58

XVIL

‘ W E have gone throu gh the most important points o f

the history Of Sleswick , as far as they concern the na

io na lit . t y In much it has been a sorrowful history . In

o f former times , in the days antiquity and a great part f Of the middle ages , there was no dif erence between the

N o f Ko n ea a en Jutes to the orth and South g , between the

Danes to the East and West o f the little Belt . Danish was heard pure and unmixed from the Sli c to Skagen ;

a nd s o as the language was , were the customs , laws and

o n e institutions Danish , feeling for their common father

land embraced all . N O o ne longed at that time for Ger

or o n i o r man , but met with sword glave Dannev rke Margaret’s wall to a manly defence against the hostile

trib es Of the South .

But it became other w ise . Holstein Counts became

masters in South Jutland , and Holstein noblemen found it agreeable to dwell by E g ernfio rdand the S lie ; they

s made Dani h men and women their serfs and thralls , and a t last deprived them Of their mother tongue as thev had deprived them Of property and freedom . Ger man Hanse—town merchants established themselves in the

' towns and appropriated to themselves the sources o f the wealth a ndriches Of the country . The German laws and

‘ the low German la nguage n o w began to govern . The 1 59

f Re orm a tion came , which otherwise brought with it into f all parts o f the world emanc ipation from the thraldom o

o f the mind and abuses barbarism ; truth , made known

f a nd‘ scho ol in the words o the mother tongue in church ,

it caused prejudice and error to yield . Thus was in

' n ot . other places , but so in South Jutland Monkish Latin

lo w its was expelled the church , but German took place ,

u b e and the people gained nothing ; they sho ld now , as

e difica tio n in u fore , seek their a lang age they did not

o f no t understand . This barbarism the middle ages has ,

o u r . for a great part , disappeared in days

a nd o f The teachers Of congregations the guides youth ,

a ll whose duty it was above others , to defend and preserve

ha d those shoots which nature implanted in the people , and by their development lead them on to that degree

to Of cultivation which they , according their peculiarities ’

u . could reach , sinned most Of all against the people s nat re They were the most active labourers in the work o f de

stroying the language , and their workshops were the

churches and the schools . Corporeal punishment was employed in the school when the children Spoke that language which they had brought with them from the ir ’ parents home , and at times oaths and curses sounded ’ in God s house from the lips Of the clergyman against th e

n o t full grown congregation , who would forget their mother

‘ tongue . The public authorities went hand in hand with

o f the endeavours the clergy . Thus it went o n for many centuries and no o ne it thought could go further . But it went further . A hu milita tio n fo r was reserved the Danish nation , that no o n e was prepared for . In that land where the Danish tongue was heard uncontrolled from the Slic to Konge aaen ; where it had been absolute in public and private 1 60

o f life , during the serious deliberations men in the public

in o f parliament , the administration justice from the judge

ment seat , as well as in the familiar intercourse Of the domestic circle : in that land it durst not longer be heard

b a ll even as equal to the German in that , where the most

important concerns o f the country should be canvassed . Danish Speeches should be entirely silenced according to f the will Of German rulers . Thereby the cup o bitterness

fi u o f in was lled to the brim , this was the f ll measure justice . But now all Danes also perceived what the real

. u n no t q estion was , and had the oppositio been serious d a n n ow s o . energetic before , it became S u ch is the sorrowful picture that the past Shows

. But not n o r us we D anes need to be disheartened , the S le sw ick er to blush ; he has defended his mother tongue

o . h norably The German nation , whose armies , with per

e jured rebels for their auxiliaries , lat ly passed beyond

o f D annevirke , have outraged the mother tongue numerous tribes ; in many places oppression has succeeded , in some

ha s places it found resistance . But nowhere was the

fo r resistance so persevering , nowhere was the love the mother tongue so rooted and immoveable , nowhere did its ever yo ung and fresh life Sho w such an inexhaustible

o f power resistance against aggressions , and nowhere has there been conquests s o insignificant in proportion to the endeavours and the long period Of time (the Germans themselves confess it with astonishment) as there , where

Danish and German tried their strength with each other , to the North Of Dannevirke and the Slic . What have the Germans gained by all their endea

’ their in u stic e ? ff ff a yours and all j Sheri s . and baili s h ve governed in German , advocates conducted their causes a nd G a judges pronounced sentence in erm n , clergymen

1 62

' ' If e ve n the German has forced its Wa y into t h e

n m o f t cou try fro some the distric s by the frontiers , and mixed itself wi th the Danish : then w e mus t n o t forget that it sits very loosely on the surface . It is only a kind o f m o uld that has been drawn over Danism in these

r fo r n d m pa ts , which have a long time bee remove fro

f 1f n tu r l . . a a the e fects of the common nationality . circum stances and the fresh current Of a common nationality be

- i ac t m l t aga n allowed to here , the ould wil hen disappear; a s it only thrives in an impure and mixed air e The G rman nationality , which would pass for that d of the whole lan , has in . the last revolt produced an f O evidence o itself. When in ur times a real nationality m arises in order to deliver itself fro Oppressions , it has a n ' imm ense d to power , which it is ifficult for anything f i . s resist Every man flies to de end it , no sacrifice avoided ,

’ n oblest o w ers the p devote themselves willingly , to gain

f ha s a holy right o r the people . This spectacle been shown in several parts o f Europ e in o u r days . But it

- is n o t thus with the Sleswick Holsteiners . Although they did not disdain to avail themselves of th e meanest weapon

' v Of treachery , although the re olt came unexpectedly and by surprise , yet it fell to the ground after a three days

fi o n campaign ; no enthusiasm , no sacri ce a great scale ,

’ no a ctiv e participation from the people s Side , Showed that it was a national ca u se . Foreign bayonets were the resort

u and su pport o f the rebels . Their own co n d ct has shown the world what it shall judge o f the m and their assertions . The Danish people will therefore look towards the

h . u future wit intrepidity and firmness What is right , m st surely triumph , if even its way goes through adversities .