Hotel reservations in other destinations:
Culture
Culture
Hans Christian Andersen is known beyond Denmark for his fairy tales, such as The Emperor's New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, and The Ugly Duckling.
Karen Blixen (pen name: Isak Dinesen), Nobel laureate author Henrik Pontoppidan, Nobel laureate physicist Niels Bohr, the comedic pianist Victor Borge and the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard have also made a name for themselves outside Denmark.
The capital city of Copenhagen includes the Tivoli gardens, the Amalienborg Palace (home of the Danish monarchy), and The Little Mermaid sculpture.
The second largest city in Denmark is Aarhus.
Aarhus is an old Viking Age city and one of the oldest cities in the country.
The largest cathedral in Denmark and the second largest cathedral in Northern Europe is Aarhus Cathedral.
Historically, Denmark, like its Scandinavian neighbors, has been one of the most socially progressive cultures in the world.
For example, in 1969, Denmark was the first country to legalise pornography.
And in 1989, Denmark enacted a registered partnership law, being the first country in the world to grant same-sex couples nearly all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage.
Cinema
The three big internationally important waves of Danish cinema have been: .
The erotic melodrama of the silent era.
The increasingly explicit sex films of the 1960s and 1970s.
The Dogme95-movement of the late 1990s.
Danish filmmakers of note include: .
Carl Th.
Dreyer (1889-1968), one of the most acclaimed directors in the history of cinema.
Erik Balling, Oscar-nominated creator of Olsen-banden (1968).
Gabriel Axel, Oscar-winner for Babette's Feast (1987).
Bille August, Oscar-winner for Pelle the Conqueror (1987).
Thomas Vinterberg, celebrated for Festen (1998), co-creator of Dogme95.
Lars von Trier, Oscar-nominated for Dancer in the Dark (2000), co-creator of Dogme95 and of Zentropa.
A locally popular film genre is the charmingly simplistic "folkekomedie" (folk comedy), which originated in the 1930s and gained widespread dominance from the 1950s until the 1970s, usually scorned by critics and loved by the audience.
Notable folkekomedie-films include Barken Margrethe (1934), De røde heste (1950), Far til fire (1953) and Olsen-banden (1968).
Since the 1980s, Danish filmmaking has been important to changing governments.
The National Film School of Denmark has educated a generation of new award-winning directors.
The funds for film project has been administrated by Filminstitutet, but their focus on movies that would achieve high tickets-sales locally has been criticized for being both too populist and too narrow-minded, by directors wishing to be artistic or international.
Danish cinema remains highly respected internationally, and Danish films receive many awards at major international film festivals.
Literature
Danish Writers: H.C.
Andersen, Karen Blixen, Søren Kierkegaard, Ludvig Holberg, Georg Brandes, Aksel Sandermose, Henrik Pontoppidan, J.P.
Jacobsen, Karl Gjellerup, Hans Scherfig, Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig, Henrik Pontoppidan, Johannes V.
Jensen, Dan Turéll, Gustav Wied, William Heinesen, Martin Andersen Nexø, Tom Kristensen, Peter Høeg ect.
Sports
The most popular sport in Denmark is football.
Sailing and other water sports are popular, as are indoor sports such as badminton, handball and various forms of gymnastics.
In Denmark there is also a small group of people doing motorsport, but with some success.
The most successful driver on the 24 Hours of Le Mans race ever, with eight 1st places is Tom Kristensen, who comes from Denmark.
In speedway Denmark has won several World Championships.
Other notable Danish sportspeople include American football's National Football League all-time leading scorer Morten Andersen, cyclists Bjarne Riis, Rolf Sørensen, and Michael Rasmussen, badminton-players Peter Gade and Camilla Martin, table tennis-player Michael Maze, poker Hall of Fame player Gus Hansen and Peter Eastgate, football players Michael and Brian Laudrup and Peter Schmeichel.
Teenager Caroline Wozniacki is rising up the rankings on the WTA tennis tour.
Denmark is also the home and birthplace of former WBA & WBC Supermiddleweight boxing champion, Mikkel Kessler.
1992 European champions
In 1992, the national football team were crowned European champions.
Remarkably, the team had finished second in their qualifying group behind Yugoslavia and as a result had failed to qualify for the final tournament.
They gained their place in the tournament at the last moment when the warring Yugoslavs were expelled from the competition.
Once in the finals the Danes reached the final where they defeated reigning World champions Germany.
Music
Denmark has long been a center of cultural innovation.
Its capital, Copenhagen, and its multiple outlying islands have a wide range of folk traditions.
Carl Nielsen, with his six imposing symphonies, was the first Danish composer to gain international recognition, while an extensive recording industry has produced pop stars and a host of performers from a multitude of genres.
The famous drummer Lars Ulrich from Metallica is from Denmark.
Among other names, Whigfield and the '90's pop band Aqua also come from Denmark, as well as current (March 2008) US hitlist top name Ida Corr and group Alphabeat.
Food
The cuisine of Denmark, like that in the other Nordic countries (Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden), as well as that of northern Germany, its neighbour to the south, consists mainly of meat and fish.
This stems from the country's agricultural past, as well as its geography and climate of long, cold winters.
Traditional Danish food includes frikadeller (fried meatballs, often served with potatoes and various sorts of gravy), karbonader/krebinetter (breaded and fried minced meat), steaks and so on, usually eaten with potatoes.
Fish is also widely eaten, especially on the west coast of Jutland.
A traditionally favourite condiment, remoulade, is eaten with french fries, on fried plaice, on salami or roast beef sandwiches.
Smoked fish dishes (herring, mackerel, eel) from local smoking houses or røgerier, especially on the island of Bornholm, are increasingly popular.
Danish food also includes a variety of open rugbrød (Rye-bread) sandwiches or smørrebrød traditionally served for the mid-day meal or frokost.
This usually starts with fish such as marinated herring, smoked eel or hot fried breaded plaice.
Then come meat sandwiches such as cold roast beef with remoulade and fried onions, roast pork and crackling with red cabbage, hot veal medallions, Danish meat balls (frikadeller) or liver paté with bacon and mushrooms.
Some typically Danish items are Sol over Gudhjem, literally 'sun over Gudhjem', consisting of smoked herring, chives and with raw egg yolk (the "sun") on top; or Dyrlægens natmad, 'vet's late-night bite', with liver paté, saltmeat (corned veal), onions and jellied consommé.
Finally cheese is served with radishes, nuts or grapes.
Lager beer accompanied by small glasses of snaps or aquavit are the preferred drinks for a Danish frokost.
Source: CIA Factbook, Wikipedia
Did you find it useful?
Book now, pay in the hotel!
|
|
★ The 10 best hotels in Denmark
Hotels by type
Denmark map
About Denmark
Etymology
History
Geography
Government and politics
Regions and municipalities
Economy
Demographics
Religion
Culture
Military
Footnotes
User reviews about Denmark
|
Member of the 4K.com™ network. Authoritative sites about hotels around the world.
