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DENMARK EXPLAINED

‘Relaxed, traditional, tight-fisted’: What Copenhageners think of people from Jutland

People from Copenhagen aren't known for having the most positive feelings towards their country cousins on the Jutland peninsular. The Local asked some Copenhageners what they really thought.

'Relaxed, traditional, tight-fisted': What Copenhageners think of people from Jutland
Many Copenhageners think of people in Jutland as country bumpkins who spend their lives sitting on a tractor. Photo: Palle Hedemann/Ritzau Scanpix

It may strictly be a separate city but few places are as deeply Copenhagen as Frederiksberg, the leafy independent municipality in the centre of the Danish capital, and the people The Local spoke there to all had their views about people from Jutland, even if some of them had Jutlandish roots themselves. 

Jeppe, 19, one of a group of young men getting on the metro, said that many Copenhageners thought of Jutlanders as being beer guzzlers who were tight with money.   

“I think a lot of people see them as kind of greedy, that they don’t necessarily want to spend much money,” he said. “The other thing is they drink a lot of beer, not just at parties but in the workplace.

“I think they’re more traditional, as well,” added his friend Bertrand. 

Sanna, a Copenhagener with a Swedish-Finnish background, agreed that one stereotype about Jutlanders was that they were “cheap”, but added that paradoxically, they were also in her experience more ostentatious. 

“They like more branded clothes, and they spend money on bigger cars,” she said. “Copenhageners don’t show off their money in the same way that people from Jutland do if they have it. It’s much more bohemian here. Even if you are in a higher position, you can still be super-bohemian and go to a secondhand store.” 

Ann, a young woman with a septum nose piercing whose family come from Jutland, said that in her experience people on the peninsular were more conservative. 

“They are very traditional and most of them only care about their own backyard. They don’t really care about cultural opinions like racism, sexuality, the environment,” she said. Jutlanders, on the other hand, she said, tended to dismiss Copenhageners as “woke”. 

Lila, 49, who moved from Jutland to Copenhagen as a young woman, said that Jutlanders tended to be a lot more narrow-minded. 

“I think it’s easier to come from Jutland to Copenhagen than the other way around. People in Jutland are more judgemental…maybe they’re insecure, I don’t know.” 

Silke, 19, who was walking past the Royal Danish Academy of Music, said that she believed people from Jutland to be unusually voracious meat-eaters. 

“I feel like a lot of people are vegetarians in this city,” she said. “And if you talk about Jutlanders, we say they eat a lot of meat or that vegetarians don’t exist over there.”

Valentin, 18, who was on his way to the Rema 1000 supermarket, said that as someone who had grown up in Copenhagen with a Jutlander father, he could understand both sides. 

“Normally they [Copenhageners] think people from Jutland all just work on the farm and only eat potatoes,” he said. “It’s very disappointing to hear about it, but quite funny. People think they’re simple people.”  

Others gave a more positive view, however. Several people The Local spoke to appeared envious of Jutlanders’ less stressful lives and saying they tended to also have more time for one another. 

“They’re also seen as more relaxed — I would say it’s not only negative — I think people, even the ones living here, think that Copenhageners are a bit stuck up and could relax a little bit more,” she said. 

Jesper, 55, said that as a born and bred Copenagener, he had worked with Jutlanders all his life and always found them “extremely nice”. 

“Of course, it’s a different pace. Here, everybody’s so stressed: it’s ‘dat’, ‘dat’ ‘dat’ ‘dat’ [tapping one hand against the other to mark the tempo]. “That’s not the same there. It’s more relaxed — in some ways, not always in business, I must say — but in normal life.” 

Steen, 70, agreed that Jutlanders tended to be more pleasant to one another than Copenhageners were. 

“We don’t like each other as much as they do in Jutland. People like each other more and help each other. We don’t do that,” he said. 

Peter, 66, who came to Copenhagen from Jutland as a young man, argued that the apparent conflict between the two was mostly light-hearted banter.

“We’re having a bit of fun with one another,” he said. “It’s not that serious.”

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DENMARK EXPLAINED

Manhood, butter, and piracy: How foreigners have managed to offend Danes

Danes are known for their ironic sense of humour and love of teasing. But can they take it as well as give it out? We asked readers if they've ever succeded in properly offending a Dane. Here are the answers so far.

Manhood, butter, and piracy: How foreigners have managed to offend Danes

Danes often pride themselves on having an edgy sense of humour that can get very close to the bone, boasting that no topic, however non-PC is out of bounds. But is that actually true? Are there arguments you can make, insults you can give, and jokes you can crack that go beyond the mark? 

Several of the respondents to our survey have discovered that there definitely are, with some unexpected subjects managing to raise the hackles of their Danish friends, collegues and relatives. 

If you’ve also managed to offend someone in Denmark, either unintentionally or perhaps intentionally too, please answer the survey, which is pasted below and we’ll add it to this article. 

Casting aspersions on Danes’ chivalric manhood

Zdravka, from Bulgaria, says she has in the past offended Danish men by accusing them of lacking the manly virtues of chivalry and generosity celebrated in her home country. 

“I told him that according to my culture and upbringing he’s not considered a man because where I come from, men take pride in providing for their women and don’t expect them to split bills 50:50,” she wrote in our survey. 

She said that in her opinion the offensive power of her accusation boiled down to cultural differences. 

“It is a factor, since my culture is conflicting with the Danish mindset of equality, bordering on lack of chivalry and gentlemanly traits.” 

Failing to appreciate the superiority of Danish butter 

Ann, a scientist from Brazil, made the mistake of saying she preferred the taste of Italian butter when accompanying her Danish extended family on a holiday to Italy. 

“The next day for breakfast, my Danish family put Lurpack on the table and we never saw the Italian one again. After checking with my husband, or my boyfriend at the time, he said that yes, I had offended the whole family without realising it.” 

Danes she said had managed to offend her “all the time”. 

“About skin colour and what happens or not in Brazil: they have no filter for how they ask things, and are honest and direct. I have learned to like it.” 

Even so, she said, she had been surprised. “I couldn’t know what the sensitive topics were and how proud they can be of something as simple as butter.” 

Laughing at people with names from Norse mythology

Gary, a Frenchman living in Copenhagen, took a wrong step when he laughed at someone he met at a party who introduced themselves as “Thor”.

“In my first months in Denmark, I attended a party with my girlfriend. I started chatting with a guy and he introduced himself as ‘Thor’. I started laughing and asked him to tell me the truth. He turned red and never talked to me again. That’s how I learned that ‘Thor’ was a very common name in Denmark.” 

Breaking minor national laws

Lam from Canada came a cropper when he invited some Danish friends to a video night for which he had secured a bunch of pirated DVDs. 

“They didn’t say they were offended, but they just cut all communications,” he remembers, saying he had been confused by the reaction.

“I’m from Canada, and it could be an issue with some people, but definitely not to the point that they would cut communications.” 

Discussing Danes’ alleged lack of spontaneity 

Alice (not her real name), a Pole living in Roskilde, said she had once offended a co-worker by drawing attention to Danes’ alleged lack of spontaneity. 

“This wasn’t a big deal, but one time when out with some coworkers I said that Danes are not spontaneous, because they plan all social outings weeks in advance. One person didn’t take it well and seemed peeved that he could be perceived that way,” she said. “The situation was quickly forgotten though, as soon as the next round of beers arrived.”

Taking offensive jokes further than Danes would do 

Danes claim to like their humour edgy, but some other cultures like to get even closer to the mark when joking with close friends. 

“In Ireland, the more close your friends are, the more apparently ‘rude’ to them you are,” explained Greg, an Irishman living in Roskilde. He said that in the early stages of his marriage, this was something his Danish wife had struggled with. 

“My Danish wife took a while to understand why her loving, polite Irish husband was rude to his Irish friends…..and vice versa. But once she got it she joined in with gusto!.”

Have you ever offended a Dane, unintentionally or intentionally, please mention it in the comments or fill in our form below and we’ll add your anecdote to the article. 

 

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