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DANISH TRADITIONS

The complete guide to baptism in Denmark

It is a popular tradition in Denmark to baptise babies, with many parents choosing to do so before their child turns six months old. Here's what it's all about.

Published: 30 May 2023 17:40 CEST
The complete guide to baptism in Denmark
There were 40,696 baptisms in Denmark during 2022, according to Statistics Denmark. Photo: Emma Firth

What is baptism?

The Lutheran Church states that baptism (dåb) is all about parents and godparents saying ‘yes’ to the Christian faith on behalf of a child. The child can then choose to confirm his or her faith later by being confirmed, which usually happens at the age of 15 in Denmark.

Most baptisms take place when a baby is under the age of one and many parents also use the ceremony to officially name their child. In Denmark, a baby has to be legally named by the time they are six months, so this is why many babies are only around three months old when they are baptised. However babies born in South Jutland have to be named by notifying the municipality before being baptised.

It’s worth remembering that you can’t pick any name for your baby in Denmark. There is a naming law (navneloven) which states that a name cannot be inappropriate or offensive or detrimental to the child.

READ MORE: Explained: The rules for naming a baby in Denmark

How popular are baptisms?

They are popular. According to Statistics Denmark, there were 40,696 baptisms in 2022. When you consider that most baptisms are babies under the age of one, that equates to around 70 percent of babies born that year (58,430 births in 2022).

As with confirmation, the high number does not mean that people are massively religious in Denmark. It is more a reflection of the country’s love of traditions and a desire to celebrate a child’s arrival. 

Baptism also means you officially become a member of the Danish national church, Folkekirken. There is a small church tax to pay for this (kirkeskat) once you start paying taxes but it means you can get married in a church (at least one of the couple must be a member) and have a church funeral. 

You always have the right to have your child baptised in a church, even if the parents have never been church members or were previously members and later opted out.

According to Statistics Denmark, around 72 percent of people in Denmark are members of the Danish national church and pay church tax.

READ MORE: Why does Denmark have church tax and do you need to pay it?

What is the process of getting a child baptised?

The parents must book the baptism in advance, by contacting the church office. A few weeks or days before the baptism service, the parents attend a meeting with the priest to understand more about what baptism means and their part in the service.

Parents must choose at least two and no more than five godparents (faddere), who can be friends and family and they must have been baptised themselves. 

The baptism usually occurs on a Saturday or Sunday, during the morning service. There can be three or four babies getting baptised during the same service and they usually wear a special white baptism gown, which may have been passed down through the family.

In some churches, the baby is carried in down the aisle at the beginning of the service – like a wedding procession only different.

During the baptism, the priest will speak to the child and make a sign of the cross over their face and chest. 

The priest asks a series of questions to the parents and will pour water over the child’s head three times, for God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The priest then places a hand on the child’s head and blesses the child.

After the child has been baptised, the priest speaks to the godparents to voice their support for the child.

READ MORE: The complete guide to confirmation in Denmark

Baptism Party 

Most families have a party afterwards (dåbfest), which can be anything from an informal brunch with a few friends and family, to a three-course meal or a big party with 80 guests. Some people decide to invite extra people to the party who weren’t there at the church. 

There will often be food, cake, drinks and some speeches. The baptised child will receive gifts, such as a children’s bible, a cross, H.C.Andersen fairytales, or another keepsake present.

Some people opt for a more practical gift like a highchair or some clothes or bedding. An old tradition was to plant an apple tree that grows with the child. Another tradition is for the child to have his or her first sleep after baptism in the christening gown, as according to old superstition, it ensures the child lives a good life.

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DANISH TRADITIONS

What has Denmark got planned for the 175th anniversary of its constitution?

Denmark celebrates the 175th anniversary of its Constitution on June 5th. Here's what the country has planned.

Published: 24 May 2024 12:36 CEST
What has Denmark got planned for the 175th anniversary of its constitution?

What’s the background to the Danish Constitution? 

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark (Danmarks Riges Grundlov) was signed by King Frederick VII on June 5th 1849 and marked the end of the absolute hereditary monarchy under which Denmark had been ruled since 1661.

After it was signed Frederick VII reportedly declared, with wonderful Danish bathos, “that was nice, now I can sleep in late in the mornings”. 

Before 1661, Denmark had in theory been an elective monarchy, with the new king elected by the country’s nobility. In practice, the crown was normally inherited, but the nobility could and frequently did, use the election process to demand concessions.   

The shift to a constitutional monarchy was put in motion by Frederick VII’s father, Christian VIII, as a way of protecting the monarchy from the wave of revolutions then sweeping Europe. 

In March 1848, following Christian’s death and Frederick’s coronation, there was a march on Christiansborg Palace led by the National Liberals, Denmark’s first political party, demanding a constitutional monarchy.

Frederick agreed to their demands and included many of the party’s leaders in a new cabinet, which appointed a Constitutional Assembly to work on the country’s first constitution, which was signed that June.

Under the constituion, Danes gained freedom of association, freedom of belief, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and property rights. 

Only men over 30 who owned their own home initially had the right to vote – about 15 percent of the population. Women did not get the right to vote until 1915 and 18-year-olds had to wait until 1974. 

Why is this year’s celebration special? 

The 50th, 100th and 150th anniversaries of the Constution were all major national events in Denmark, with the 150th in 1999 featured a Children’s Parliament Day when 178 pupils from 60 primary schools met at the main hall in the Christiansborg parliament and had to agree on on ministers, discuss and vote through nine laws, which were passed to the then Social Democrat Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.

The 200th anniversary in 2049 will also presumably be a very big deal.

But the 175th anniversary is nonetheless more significant than a normal year, and there’s quite a bit planned. 

What’s happening in parliament for the celebrations in 2024? 

King Frederik X and Queen Mary will attend celebrations at the parliament in Christiansborg, starting with a church service at 8am at the The Holmen Church just across the canal from the parliament. 

When the service is finished at 9.40am, the Royal Couple and others attending the service will cross over to the parliament where an event will be held at the Landstingsalen, where the Landstinget, Denmark’s upper house of parliament, used to hold its debates until it was abolished in 1953. 

At the event, the Speaker of the Parliament, Søren Gade, will give a speech, as will Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the President of the Supreme Court, Jens Peter Christensen, with the three representing the executive, legislative and judicial functions of the state.  

Both the church service and the event at the Landstinget will be broadcast on Folketinget TV.

Between 11.15am and 12am, there will be reception in the Samtaleværelset (the conversation room), and the Vandrehallen (the walking hall). 

What’s happening outside parliament? 

Podcast

The parliament has produced a six-part podcast together with the Royal Family, which will run through the history of the Constitution. You can find that here.  

Singing

On June 1st, the Saturday before Constution Day, there will be an evening of Fællessang, or group singing, broadcast from 8pm on DR1, with people in Denmark encouraged to join in at home. The event will be led by the singer Katrine Muff and the television host Johannes Langkilde. 

The event will feature many of the most-loved songs by N. F. S. Grundtvig, who was a prominent member of the assembly which drew up the constitution in 1848. 

Grundtvig, a priest, song-writer and politician – also established Denmark’s system of free schools. 

Ultraforslag

In an update on the Children’s Parliament from 1999, DR Ultra, the public broadcaster’s channel for young people, has been working with schools on a digital platform where they can propose changes to the law in Denmark, and then vote on the proposals which have been made. One of the proposals with the most votes will then be presented to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. 

Anyone under 18 can vote, and according to DR, “one of the proposals with the most votes will be presented to the Prime Minister”.

This seems to give the channel some leeway to select which proposal will be put forward, as, predictably, many of the most popular proposals at the moment involve reinstating “Great Prayer Day” or Store bededag as a public holiday. 

Currently, however, a proposal to allow students to “come to school later” appears to have the edge. 

Celebrations at DR Byen

Denmark’s public broadcaster DR will also hold a celebration at the DR Byen, its headquarters in Ørestad, on Constitution Day itself, working together with the parliament. The event will feature speeches, music and debate panels, between 9am and 7pm. 

According to DR, Denmark’s Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye will be present, as will Emma Holten, the Danish-Swedish human rights activist and celebrity debater, and Knud Romer, the novelist and advertising executive.

There will be an event featuring Børste, the hedgehog that is the star of one of the channel’s most popular children’s cartoons, there will be democratic children’s theatre, the presentation of an award for ‘The New Voice of the Year’, or Årets Nye Stemme, and even more group singing. 

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