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DANISH TRADITIONS

How Danish churches plan to continue celebrating scrapped holiday

A large number of churches across Denmark have plans to celebrate Great Prayer day this year, even though the occasion is no longer a public holiday.

Published: 12 April 2024 16:53 CEST
How Danish churches plan to continue celebrating scrapped holiday
Confirmation at a Danish church on Great Prayer Day 2023. Photo: Mikkel Berg Pedersen/Ritzau Scanpix

The coalition government controversially scrapped Great Prayer Day in 2023, meaning that this year is the first time since the 1600s that the population won’t get the day off work on the fourth Sunday after Easter.

The official website of the Church of Denmark, Folkekirken.dk, has posted over 100 Great Prayer Day events on its church calendar in locations across the country on Friday April 26th.

Most of the events will feature short, alternative church services, some with meditation, music or candle lighting, according to Folkekirken.dk.

One such church to put on an event for the now-cancelled public holiday is Nørremarkskirken in Jutland town Vejle.

The Vejle church will mark the occasion with an evening service on the Thursday before Great Prayer Day along with serving the traditional hveder, cardamom-infused wheat buns with a generous spreading of butter and perhaps jam. 

“Those of us who are choosing to mark the day are reaching back in some way to its original conception. A day with a focus on penance and prayer. That got drowned in the day being used for confirmations,” church priest at Nørremarkskirken Tove Bjørn Jensen told newswire Ritzau.

Denmark originally introduced Great Prayer Day – officially an “extraordinary normal prayer day” in the late 17th century during the time of King Christian V, who decreed it.

The decree condensed religious holidays that had existed since before the Reformation – for example during the spring and at harvest, as well as several extra ones around Christmas time – into a single holiday.

It was a more serious affair in its early years. Inns and cellars were required to stop serving their beverages when church bells rang the preceding evening at 6pm. Everyone had to attend church – sober – the following day. Fasting until the end of religious services was also demanded.

As reference by Jensen, more recent years saw confirmation or konfirmation – a Lutheran ritual in which young teenagers say they believe in God, and also a coming-of-age rite in popular custom – commonly take place on Great Prayer Day.

READ ALSO: Why did Denmark have Great Prayer Day holiday and why was it abolished?

Confirmation does not have to take place on Great Prayer Day though – many are held on the Saturday after, and this is likely to become even more common from 2024 onwards.

Nevertheless, some 75 churches in Denmark have decided to have confirmations on April 26th, according to Folkekirken.dk.

Jensen said it is still important to observe the day, even though its status as a holiday is no more.

“Prayer is a central part of Christianity so we think it’s good reason for a church service with special focus on prayer,” she said.

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DANISH TRADITIONS

What’s open and what’s closed on May 1st in Denmark?

May 1st, or Labour Day, is widely celebrated in Denmark, with a large proportion of the workforce joining marches and attending political speeches across the country. But it's not a public holiday, so what's open and what's closed?

Published: 30 April 2024 15:25 CEST
What's open and what's closed on May 1st in Denmark?

International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day, is an occasion keenly celebrated by thousands across Denmark, a country known for its social democratic traditions.

In Denmark, the state does not give you the day off on May 1st like in other countries including Sweden and Norway. In other words, it’s not a public holiday like Christmas Day, Ascension Day or Maundy Thursday, for example.

You could be forgiven for thinking that May 1st is a national day off if, for example, you pass by Fælledparken in Copenhagen on Labour Day. You’ll see huge gatherings of workers carrying banners, people gathering to eat and drink, and major speeches by both union leaders and politicians.

Many workers in Denmark do in fact have the right to a half or full day off on May 1st, provided by the collective bargaining system, the Danish labour model on which working terms are negotiated and agreed between trade unions and employers’ confederations.

But what does this mean for operating hours at businesses and services across the country?

What’s closed?

Labour Day-related closures are arguably most common in sectors like construction and the production industry, where collective bargaining agreements are highly likely to stipulate a May 1st fridag or day off, as described by the Confederation of Danish Industry.

Builders, renovation companies and specialist production industries like carpenters all have the day off on May 1st under collective bargaining agreements, unless they have agreed to overtime on the day.

Social services like home carers are generally entitled to take the day off but can be paid Sunday rates if they work in the afternoon.

Your local borgerservice, the public-facing service desk at your local town hall, will probably be closed because public servants like municipal administrators have the day off. So if you need to pick up a new driving license, for example, leave this errand until later in the week or, in some cases, the beginning of next week.

GPs are generally open, but it’s best to check ahead because employers can choose to close their practices for the day (and thereby require doctors and other staff to use a day of their annual leave).

What’s open?

Childcare institutions like kindergartens and creches (børnehaver and vuggestuer) are not closed on Labour Day, so children can be dropped off at preschool as usual.

Schools are generally open. Last year, 10 of Denmark’s 98 municipalities closed for Labour Day, although both Copenhagen and Aarhus gave kids the day off.

Supermarkets and other shops are not generally closed on May 1st. Denmark is strict with shop opening times, with the Lukkeloven, or closing law, requiring most shops to remain shuttered on holidays, but this doesn’t apply on Labour Day.

Finally, if you are planning to do some sightseeing in Denmark on Labour Day, you’ll find most museums – like the National Gallery of Denmark, for example – treat May 1st as a regular day and remain open as normal. Others, like Museum Østjylland, close – so check ahead before you set out.

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