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DANISH TRADITIONS

How Danes are defying government to mark scrapped holiday Great Prayer Day

A significant number of schools and businesses in Denmark have closed for Great Prayer Day, which is no longer a national holiday after the government changed the law last year.

Published: 26 April 2024 10:48 CEST
How Danes are defying government to mark scrapped holiday Great Prayer Day
A large batch of Great Prayer Day 'hveder' about to be baked in 2023. Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix

Even though Great Prayer Day is no longer a public holiday it is still being observed in various ways across Denmark.

The government last year passed a bill to abolish Great Prayer Day in a controversial move which was opposed by large sections of parliament and the public.

On what would have been the 2024 Great Prayer Day Holiday, a sizeable number of businesses around the country have decided to give their employees a paid day off, media including DR and Avisen Danmark report.

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“When the government decides to take something away from my employees, I want to  give it back, and I stand by that,” Paw Kristensen, owner of Kolding transport firm 3P Logistics, told Avisen Danmark.

Kristensen explained he had given half his staff the day off on Friday, while the remainder would be given a day off on a different date. The decision will reportedly cost the company around 100,000 kroner.

A count by Radio4 meanwhile found that 11 of Denmark’s 98 municipalities have opted to close schools today.

An additional school day was not necessarily desirable because children must not attend school on more than 200 days during a year, according to Henrik Madsen, the head of schools in Furesø, one of the municipalities to close on Friday.

“If we’d given the students another school day on Great Prayer Day, they’d have had to have the day of at another time. And we concluded overall that the distribution of school days and non-school days that we already have was the best for the current school year,” he said to Radio4.

Great Prayer Day is well known for the custom of eating hvede – cardamom-infused wheat buns with a generous spreading of butter and sometimes jam. Traditionally, bakers were not allowed to work on the holiday, so they made the wheat buns on Thursday to be reheated the following day.

Bakeries were continuing to mass produce the buns on Friday, with around three million produce by the Kohlberg company according to TV Syd.

The owner of a bakery in western city Esbjerg told DR that hvede sales were up compared to last year.

“Last year we sold between 12,000 and 13,000 hveder. This year, we’ve turned it up to 17,000,” Mark Mikkelsen, head baker and director at the town’s Guldægget bakery said.

“I get the impression that people are a bit agitated about the holiday being taken away from them and the only thing they can hang on to is the hveder,” he 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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