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DANISH TRADITIONS

Why is Kristi Himmelfart a public holiday in Denmark?

Thursday May 18th marks the Christian feast of Kristi Himmelfart in Denmark, which as well as sounding a bit rude, means a day off work and the chance of a long weekend.

Published: 17 May 2023 16:32 CEST
Why is Kristi Himmelfart a public holiday in Denmark?
People enjoying the sun on Hornbæk Strand beach in Mary 2021. Photo: Keld Navntoft/Ritzau Scanpix

Kristi Himmelfart, literally “Christ’s journey to heaven day”, is the Danish word for the festival of Ascension, which Christians believe marks the day that Jesus ascended into heaven. 

It is always 40 days after Easter Sunday, and ten days before the Pentecost, which means that its exact date varies from year to year. The earliest possible date is April 30th, and the latest possible date is June 3rd.

But it always falls on a Thursday, offering the opportunity of a klemmedag, or “squeeze day“, when only one work day falls between a public holiday and a weekend, meaning if workers take one day off of holiday, they can enjoy a four-day break. 

But why does Denmark give people a day off work on this day?

Ascension is actually one of the oldest religious holidays and in some ways one of the most important days in the Christian calendar. 

“Christ’s ascension marks the end of Jesus’ life on earth,” the Church of Denmark writes on its website.  “The Church therefore not only celebrates that the Son of God came to Earth, but also that he left it again after the resurrection. It might sound like a strange event to celebrate. But God had to leave Earth as a man so that he could return as the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.”

According to the national church, Kristi himmelfart has been celebrated in the country since at least the fourth century and it is a holiday in quite a few European countries.

Sweden, Norway, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland all get a day off, although Spain, Italy and the UK do not.

Unlike Easter, Christmas, or even the former public holiday Store bededag or Great Prayer Day, Ascension isn’t associated with any particular meal, cake or custom.

According to the church there was once a tradition that people would go out into the forest the night before Kristi himmelfart and collect beech branches, which were supposed to protect against witches.

According to another custom, people used to believe that if you aired your sheets on Kristi himmelfart they would be protected against moths. 

Churches across Denmark will hold a service where the hymn Kommer, sjæle, dyrekøbte (“Come, you dear-bought souls”) by the influential Danish pastor politician and poet N. F. S. Grundtvig, is traditionally sung. 

Most Danes, though, don’t really do anything at all to mark Ascension Day. They’re just happy to have an extra day off. 

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DANISH TRADITIONS

What is Denmark doing to mark the 175th anniversary of its constitution?

Denmark celebrates the 175th anniversary of its Constitution on June 5th. A series of special events and celebrations are taking place across the country.

Published: 24 May 2024 12:36 CEST
Updated: 5 June 2024 15:08 CEST
What is Denmark doing to mark 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.

READ ALSO: How is Constitution Day celebrated in Denmark?

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.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 attended celebrations at the parliament in Christiansborg on Tuesday, starting with a church service at 8am at the The Holmen Church just across the canal from the parliament. 

When the service finished at 9.40am, the Royal Couple and others who attending the service crossed over to the parliament where an event was 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, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen gave a speech alongside the Speaker of the Parliament, Søren Gade, and the President of the Supreme Court, Jens Peter Christensen. The three represent the executive, legislative and judicial functions of the state.  

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.  

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. 

A proposal to allow students to “come to school later” appeared to have the edge in the early stages of voting. 

Celebrations at DR Byen

Denmark’s public broadcaster DR is holding 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, and finishes at 7pm on Tuesday. 

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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