Denmark Tour (1951?)

and as most of you know I was born in Denmark and so it's quite sure that I tell you a little about my native country. I have tried to catch the atmosphere of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales and used it as the basis of my tour here in the cozy harbor district of Nhound in Copenhagen. He lived during part of his stay in the capital. And at the park-like waterfront of Copenhagen, Langalinia is the well-known statue symbolizing his fairy tale, The Little Mermaid. Superstition has it that a sailor who kissed the little mermaid before his voyage on the seven world seas would be secured against shipwreck. In uh this way I secure myself a safe journey on the road of the fairy tale through Denmark. For more than a thousand years Denmark has been a kingdom and the royal family is highly esteemed and loved by the Danish people. I therefore start my journey at the king's final cocoa palace. A man born in [Music] Copenhagen and my first stop is Roskill Cathedral. All the Danish kings for many centuries have been ensued. This chest was built 800 years ago, but uh numerous changes and additions have been made since then. As I journeyed through the country, my companions and I stopped at Ringster and sat for some time on the thousand-year-old kingstones, where the oldest and cleverest men of the country held their meetings and mediated in quarrels and in fights. But I travel on to see the very oldest royal fortress from the Viking era built a thousand years ago by King Herald Bluetooth or by Swen Forkbeard. The Viking ships sailed just to the edges of the ramparts. Now the Viking ships are no longer seen in the Danish waters, but modern fairies carry one comfortably from one island to the other. In the stone age, Denmark has been a country of the sea and the seagull has therefore become the national bird of Denmark. The modern ferry carries us to Newborg where the oldest royal castle of the north is situated. Here the kings of the middle ages were proclaimed rulers of Denmark. And all over this country, many beautiful castles from that time are still to be found. Castles built by squires who partly supported the king, partly fought against [Music] him. We get a quick glimpse of uh we go with their thick walls and deep moes built for defense. Today, Denmark is a country of peace. Lovely big windmills, grinder of wheat and rye. And it was in this atmosphere that Denmark's great storyteller Hans Christian Anderson was born. The people and the animals described by Hans Christian Anderson very often originated from between farms and at such a small break and timber farm I stopped to quench my thirst. [Music] It is this peaceful Denmark which inspired his world famous fairy tales and it gives me a special pleasure to pay a visit to his childhood home in Orson. The house is now a museum commemorating Hans Christine Anderson by showing his furniture, his clothes, his personal belongings, his manuscripts and so forth, as well as lovely murals telling the fairy tale of his life from the time when he was a son of a poor couple till he became the world famous honorary citizen of the town of Odinson. The last picture of the sea tells of Hans Christian Anderson's voyages to foreign countries. What a fairy tale he would have been able to tell about the brutes of Denmark combining in a modern way the different parts of the country across the sounds and belts. I now continue across one of Denmark's numerous bridges to the mainland Yardland. Along the Danish highways, you will find many cozy old ins centuries ago to accommodate the passengers of state's coaches long before the railroad and the automo fields were even thought of. The world famous Danish theater is a wonderful thing on a hot summer's day. The journey continues past the 400-year-old Culling Castle, which was burned down by Napoleon soldiers 150 years ago. Because they overheated, they opened fireplaces in the cold Danish winter in order to keep warm. Silently, the cannons of the past speak their mute language to a present which is too warm- minded. On my further journey through the country, I arrived at the first and the oldest capital in Denmark, the medieval town of Reb to the enormous cathedral rising above the low roofs of the brick and timber houses. Here, Jacob A. Ree was born, the man whom Theodore Oswwell called the most useful citizen of the United States. As Denmark is the country of stalks, reap is the town of stalks. Here these strange birds spend their summer holidays because they find a climate suitable and because there is a peace and quiet and in the autumn they fly 10,000 mi south. Whenever we travel in Denmark, the past speaks to us. At the ruins of the old cloister from the 12th century, I open the shutter and find the skeleton of a monk who died 7 to 800 years ago. Abble is a real little fairy tale town far from the nois and bustle of the world. The small coated town hall is guarded symbolically by miniature cannons which have, as far as I know, never been used or abused. I passed by the castle Rosenhal where Baron Rosen whose family and name are known from Shakespeare's tragedy hamlet asked me to enter in order to get acquainted with the knights hall and the library. Yes. Uh even with ghost stories which now belong to by gone dates. At another in I stopped to rest at the place where a group of the Danish underground movement had the headquarters. Here they are sealed. The allied paratroopers and weapons during the Second World War. All the male members of the family were shot by the Germans. But the women of this unconquerable family are still running the end. I'm nearing the end of my journey and I stopped to pick a rose in the town of Roses at the breaking temple wall of one of the strangest hotels in the world. Hotel Postgorn Marielle. Again, I go south to Orus, the second largest town in Denmark. A modern town, yes. But in the middle of the town, there's an old Danish town. Streets and buildings which take you many centuries back. The old sign boards tell us of a time when the public had difficulties in reading and driving. So that the the sign boards had to be substituted by present advertisement. The group, the couple, the tobaconist, the tailor, the watch maker, the hat, uh the bagel. Oh, delicious Danish gingerbread temple. And here I close my fairy tale tour to Denmark. You have seen a few of the interesting spots in Denmark. Should you ever get the opportunity to make this trip, I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I have. Hey, you know, I'd like to know where you'd like to go on King's Crossroads. Why don't you drop me a line care of the visit? We'll see if we can do it in the very near future.