RE-UNIFICATION WITH DENMARK IN 1920

June 15:

Today it is exactly 100 years ago, since the southern part of Jutland was re-united with Denmark.  It had been part of Germany for 56 years.

I have in a earlier comment told about the Danish government in 1864, which was very unflexible in its peace negotiations.  If it had been mere flexible we know from German sources today that it might have been possible to arrange a new border almost at the same place as the border today. But this did not happen. And the whole of Slesvig-Holsten ( Schleswig-Holstein ) became part of Germany and was so for 56 years until 1920.

When World War I had ended and the American president Wilson had suggested that the peace treaties should be based on peoples’ self-determination referenda were prepared in Schleswig.  The were under British-French-Norwegian-Swedish leadership.  The first vote took place on February 10 in the predominantly Danish-speaking northern part.  The result was 74 % for Denmark and 26 % for Germany.  The next vote took place on March 14, 1920. Here the result was the other way around:  80 % for Germany, 20 % for Denmark.  Even in the old Danish city of Flensburg the German majority was 72 %. 

From now on things moved fast. The Danish military took over responsibility in the northern zone from May 1920. Danish administration and the Danish currency were introduced early June.  And the formal transfer of sovereignty took place on June 15, 1920. 

On July 10 the Danish king Christian X crossed the old border on horseback and were received with enthusiasm by thousands of local citizens during a couple of days of festivities. Remember that 30.000 of the area’s young men had served in the German army during WWI – and 6.000 of them lost their lives. So the day of reunification was a great moment for people there.  The king also had a meeting with the Danish-speaking minority south of the new ( the present ) border and said to them:  You will not be forgotten!

All this happened a hundred years ago this year.  And a lot of festivities will take place not only in Southern Jutland, but all over Denmark during this year.

I want to add three important points about the following many years:

First:  It was politically very clever to let the new border follow – more or less – the language and the attitude of the population on both sides of the border. Why?  Because when the Nazis took over power in Germany from 1933 they often talked about the “Bleeding Borders”, i.e. borders where many German-speaking people lived outside Germany. And the point was that the Nazis wanted them “back home”.  That discussion was never raised when the new Danish-German border was concerned.  This was a non-issue.

Second: The West German government under Adenauer and the Danish under P.M. H.C.Hansen made in 1955 the so-called Bonn-Copenhagen Agreement. It gave special rights to the two minorities on both sides of the border, such as easier access to have members of the Landtag in Kiel and of the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen. And such as special support to cultural and educational work by the minorities.   This agreement has worked perfectly to the satisfaction of everybody.  And many representatives of other countries with minorities have come to visit the region to try to learn from it.

Three: If you meet people from either side of the border, how do you figure out who feel as Germans and who feels as Danes?  It tried it many years ago on a study trip in political science.  We had a meeting with leaders from both minorities and also from the two majorities on both sides of the border.  We were sort of lost. They all said MOJN. They all spoke the same local Danish dialect ( at least to us ). They were obviously good friends and knew each other very well. They seemed to have a good time together.  Finally, we discovered an easy way to know who was whom?   Some of them said UP HERE when they talked about the region.  Others said DOWN HERE.  So the first group were those feeling as Germans and the others those feeling as Danes. 

 

When formal citizenship is concerned almost everybody north of the border have  a Danish passport and those on the south side a German passport. 

How many members does each minority have today?   The Danish minority in Schleswig is about 50.000 people.  They have 46 Danish schools and 55 kindergardens.  Their daily newspaper in Danish is FLENSBORG AVIS -  www.fla.de  

The German minority in Denmark has between 15.000 and 20.000 members. Their daily newspaper in German is DER NORDSCHLESWIGER – www.nordschleswiger.dk     It will as of 2021 only be published on-line.

So, have nice reunification celebrations during this year. Also in order to celebrate that this very pracmatic cooperation based on mutual respect and support functions so well.