Culture of Denmark
The culture of Denmark has a rich artistic and scientific heritage. The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, the philosophical essays of Søren Kierkegaard, the short stories of Karen Blixen, penname Isak Dinesen,, the plays of Ludvig Holberg, modern authors such as Herman Bang and Nobel laureate Henrik Pontoppidan and the dense, aphoristic poetry of Piet Hein, have earned international recognition, as have the symphonies of Carl Nielsen.
From the mid-1990s, Danish films have attracted international attention, especially those associated with Dogme 95 like those of Lars Von Trier. Denmark has had a strong tradition of movie making and Carl Theodor Dreyer has been recognised as one of the world's greatest film directors. The astronomical discoveries of Tycho Brahe, Ludwig A. Colding's neglected articulation of the principle of conservation of energy, and the foundational contributions to atomic physics of Niels Bohr ; in this century Lene Vestergaard Hau in quantum physics involving the stopping of light, advances in nano-technology, and contributions to the understanding of Bose-Einstein Condensates, demonstrate the range and endurance of Danish scientific achievement.
Culture and the arts thrive as a result of the proportionately high amount of government funding they receive, much of which is administered by local authorities so as to involve citizens directly. Thanks to a system of grants, Danish artists are able to devote themselves to their work while museums, theatres, and the film institute receive national support.
Copenhagen, the capital, is home to many famous sites and attractions, including Tivoli Gardens, Amalienborg Palace, Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen Cathedral, Rosenborg Castle, Opera House, Frederik's Church, Thorvaldsens Museum, Rundetårn, Nyhavn and The Little Mermaid sculpture.
''Hygge''
Similar to other Scandinavian cultures, a fundamental aspect of Danish culture is hygge. Hygge, meaning "snug"; is a concept that evokes a "cosiness" that cannot be easily described due to being more of a mood, particularly when relaxing with good friends or loved ones. Christmas time is a true moment of hygge, as is grilling a pølse and drinking a beer on a long summer evening. It is suspected the concept of hygge is part of the reason Danes and other Scandinavians score high on happiness.Danish Christmas
The Danish word for the Christmas holiday is Jul, from the Old Norse jól, the term for "midwinter", itself cognate with the English word, yule.Midwinter celebrations were an important part of Scandinavian culture since prehistoric times, and the term was retained to refer to "Christmas" after Christianization. In many countries Christmas is celebrated on 25 December, but in Denmark, and in the other Scandinavian countries, the most important day for celebrations is Christmas Eve on the 24th when the family comes together. The morning can be spent in various ways but most often it is the time when preparations are made for the evening.
Juleaften or Yule Eve starts around 6 p.m. when a traditional dinner is served.
Afterwards, the candles on the Christmas tree are lit and the family dance around it singing Christmas songs and carols and subsequently exchange presents.
Folklore
Danish folklore is made up of folk tales, legends, songs, music, dancing, popular beliefs and traditions, mostly communicated by the inhabitants of towns and villages across the country. Many of these were passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth. As in neighbouring countries, interest in folklore grew with an emerging feeling of national consciousness in 19th-century Denmark. Researchers travelled across the country collecting innumerable folktales, songs and sayings while observing traditional dress in the various regions. Folklore today is part of the national heritage, represented in particular by national and local traditions, songs, folk dances and literature.Today's folk dancing in Denmark dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, when there was renewed interest in the national heritage. A number of groups began to revive the music, dances and costumes of past generations. In 1901, the Society for the Promotion of Danish Folk Dancing was founded in Copenhagen, leading to local dancing societies throughout the country. Today there are more than 12,000 folk dancers in 219 local clubs, providing courses in music, dancing and dressmaking.
The traditional costumes of Denmark, though varying from region to region, date back roughly to the period between 1750 and 1900 when clothes were often home-made from yarn spun from wool or flax. In rural communities, the fabrication of garments for both family members and servants was an important part of everyday life. The artist Frederik Christian Lund, who had travelled across Denmark as a soldier in the First Schleswig War, took an interest in sketching people in local costumes in various parts of the country. He completed his collection of 31 coloured sketches in 1864, publishing them as coloured lithographs in Danske Nationaldragter.
Numerous Danish folktales contain a range of mythical figures such as trolls, elves, goblins and wights as well as figures from Nordic mythology like giants and lygtemænd. The nisse is a particularly well known legendary figure in Danish folklore, apparently dating back to pre-Christian times when it was believed there were household gods. Traditionally each farm had its own nisse living on the loft or in a stable. Dressed in grey with a pointed red cap, he was no taller than a 10-year-old boy. The nisse would be helpful if treated well, for instance by offering him a bowl of porridge with a clump of butter at night, but, failing good treatment, he could become quite troublesome and mean.
Today, nisser are associated with Christmas, with some of them being portrayed as Santa Claus's helpers on Greendland. Whilst the superstition regarding the nisse has faded, it is still traditional for households with children to pretend that a nisse lives in the attic, or elsewhere in the house, and to offer it porridge in December. The parents will then, for the duration of the month, play mischievous, but harmless, jokes on the children. The nisse also provides daily gifts, that are laid in a sock, which is hung op on a wall at the start of the month.
Cuisine
Perhaps the most typically Danish contribution to the meals of the day is the traditional lunch or smørrebrød consisting of open sandwiches, usually on thinly sliced rugbrød. The meal usually begins with seafood such as marinated herring, smoked eel, crab, or breaded plaice filets with remoulade and moves on with slices of roast pork or beef, frikadeller, hams and liver pâté. The sandwiches are richly garnished with onion rings, radish slices, cucumbers, tomato slices, parsley, remoulade or mayonnaise. The meal is mostly accompanied by beer, on occasion also by shots of ice-cold snaps or akvavit.In the evening, hot meals are usually served. Traditional dishes include fried fish, roast pork with red cabbage, pot-roasted chicken, pot-roast and slow cooked beef, meat balls, or pork chops. Game is sometimes served in the autumn. Steaks are now increasingly popular, but is a modern addition.
A popular traditional Danish dessert, especially around Christmas, consists of æbleskiver, rather like small pancake doughnuts which are fried in butter in a special pan and are served hot with jam and sugar. Traditionally, they were made with small pieces of apple in the middle which is why they are called æbleskiver, literally "apple slices".
In recent years, development of the New Danish cuisine based on the rediscovery of local ingredients presented in interesting new recipes has led to a significant number of new, highly acclaimed restaurants in Copenhagen and the provinces, several with Michelin stars. This in turn has led to new developments in food production with a series of new products based on organic farming.
Sports
Sports are popular in Denmark, and its citizens participate in and watch a wide variety. The national sport is football, with the most notable results being qualifying for the European Championships six times in a row and winning the Championship in 1992. Other significant achievements include winning the Confederations Cup in 1995 and reaching the quarter-final of the 1998 World Cup.Denmark's numerous beaches and resorts are popular locations for fishing, canoeing, kayaking and a broad-range of other water-themed sports.
In speedway racing Denmark has won several world championships, including the Speedway World Cup in 2006 and 2008. Other popular sports include golf, mostly popular among the older demographic; tennis, in which Denmark is successful on a professional level; Danish Rugby Union, which dates back to 1950; and indoor sports such as badminton, handball and various forms of gymnastics.
, the national handball team are the current reigning European champions and the team with most medals won in European championship history on the men's side with a total of five medals, those being two gold medals, and three bronze medals.
And in 2016 Denmark's handball team won the gold medal for men at the Olympics in Rio.
Cycling
In recent years, Denmark has made a mark as a strong cycling nation, with Bjarne Riis winning Tour de France in 1996, and Michael Rasmussen reaching King of the Mountains status, in the Tour 2005 and 2006. The Tour d’France has been won for two consecutive years by Jonas Vingegaard.Most Danes are active cyclists, often using their bikes to commute to work or to go off on trips at the weekend. With its well-engineered cycle paths, Copenhagen is especially suited to city cycling. Every day 1.3 million km are cycled in the city, with 36% of all citizens commuting to work, school or university by bicycle. Cycling is generally perceived as a healthier, environmentally friendlier, cheaper and often quicker way around town than by public transport or car and it is therefore municipal policy for the number of commuters by bike to go up to 40% by 2012 and 50% by 2015.
Odense has been named the "bicycle city of the year" because of the great number of bicycle lanes in the city. A complete network of 350 km all-weather serviced lanes exists in the town.
During the summer months, there are free "City Bikes" stationed at various spots in the downtown area of Copenhagen, Aarhus and Aalborg. The idea is that anyone can take a bike from one of the spots, ride it to one of the other spots and leave it there for the next person. There are many National and regional bicycle routes throughout Denmark. They are all marked and include rest areas with benches and other necessities.