English SØNDERBORG2017 - Magazine by Sønderborg2017

G R O B R E D N Ø S 2017 .EU “A German is a German

OCTOBER 2011 /

A future as a beau

- yesterday or today, it

tiful old folks’ hom

makes no difference”

minority Zoo

168

SPECIAL ISSUE

COUNTRYSIDE mETROPOLIS 152 Candidature for the title of European Capital of Culture in Denmark

Guimar達es 2012

Sønderborg2017 candidate CYPRUS 2017

European Capitals of Culture 2007-2016

UMEÅ 2014

Turku 2011 Tallinn 2011

STAVANGER 2008

RIGA 2014

Aarhus

Vilnius 2009

SØNDERBORG 2017 LIVERPOOL 2008

ESSEN 2010 MONS 2015 Luxembourg 2007

Wrocław 2016

Plzen 2015

Košice 2013

Linz 2009

Maribor 2012

DONOSTIA-San Sebastián 2016

Marseille 2013

Pécs 2010

SIBIU 2007

Istanbul 2010

Nicosia

PAFOS

CYPRUS 2017 Limassol

Dear reader, Welcome to this look at our town and our region. From the Town Hall here in Sønderborg we have a view of Dybbøl Hill where so much blood was once shed. Fortunately we have left all the fighting behind us and DanishGerman collaboration is flourishing. It is not the bugle calls of war that ring out across the hill today, but the strains of joint musical events, and even the anniversary of the Battle of Dybbøl on April 18th 1864 is now something we can commemorate together. On the other hand, we do now face some very different challenges, the main one being to ensure that Sønderborg is not beaten in the battle against the big cities, which draw the young and the well-educated to them, and in the long term possibly our businesses too – and, with them, our very reason for existence. We belong to what is rather disparagingly referred to as ‘Udkantsdanmark’ – the outer fringes of Denmark. And yes, it’s true, we do lie on the fringes of Denmark, and this is not a big city. But we have something else to offer – especially when we work with our neighbouring districts and with our German neighbours across the border in Sønderjylland-Schleswig. That is what we want to show with this application. During the two years of its preparation thousands of local people have become actively involved. The candidature alone has generated tremendous optimism and pride. We do so want to carry on this work. And will do in any case, but if we become European Capital of Culture it will be done on a totally different scale. We feel that Europe has the chance now of a Capital of Culture that can be a source of inspiration to other small towns and to regions which share our fate. We mean to open up to Europe and the world and, through interaction with them, to shape the future. We have to think in new and original ways – across borders, both the psychological and the physical. And we would like to invite Europe and the world in, to be a part of this. We hope that you will want to come here too and share the experience. Happy reading! Aase Nyegaard Mayor of Sønderborg

CREATING PRODUCTIVE BORDER AREAS 034 Hopes, Dreams and WISHES

076

Sønderborg is a town with a strong sense of community and fellowship. And despite its slightly out-of-the-way location there is also a clear sense of pride in the town. Things are happening – things that transcend the border and build bridges– but this is only the beginning, we are facing a number of acute challenges. Our population is shrinking; our young people are leaving. To keep our quality of life we need to act now and not in 15 years.

CHALLENGES AND DILEMMAS

040

The soil around Sønderborg is rich and for decades the wages have rolled in steadily from the big production companies. This has led to a sleepy complacency. The younger generation head for the cities and do not come back – the older generation continues to increase. The fact is that the area can no longer manage on its own; it has to adjust to the fact that there is a world outside. All around us and on the other side of the border there are other languages and other cultures which it would be worthwhile getting to know. There might even be answers to questions we didn’t know were crucial to us.

Lessons learned In just a few hours, on the 18th of April 1864, Denmark suffered the most dreadful defeat, when the Prussians captured Dybbøl Hill. To this day the bloody battle in which Denmark lost a third of its territory still defines the national character and Denmark’s attitude towards Europe and the rest of the world. But we hope to learn from history, deal with the traumas and make crossing the border natural to everyone.

088

120

A EUROPEAN LABORATORY FOR BORDER EXPERIMENTS The founder of Danfoss, Mads Clausen, has been an example to several generations in the Sønderborg area. There are many other examples here of people who think ‘outside the box’ and have success with a niche product. This is an art – and by introducing art and culture into all sectors of our society we can become better at thinking in new ways – thinking beyond borders. It is absolutely essential that we do so, because it is this that we will have to live off in the future. This is the case both for the border country and for Europe.

6 TOWARDS A COUNTRYSIDE METROPOLIS The artistic programme for 2017 and the activities and events that will take place in the years leading up to it are all constructed around the process of transformation which Sønderborg will be undergoing over the years to come – from marginal area to countryside metropolis. We mean to bring radical growth to Sønderborg and the border country, to invest them with soul and, through our spirit of cultural entrepreneurship, to create a countryside metropolis.

208

152

CULTURE ENCOMPASSED Sønderborg City Council has embarked on a strategic process which will result in a new cultural strategy – Cultural Compass 2020 – designed to underpin Sønderborg’s ambitions and form the foundation for its vision of becoming European Capital of Culture 2017. Here, the head of the municipality’s Centre for Culture, John Bøgeland Frederiksen, talks about Cultural Compass 2020.

“

In recent years we’ve seen the rise of a totally new kind of support for cross-border collaboration. I notice it on the German side – not least in the business sector. Our region forms a bridge between Central Europe and the Nordic countries. That produces synergy, and we can learn a lot from one another. Things are really happening in the border country now! This would never have happened ten years ago. Simon Faber

SIMON FABER In 2011 Simon Faber became the first Danish mayor of the German city of Flensburg. It was something of a sensation: to have a candidate from the Danish minority party taking over the top post in a town which, in the nineteenth century, was the third largest in Denmark, but where today only one in five of its citizens is Danish and so, part of the Danish minority. A lot of Germans must have voted for Simon Faber and he feels they have spotted the potential of a strengthened collaboration between Flensburg and the south of Denmark. “Just ten or twelve years ago this would have been unthinkable. Back then the border feud was still going on and a lot of people were thinking: we really have to see to it that Flensburg stays a German town and doesn’t become Danish. They’re gradually getting over that. Now diversity is seen as an actual benefit.” Simon Faber is 44 and grew up outside of Flensburg. His parents are German, but chose to send him to a Danish kindergarten. He then attended a Danish school and went on to study musicology in Denmark. He is married to a Danish woman from Tønder.

“

North and south of the border we share a common history but moreover a common future. We were once the duchy of Slesvig and before the wars between the two nations you’d find the Sønderjylland dialect, Low German, Frisian, high German and standard Danish all being spoken here, right alongside one another. In those days cultural diversity was taken for granted and the region was known for its global outlook. This is a strength that in Sønderborg, Sønderjylland and Schleswig we need to rediscover. Southern and Northern Slesvig could be inspired by a common vision and that is exactly what Sønderborg and the border region want: a common vision and a common ambition to create growth! Stephan Kleinschmidt

STEPHAN KLEINSCHMIDT “I remember when we played football how there were always some kids who thought we should play ‘Denmark versus Germany’. And there was plenty of name-calling – pølsetysker (Kraut) and that sort of thing, and it always hurt. That reflects how things were when I was a child.” These are the words of Stephan Kleinschmidt, age 34, initiator of Sønderborg’s candidature, sole representative of the German minority on the Sønderborg City Council and chairman of the Committee for Culture and Commerce. As a member of the German minority he was, for a time, described by opposition politicians in the press as ‘the wrong Culture Committee chairman’. Stephan Kleinschmidt grew up in Rinkenæs near Sønderborg. His father is from Flensburg, his mother from one of Sønderborg’s old brickworks families. He attended a German kindergarten, German primary school and German secondary school and has both German and Danish citizenship.

CREATING PRO BORDER AREAS 36

SØNDERBORG 2017

ODUCTIVE S

“

My favourite border among all those unappealing manifestations of division. Beautiful. It runs alongside lakes full of fish and cuts in two meadows in which Danes and Germans can wander and wonder what it can be that makes them different – and never find the answer ... The people are aware of their differences and are now reaping the fruits of their joint efforts. nz

Siegfried Lenz speaking of the Danish-German border, in Die Welt,

Si eg

fri ed

August 2004

e intend to turn the

Border regions like Sønderborg

Our aim is to be a European

borders formed by history

and Sønderjylland-Schleswig

laboratory in which to

into productive bridges. Bridges

are particularly well placed to

experiment with bridges of

between Denmark, Germany and

stimulate creativity, because

every sort. Danes and Germans

Europe. Bridges between Europe

the inhabitants here are used

share a long, common history

and the rest of the world. Bridges

to continually having to relate

of war and peace, of extreme

between country and town.

to things that are different and

nationalism and a willingness

Bridges between generations

foreign. They are confronted

to live peacefully side by side.

and bridges between culture,

every single day with values

Now the two will be properly

knowledge and economics.

and cultural preferences which

reconciled. Politicians are

differ from their own and, if

already cooperating across the

Borders create division and

their day-to-day life is not to be

border, but the ordinary people

differences. But they also

one of constant conflict, this

are not yet involved. They have

contain the seeds of innovation,

forces them to see things from a

to be mobilised to shape the

because only by experimenting

different perspective. This ability

border country of tomorrow, and

in the borderland can we create

to think in unconventional ways

through interaction with Europe

something new and progressive.

in order to make things work is

we will develop a productive

a precondition for all forms of

border area rich in creativity

creativity. We mean to mobilise

and inventiveness. The Danish-

this quality in order to create the

German border country will be

Sønderborg of the future.

transformed from a marginal area into a centre for growth, while maintaining its connection with the unique ways of life particular to the rural areas to benefit both country and town.

We are ready – now. Now is

To us the answer is clear:

the time – we have the will and

throughout Europe we need

the optimism, so now we have

to be more globally minded.

to get started. This is not only

This requires us to develop our

about us; it is about Europe too,

cultural intelligence - our ability

because our candidature is the

to navigate across mental and

tool that can help us, together

physical borders – and our

with Europe, to take a critical

creative capacity, so that we

look at the old continent and

can exploit the diversity of the

the current crisis – a crisis for

world as a resource instead of

Europe not only in economic and

regarding diversity as a problem.

social terms, but also in terms

Nowhere is the potential for this

of its values. What does Europe

development greater than in the

want? Which path should we

continent’s many border regions.

take?

“

Europe’s added value is generated, first and foremost, in its border regions. Markus Pieper, EU Budget Commissioner, Flensburg Avis, July 8th 2011

1 /

centre – and especially the town I dream of Sønderborg – e such a hav We lly. ura g architect becoming more interestin ntryside, cou se to the water and the wonderful location, so clo e som by d rre k of the town is ma of but unfortunately the loo lot a are re The . ure ect nal archit er very boring and conventio oth in o x in Southern Europe – als examples of this parado e. towns of Sønderborg’s siz

J a n J a cplooyb eds e n , se lf -e m

I hope that in 2030 Sønder borg will have the facilities to enable all chi ldren and young people the best opportunities for practising their own sport or game – even if it doesn’t happen to be football or handball. The se might take the form of big multi-sports centres offering lots of options. As the mother of children who do athletics I really feel that we lack the pro per facilities.

M a j- B r it t L a u r s en cl er k

Sønderborg has really come a long way as far as theatre and music are concerned.Bu t Iwish that one day there will be something bett er to offer on the art front.We have a lot of small galleries and exhibitions, but I dream of a big plac e with changing exhibitions that appeal to a wide audi ence.

K a ri n a L y t h je , so ci al w or ke r

B en dt se n , B er it R in gg aa rd rs e re ti re d nu

It’s important that the 0 will Sønderborg area of 203 n upo lt bui t’s tha ce be a pla a , ues val n mo com n tai cer kes place where everyone ma the to on uti trib their con community.Of course we have to expand and grow and be open to new things t from outside, but withou al tur cul discarding our own for , uld sho heritage.We little example, hold on to our the theatres and preserve to small schools that help ies nit mu com al loc give the se sen a ter fos and ter rac cha of fellowship.

und here If I’m still to be living aro ns had tow the now twenty years from . I like ger big ch mu too get better not know ple peo living in a place where ther ano one at ile one another and sm ing eth som nk thi I But . on the street ple peo ng you needs to be done for the er off to re mo e – I mean, we should hav can we nk thi ’t don I them. Otherwise keep them here.

P ie r n e t t e

Goba

os e S ø R as m u s K id mca r m ec ap pr en ti ce

In 2030 Sønderborg should be a nice, safe to wn where both young and old can move around freely . It’s important, therefor e, that we do a lot for the young people of the town , so that they’ll have some thing to get to grips with. Young people also do their part to bring life to the to wn in a good way. All the students who’ve come to th e town because of the un iversity are proof of that.

I dream of a time when it won’t only be Sønderbor g itself that’s a good place to live in; all the small loc al communities on Als and on Sundeved will be too. Thi s ought to be a natural par t of all the activities that are planned, to save the life and the retail trade in the small towns from bei ng destroyed. Because if tha t happens no one will wa nt to live there anymore.

Hopes, dreams and wishes

M on ic a C h ri s t ia n s en , m ac hi ne fi tt er

ør en se n ,

I would like to see Søndeb org becoming an even bigger university tow n, offering a lot more courses, so we can com pete with Aarhus and Copenhagen. Otherwise I don’t think we’ll be able to get young people to stay in the area. Almost all of the people I went to business school with have moved to one of the bigger cities to study. It’s a sha me.

ha ni c

ansen, H l h a D n a A ll r v is or supe

the north of that, along with m La ea dr a ve I ha kind of Nordic uld become a er ov l al om fr Germany, we co le e where peop ac pl , A ay t. lid or ho sp Santa an active come to have d ul co g ld bi or us w the st vario e that would ho e. but also a plac lon, for exampl th ia tr e th e lik – with ts en it, r ev fo g sportin ing here t fantastic sett os s. m st e re th fo ve e th ha We er and tryside, the wat beautiful coun

J es s ie K ræ m er

, as si st an t es ta te ag en t

Hopes, drea and WISH

dreams HES S

ønderborg is a town with a strong sense of community and fellowship. And despite its slightly out-of-the-way location there is also a clear sense of pride in the town. Things are happening – things that transcend the border and build bridges– but this is only the beginning, we are facing a number of acute challenges. Our population is shrinking; our young people are leaving. To keep our quality of life we need to act now and not in 15 years.

IN THE CENTRE ON THE BORDER

056

059

060

058

6,298 inhabitants. This figure makes Sønderborg only the seventeenth largest municipality in Denmark. Nonetheless, our town has the third largest number of individuals working in the creative sector – surpassed only by the country’s two biggest cities, Copenhagen and Aarhus. Not only that, but the town and the surrounding region abound in activities, initiatives and societies, all of them endeavouring to realise the potential inherent in the border area.

One striking example of this is the worldwide concern Danfoss, founded by farmer’s son Mads Clausen in 1933, which today employs more than 24,000 people. With offshoots such as the science adventure park, Danfoss Universe, and the Mads Clausen Entrepreneur Park, which supports new, innovative companies within the fields of technology and clean technology, Danfoss is both a pioneering concern and a symbol of the region’s entrepreneurial spirit.

So you can see right away that this is a town with both the will and the ability to think creatively and innovatively. But its location in the border region places it on the periphery of Denmark and a long way from the nation’s capital – a location which consigns it to the category somewhat disparagingly referred to as ‘Udkantsdanmark’ – the outer fringes of Denmark. This means that innovation is not merely a possibility, it is a necessity.

In the Alsion building, which opened in 2007, the town has gained a landmark that encapsulates the fusion of knowledge, art and commerce. Here you will find, among other things, a department of the University of Southern Denmark specialising in courses on border research and European studies. The building is also the home of the Sønderjylland Symphony Orchestra and contains a worldclass concert hall. Here too is the Mads Clausen Institute, a dedicated centre for research into, and the teaching of, consumer oriented design, software and mathematical modelling. Alsion also houses the Sønderborg 2017 secretariat – which sits right next door to both the Centre for Culture and Project Zero, the body charged with the task of fulfilling Sønderborg’s aim, by 2029, of being

This is a fact that Sønderborgians absorb with their mothers’ milk, and have done so for generations. This is also why the town and the region can boast of the unique entrepreneurial spirit that is the hallmark of the area, whether in business, culture, education or research.

or g rb de Sø n

the first Danish municipality to be CO2 neutral. With Project Zero, we have eighteen years to go until our goal is achieved and the project is well under way. A large number of the border country’s companies are involved in it, working closely with the city council and the University of Southern Denmark – because the goal has to be achieved by means of new knowledge, technological development, common sense, the addressing of attitudes, and environmentally sound urban and business development. The investment in Project Zero and CO2 neutrality has, therefore, an economic aspect, a social aspect and a cultural aspect. It is about building a new economy and creating jobs, knowledge and growth. And about ensuring a sustainable social structure and sustainable practices. The Alsion is also home to the Lean Energy Cluster initiative, which is working with companies, research institutions and public operators on both sides of the border to develop new energy-efficient technologies and solutions. This initiative aims to ensure that companies are even better equipped to foster innovation and create new markets, jobs and economic development throughout the energy sector.

2 /

A collaboration with the famous CanadianAmerican architect Frank Gehry is going to turn the town’s historic harbourfront into a sustainable urban area notable for its unique architecture, high quality and a host of activities – a centre for art, research, architecture, health and commerce. The finance for this project is secured and does not depend on Sønderborg ECoC 2017 (if granted). This area will act as a magnet for the residents of the town, for newcomers and visitors – a place people will come specifically to see and experience. Gehry’s master plan was presented in 2008 and the transformation of the harbourfront will take some years to complete. Various architects and contractors will be responsible for the construction and layout of buildings and open areas on the 50,000 square metre site. The folkBALTICA folk music festival is one of the region’s most vibrant cross-cultural collaborations. The festival is held in Flensburg and Sønderborg, where musicians from the Nordic and Baltic countries come together in a common, creative forum. Links are also established here with the new EU countries in the east. Another example of the region’s ability to transcend cultural borders is the spectacular Streetmekka event. In Sønderborg and a number of other towns on the Danish side of the border

063

064

069

Alsion, Culture and Education Center (2007)

Alssund Bridge (1981)

Military Academy, a former naval station (1908) built by Emperor Wilhelm. It resulted in a doubling of the population of SĂ¸nderborg

SĂ¸nderborg Hospital, opened in the early 1970s

Photo montage: Patricio Soto

062

066

070

071

and in Flensburg and Harrislee on the German side, skateboarders, inline skaters and BMX riders gather to compete for the title of ‘Tricks and Stunt King of Sønderjylland-Schleswig’. The skater culture exemplifies both entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to cross boundaries, be they physical, psychological or ethnic. So there is a wide range of positive aspects to the region’s initiative to embrace street culture and urban sport and make its towns attractive places in which to pursue these activities. The Cultural Dialogue project ensures support for activities relating to culture, language, children, young people and leisure through its Danish-German networking fund. This initiative exemplifies the sort of cultural programme that is eagerly welcomed by the public and strongly backed by politicians. With the region’s cross-border hospital collaboration and emergency plan, a solution has been found for both Danish and German hospitals to pool their resources for greatest benefit. This means that if a Danish citizen falls ill, he or she can be treated or operated on at a German hospital if this is closest and the situation is acute, or if this is where the necessary expertise is to be found. Ambulances from the other side of the border can pick up patients in Denmark. And of course the

arrangement also works the other way around, with Germans being able to use Danish hospitals and expertise. Also part of this arrangement is the rescue helicopter stationed at Niebüll on the German side of the border. Since its introduction in 2005 the helicopter has been called out more than 5,000 times; in approximately a tenth of these cases to accidents on the Danish side of the border. With ‘Professor ABC’, the region has introduced an award-winning initiative (the EU Language Prize in 2009) that has increased motivation among the region’s children and their parents to learn the language of their neighbouring country. German has acquired the undeserved reputation of being a boring language, while Danish is viewed as very difficult to learn – perceptions which the Professor changes by arousing children’s curiosity, not only about language, but about culture too. A border region is, by definition, a minority region and in few other places in Europe is so much intensive work being done to realise the potential inherent in a region such as this. Many of the initiatives are, of course, joint Danish-German projects, and with the university and a venture such as NytNetværk Sønderborg – a mentoring network for well-educated individuals from all

over the world newly resident in Denmark – the area has opened its doors to international thinking. In 2010 this venture won the Danish ‘Integration Prize’ which was presented by HRH Crown Princess Mary. The town’s aim is to make internationalisation a fruitful and inspiring process whereby its citizens can learn from one another and discover all that can be gained from working with people of different nationalities. As things stand today Sønderborg seems to have got off to a good start as far as attracting both international students and international workers is concerned. Despite its modest size, the town is home to more than 120 nationalities, half of these represented at the university. At first glance it might look, therefore, as if everything is as it should be in Sønderborg and the surrounding region. But even though the basic framework is good – in terms of business, education and culture – we are faced with a number of acute challenges that we simply have to tackle. It is a matter of serious concern that the population of the town itself has become almost stagnant, with a rise of only 5% in the past 30 years as compared to Aarhus, for example, where the population has risen by 27%. This means

2 /

1,300 new Sønderborgians in three decades as opposed to 67,000 new Aarhusians. If this pattern continues the number of people in Sønderborg between the ages of 0 and 65 will fall by 10% over the next two decades, a figure that is significantly greater than the national average, while the number of people over 65 will rise by 32%. Educational levels are lower than the national average, and earnings 7% below the national average. Out of every ten young people in Sønderborg who go on to further education, only one stays in the region. Out of every ten who leave Sønderborg to study elsewhere only two return to the area. This makes it hard for our companies to recruit qualified staff. Right now companies are in need of engineers with special skills, and according to the forecasts this problem is going to increase drastically over the next few years. By 2020 there will be a shortage of 500 engineers. If this problem is not solved companies may be forced to move closer to the big cities. And if that happens the people will follow them and Sønderborg will become even more of a marginal area. Forecasts show that the influx to the cities will increase dramatically in the coming decades, following the trend in similar, smaller towns elsewhere in Europe. According to

072

a projection from Statistics Denmark, by 2040 the areas around Copenhagen and Aarhus will account for 85% of the total population growth in Denmark. The big challenge for Sønderjylland-Schleswig as a whole is that the area lies outside the real growth belts in both Denmark and Germany. And it needs to do everything it can to adapt to the demands of globalisation, so that the region’s many jobs within industry and production can be converted into others within the service, knowledge and culture sectors. 073

074

075

As a town of a relatively modest size, we have to build upon the existing foundations when it comes to involving the local inhabitants. Cities have vast resources on which to draw – in terms of finance, culture, infrastructure and knowledge – of a sort that Sønderborg, for good reason, cannot hope to match. So the mobilisation of the local populace is essential. It is up to the local people to make the story of a thriving town and region a reality. Their enthusiasm and resources have to be pooled and given room to grow in such a way that everyone feels that the project is at heart a community endeavour. And if we think in these terms – as one community, north and south of the border – the total resources

at our disposal are much greater. Here we have the basis for a sustainable development. From a Danish-German point of view, the border region is, at long last, well on its way towards reconciliation. But some wounds from our warravaged past are still not totally healed. As a result, the border region still lacks the cross-national willingness to make the fulfilment of its creative and cultural potential possible. There is no shortage, however, of dreams as to how Sønderborg should look twenty to thirty years from now. Nor of hopes. Dreams and hopes of a creativity that can transcend national and cultural borders. Of being at the centre of future innovative technological developments and pioneering research. Of a healthier, CO2 neutral life with well-protected natural resources. Of a town and a region that clever minds and committed individuals will want to stay in, or move to, and help to grow and thrive. What is wanted here is a culture that can build bridges over both physical and psychological borders.

THE CITY AND THE REGION IN NUMBERS The region’s largest In Denmark (agglomerations): Odense: 190,103 Esbjerg: 114,184 Vejle: 107,618 Kolding: 89,273 Sønderborg: 76,298 Aabenraa: 59,795 Svendborg: 58,714 Haderslev: 56,116 Fredericia: 50,193 Vejen: 42,801 Tønder: 39,430 (with LEGO’s headquarters, Legoland and Billund Airport, the country’s second largest) Billund:

26,271

Towns/cities in Germany: Kiel: 239,526 Lübeck: 210,232 Flensburg: 88,759 Neumünster: 76,830 Rendsburg: 28,393 Schleswig: 24,058 Eckernförde: 22,614 Husum: 22,084

Sønderborg Founded in 1256 Total area of the municipality: 496,57 km2

Residents of the region

Population of the Sønderborg Municipality: 76,298 Region of South Denmark: 1,200,227 Schleswig-Holstein: 2,834,259

SETTLEMENT Most of those who leave the Sønderborg Municipality move to the neighbouring town of Aabenraa, the university towns of Aarhus, Odense and Copenhagen and the so-called

Population figures of the five largest Danish cities

‘Triangle Area’ (between Vejle Fjord, Kolding Fjord and the Little Belt), while the only noticeable drift towards Sønderborg comes from the nearby towns of Tønder and also back from Aabenraa. Just over one in nine of all employed people in Sønderborg

Copenhagen: 1,199,234

works outside the municipality, while more than every

Aarhus: 249,709

eighth job in Sønderborg is held by someone living outside

Odense: 167,615

the municipality boundary

Aalborg: 103,545 Esbjerg: 71,576

Average house prices in Sønderborg are the highest in Sønderjylland. Between 2006 and 2010 the rise in house prices was less than the average for the whole region. This does, however, reflect a general trend throughout the country. The younger age groups are under-represented in the municipality and 25-29 year-olds form the smallest segment in the 0-65 age range.

2 /

HEALTH At 78.9 the average age expectancy for both men and women in Sønderborg Municipality is the highest in the entire region and one of the 15 highest in Denmark, where the overall average is 77.4 years. Expenditure on public health in Sønderborg Municipality works out at 77 Danish kroner (10.3 euro) per inhabitant, which is far below the national average of 167 Danish kroner (22.4 euro) per inhabitant.

BUSINESS Of the 40,000 jobs in Sønderborg 27,000 are in the private sector.

54 Over half of all those in work in Sønderborg Municipality have jobs with big companies employing more than 50 people. In terms of lines of work, there is a strong specialisation in the municipality in the energy/environment field and to some extent in building/housing.

Education Those people who move away from the municipality after lower-secondary school level have a significantly higher level of education than those who stay here. Almost one in six of those who left lower-secondary school in Sønderborg in 2008 is expected not to gain an academic qualification of some description. Of all the border districts, Sønderborg is the one with the largest number of highly educated individuals within the private sector.

POPULATION PROJECTION 2010-2030 106

104

Sønderborg

South Denmark

The whole country

102

100

2010 = Index 100 98

96 2010

2015

2020

2025

The curve shows the expected population development from 2010 to 2030 in the municipality, in South Denmark and in the whole country. Source: Statistics Denmark

How THE POPULATION WILL DEVELOP 2010-2030 – BY AGE Sønderborg South Denmark The whole country

0-24 years

25-64 years

65+

-10%

-11%

32%

-4%

-7%

46%

-3%

46%

The table shows the expected percentage change from 2010 to 2030 in the number of people in three age categories. Source: Statistics Denmark

LEVEL OF EDUCATION 2009 Basic school

Secondary education

Vocational training sch.

Shorter higher edu.

Medium-long higher edu.

Long higher edu.

Total - percent

Sønderborg

24,3

4,3

42,2

7,0

16,9

5,3

100

South Denmark

25,6

4,7

41,4

6,5

16,8

4,9

100

The whole country

23,3

6,3

38,3

6,2

17,4

8,4

100

The table shows the proportion (in percentage) of people aged 25-64 by highest completed education. The educations are, respectively: Basic school, secondary education, vocational training school, shorter higher education, medium-long higher education and long higher education. Source: Statistics Denmark 2 /

2030

o me, as an incomer, the people of Sønderjylland (Southern Jutland) – or sønderjyder – fall into three very distinct categories: vestsønderjyder, østsønderjyder and alsingere. Which is to say: those from the west of the country, those from the east and those from the island of Als. Of these, the ones I like to think I know best are the østsønderjyder, living as I do in the east, and they are the ones I will attempt to describe here. The first thing that struck us when we moved to this part of the country was the natives’ complete lack of interest in where and what we had come from. No one ever asked us about ourselves. And if we tried to bring up the subject eyes glazed over and the conversation was kept short. If, on the other hand, we turned to the subject of the sønderjyder themselves their faces would light up and they would become intently involved in the often lengthy conversations that ensued. 56

Self-important? Most certainly. But warm and friendly and open-hearted too. A lot of people from the east of Sønderjylland seem to be of a quite unique nature. They are innovative, often visionary individuals. There’s a lot of scope here. And neurotics are few and far between. The Sønderjylland self-image is too strong for that. I enjoy the great privilege of being invited to speak all over Denmark. But there’s a world of difference between giving a talk in Vestjylland (West Jutland) and in Sønderjylland. In Vestjylland I can find myself standing in front of seventy stony faces and be asked only one, or at most two, very hesitant questions – and yet when I leave I’m given a hearty handshake and warm thanks for a lovely evening. In Sønderjylland I’ll be confronted with a crowd of friendly, animated, expectant faces. The obligatory coffee and cake spread will be a cheery affair, one might almost say joyous. No one is better than a sønderjyde at leaning over a cup of coffee. And often, afterwards, some burly farmer will get to his feet and ask me a question in a manner that pointedly implies if I can’t give him a sensible answer then that’s my problem, not his. Between 1864 and 1920 the brakes were put on many a development in Sønderjylland. The Grundtvigian and evangelical revivals that were flourishing all over Denmark ground to a halt to some extent in Sønderjylland, where the inhabitants were now deeply preoccupied with the question of nationality. Which is why, even today, evangelicals and Grundtvigians in Sønderjylland are of a different cast from those to the north of the Kongeåen river. From 1864 onwards the flow from the area of enterprising and innovative elements was similarly checked. So all of that energy and expertise remained here and is now – with an air of almost unbearable self-importance – creating the modern Sønderjylland. Unbearable self-importance. Well, yes – but the unbearability of it is somewhat softened when these innovative, visionary, self-important østsønderjyder invite their local vicar to go hunting! The Reverend Anders Kingo, D. Theol.

Leaning across a cup of coffee

“As good as born on a horse” Rikke Nicolaisen, jouster

ikke Nicolaisen was about a year old the first time she was placed on a horse’s back. At the age of four or five she started riding herself. “I was as good as born on a horse,” says the 22-yearold rider. Not surprisingly, really, since her mother, her father and her grandfather are all jousters. Every summer weekend the whole family would take themselves off to one of the jousting tournaments held in the towns round about between the end of May and the beginning of September. Rikke is now training as a medical secretary and lives with her boyfriend in the village of Kværs, so

going jousting every weekend just isn’t possible. But she has managed to attend three or four tournaments in 2011 and almost made it into the finals too. “It’s great to go along and have the chance to talk to the others. I have girlfriends I’ve been going jousting with for years. We keep in touch and let each other know if we’re going to this tournament or that,” Rikke explains. Her father and grandfather, Hans and Per Nicolaisen, are among the most dedicated of jousters, out riding all summer long. In August her father won the Alssund Championship, in which the ‘kings’ from 18 tournaments competed against one another. He had already won five titles that season: at Holbøl, Kliplev, Tinglev, Guderup and Tandslet and at the championship he beat another of the district’s great jousting kings, Harry Clausen from Nordals. The Clausen family is also known as something of a jousting dynasty, with mother, daughter and sons all well-known names in the lists, as the jousting-ground is called. The Sønderborg Jousting Festival runs for four days around the first weekend in July and attracts as many as 500 riders. On the Friday and the Sunday they ride in procession through the town, led by a marching band; then they compete in 22 lists – in the final with a ring in which the hole gets smaller and smaller until eventually it is no more than five millimetres in diameter. There is a fun-fair at the

jousting-ground, and marquees, and over the four days of the festival around 40,000 visitors pass through the gates. The present Jousting Society in Sønderborg was founded in 1888 and its Jousting Festival is the largest and oldest in Denmark today. The sport has its roots in the fierce jousts of the Middle Ages, which were turned into a more refined sport by the kings and princes of the sixteenth century. But it didn’t become more widely popular until the mid-nineteenth century, thanks in large part to Duke Christian August of Augustenborg who celebrated his silver wedding in 1845 with a tournament in which around 450 riders from Als took part. Jousting, as we know it today, has remained a Sønderjylland speciality, and is particularly popular in the Sønderborg and Aabenraa districts. But the old noble form of jousting has not been forgotten. Every Thursday throughout the summer Sønderborg Castle stages its own medieval tournament, with a free display of jousting as it was done in the Age of Chivalry. And here, among the medieval knights, you will find Rikke – along with her father and grandfather.

2 /

“... we’re in a marginal area here – so we have to do more than they do elsewhere” A.P. Hansen, former mayor and chairman of the Sønderborg City Council Art Foundation as well as driving force behind the Alsion Knowledge, Research and Culture Centre, Olafur Eliasson’s works of art for the Alsion and the Augustiana Sculpture Park.

A 60

rne Peder Hansen is known far beyond Sønderborg and Southern Jutland as A. P. Hansen, a visionary mayor who set so many things in motion in the late Nineties and well into the first decade of the new millennium. He hails from the island of Zealand, but moved to Sønderborg as a young man; became an engineer and a manufacturer with his own factory producing agricultural machinery. He loves Southern Jutland and Southern Schleswig in general and Sønderborg in particular. He was raised in an atmosphere of tolerance – but he is also a provocateur and a bit of a joker. In the early 2000s he was all for attracting more foreigners to Sønderborg, which was already the most international town in the whole of Jutland with the largest number of foreigners per capita. “I grew up in a very liberal, open-minded home. We had two Finnish refugee children living with us, one of whom my parents adopted. Before the war

we had Jewish refugees from Germany staying with us. They were helped across to Sweden and after the war my parents employed two German agricultural students. This was in the early Fifties, but even then they were big enough to say: ‘The war’s over. We have to move on.’” More than anyone, he is the man behind the town’s major centre for education, research and culture – the Alsion – an almost 95,000 euro project. “We wanted to improve and develop the district. The town had ground to a halt. The wharfs were all set to slide into the harbour. And instead of fixing them they simply put up barriers to save cars from rolling into the Sound.” He is full of praise for a united city council sticking together when it came to the really big decisions – on undertakings such as the Alsion, the Frank Gehry harbour project and the Project Zero vision of becoming Europe’s first CO2 neutral growth area by 2029. “There’s a quite incredible will here to make things happen. And there has to be, because we’re in a marginal area here – so we have to do more than they do elsewhere. Adversity toughens and purifies the soul.” A.P. Hansen cannot imagine a life without art and culture. “It’s absolutely essential. It’s a basic human need. The people want bread and circuses, wasn’t that what they said in Ancient Rome?”

”We pass on our success stories” Bo Jensen, teacher, Nydam School, Sønderborg

ønderborg City Council and the local business community share a wish to strengthen interest in climate issues, innovation and sustainability – from the crèche to Ph.D. level. The network ‘House of Science’ is a product of this dream. It provides the area’s science teachers with scope for further training in the natural sciences and a forum in which to exchange ideas. Bo Jensen teaches physics and chemistry in a primary/lower secondary school and is a member of the network. “If I’m passionate about the subjects I teach there’s a greater chance that my pupils will also grow to be passionate about them. And that, of course, is why I teach – to help my pupils to discover that science is interesting and exciting.” One of the aims of ‘House of Science’ is to develop relevant and inspiring teaching programmes and methods that will encourage creativity and equip children and young people to take an active part in a globalised world. “For me the main benefit of the network is that I have much more contact with other science teachers in the area. You find yourself talking to people who have different ways of doing things, and we spark one another off. We pass on our success stories and get new ideas from one another. It also helps me to grow as a teacher.

2 /

“At the moment the focus is on expanding upon the ideas we’ve put forward and passing on the knowledge we’ve gained from ‘House of Science’. The communication of information is really very important since the aim is for the network to extend to all science teachers in the area.” ‘House of Science’ is not a physical place – not a house, but an independent foundation. The three bodies behind the initiative are Sønderborg City Council, the science adventure park Danfoss Universe and the local business venture Project Zero.

‘Trusted by Danfoss’. It is a stamp that inspires trust the world over. And it is one that the twentyfive companies - some large, some small - located in or associated with the Mads Clausen Entrepreneur Park at the Danfoss headquarters in Nordals all have the right to use. Of these twenty-five, most are working within the field of ‘mechatronics’ - a combination of mechanical, electronic and software engineering.

The Danfoss name also helps to attract highly qualified personnel, says Hans-Erik Kiil, the head of development at one of the entrepreneur park’s companies, Danfoss PolyPower, which now employs around fifteen people, seven or eight of these being development engineers and the rest in production, sales and marketing. PolyPower produces a sort of artificial muscle made of rubber. This consists of an elastic polymer film sandwiched between metal electrodes. When an electric charge is passed through it, it expands and contracts. Most recently, interest has focussed on the product’s potential to generate energy. “When we started out we weren’t thinking of that at all. But sustainable energy is a major focus area now,” says Hans-Erik Kiil. It all started almost ten years ago. Scientist Muhamed Benslimane had been taken on by Danfoss and was working in the basement of the entrepreneur park on the development of new technology. Every couple of weeks Jørgen Mads Clausen would go down to the basement to ask how things were going. Then one day Muhamed came up from the basement and shouted: “It works!” That was in 2006 and

Hans-Erik Kiil, head of development, Danfoss PolyPower A/S, Mads Clausen Entrepreneur Park

since then PolyPower has been an independent concern – a venture company having financial links with Danfoss. “The first question was: ’Can we mass-produce it?’ Otherwise it’s of no interest. The work of trying to figure that out has made for the most exciting two years of my whole career,” says Hans-Erik Kiil. He has been working for Danfoss for over thirty years, and he is not at all unusual. Over the years, the company has celebrated the silver jubilee of more than 6,000 of its employees. “We have a good working environment here, and a culture in which people are encouraged to learn new things. And it’s okay to make mistakes, we learn from them too.” As well as being able to use the ‘Trusted’ label, the companies can also draw on Danfoss’s expertise and have certain advantages when it comes to such thing as purchasing. When the park opened in 2005 the whole of the Claus family was in attendance, because the principle of creating new things is one close to their hearts. So much so that it is actually formulated in one of the five clauses in the Danfoss Foundation’s statement of intent: ‘To participate in the regional development of Southern Jutland’. Danfoss once employed more than 5000 in Nordals. That number has now been reduced to around 2,000, plus something over 1,000 in Sauer-Danfoss. But new jobs are still being created. Danfoss has just opened a new factory employing 100 people in the production of inverters, which are used to convert solar energy into electricity for the national grid.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A culture in which people are encouraged to try new thingsâ&#x20AC;?

“I would almost go so far as to say that this is a European project which shows how, through art, we can enrich one another instead of fighting one another” Rick Towle, artist

I 64

n the early Seventies, Rick Towle packed his rucksack and left his home in Boston, Massachusetts to go on a sort of Grand Tour of Europe. This tour took him from art museum to art museum, and when his best friend went home to the United States, Towle stuck his thumb in the air and hitch-hiked to Copenhagen. Even then, as a young man in his early twenties, he was fascinated by the painters of Denmark’s Golden Age and by the whole CoBrA Group led by Asger Jorn. He met his future wife in Denmark and in 1994 the couple moved to Sønderborg. “I’d lived in Copenhagen for almost twenty years and my friends there couldn’t understand why I would want to move to Sønderjylland. ‘The asshole of Denmark’ they called it. I had to get my bearings down here, but I made contact with quite a few German artists. All in all, in fact, I’ve built up a much bigger international network here than I would ever have had in Copenhagen. I simply had to,” says Rick Towle.

He took a degree in fine art at Bowdoin College in the United States and has made his living as an artist and a teacher ever since. Through his work he became aware that even in the mid-Nineties a lot of prejudices still prevailed on both sides of the Danish-German border. “Especially on the part of the Danes, I would say. Among young people there really was a great deal of prejudice and obviously this has to do with the history here. But I was very surprised by it. I was shocked, actually, so I started a border-transcending project on art for children.” Since 2006 he has run a great many border-transcending art projects in which children work together, spanning the cultural and linguistic gaps. These projects have been organised with the help of German artists and local authorities on both sides of the border. “It’s been a tremendous experience to see how children communicate with one another, work together and create understanding through art. I would almost go so far as to say that this is a European project which shows how, through art, we can enlighten one another instead of fighting one another. It has given rise to lots of inspiration, and friendships – and, in fact, there have even been people who’ve fallen in love through the project,” says Rick Towle. The idea now is to develop the children’s art project into a children’s art festival which will also include other art forms such as music, drama and dance and will build up to the Children’s Capital of Culture in 2017.

“We can all see the results of global warming and something has to be done about it” Bent Jensen, director and owner of the Linak concern

“We can all see the results of global warming and something has to be done about it. As a large concern we want to lead the way and show what can be done. It’s a matter of taking responsibility.”

many virtues: in its approach, its methods and in the management of the project it is in a class of its own and can stand as a model project for other regions in Europe.

These are the words of Bent Jensen, owner of Linak, one of Sønderborg’s biggest companies and one which is well under way with its plan to be self-sufficient in green energy within just seven years. This project involves the construction of one of Denmark’s biggest solar cell parks, a green district heating plant and an eighty-metre-tall wind turbine with a capacity of 850 watts. All of these are attached to Linak’s headquarters at Guderup on the island of Als, from which spot the company has grown into one of the world’s leading designers and producers of electric linear actuator systems – the sort of technology we know from height-adjustable desks and hospital beds. Linak has allied itself with Project Zero, which is to accomplish the vision of the Sønderborg area being CO2 neutral by 2029.

Sønderborg is steadily moving towards that zero. Most recently it launched the energy renovation project ZERObolig (ZEROhomes) with support from the Danish Renewal Foundation and the Southern Denmark Growth Forum. This project aims to create both green jobs and climate-clever solutions through energy-efficient renovation of the area’s 18,800 private homes.

“We pride ourselves on helping to promote Project Zero as a fantastic development and branding project for the entire Sønderborg area. Not only that, but it’s good PR for Linak, especially in the German market where a strong green profile is considered the mark of a good company,” says Bent Jensen. In the spring of 2010 Project Zero won the very special distinction of being presented with the EU Sustainable Energy Award 2010. Emphasis was placed at the award ceremony on Project Zero’s 2 /

Private homes are responsible for 40% of the area’s energy consumption. More energy-efficient homes would, therefore, help greatly to fulfil Sønderborg’s vision. And there’s a programme for companies too.

“I’m proud that it succeeded. It’s been worth all the hard work. We did encounter some scepticism along the way – among politicians too, but on the board we told each other that as long as the project was good enough we would make it.” So says Bo Jonø, for five years voluntary leader of a big project in Fynshav – a town of not quite 900 people on the east coast of the island of Als. And a very special project it was – for a new centre for the town: the Diamond Culture and Sports Centre as it was named at the grand opening in August 2010.

There was a sports centre on the site already, but like 1400 or so other sports centres around Denmark it had been built in the Seventies and was starting to look pretty run-down. At the same time the area was short on facilities for the different sporting activities going on there, and the sports club, of which Bo Jonø was chairman, approached the city council, to see what could be done. The city council discovered that as part of a collaboration with the Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities the Centre for Sport and Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture was looking for a subject for a demonstration project on the rebuilding of sports centres. Bo Jonø sent in an application, and the centre in Fynshav was chosen for the project. An architecture competition was held and while the winner, Chris Thurlbourne, was drawing up the plans, a series of workshops was arranged, to which all of the people of Fynshav were invited. At one stage the city council came up with the request that this building project should be a more sustainable one, in terms of energy consumption and facilities for the disabled.

“We formed a working party, and sustainability became a very important element for us. It turned out to be an essential condition of the grants awarded for the project later by the town council that we should tie in with the Project Zero climate strategy and that we could be used as a demonstration project,” explains Bo Jonø, who also found that he had taken on a task much bigger than he or any of the other member of the board had ever expected. For a long while the project took up as much time as a part-time job. “We had to have a lot of meetings with different specialists, but it was very exciting too,” says Bo Jonø, who has also been on hand on many occasions when government ministers, architect firms and others have visited Fynshav to see the centre, since it has also been designated a demonstration project by the EU. Now that the centre is up and running, Jonø has handed over the chairmanship to someone else and he is happy to see the centre being used all the time for both old and new activities. “This is a centre where you can do all sorts of things. The people of Fynshav have been involved right from the start and this really is their centre. It also means a great deal for the town’s growth. And the centre is a good answer to the debate now being waged in the town council regarding a new schools structure. This could mean closure for some small schools. And if the school closes that spells the end for a lot of activities too.”

THE DIAMOND CULTURE AND SPORTS CENTRE The centre is a low energy class 1 building, with solar panels, solar heating, heating pumps and an advanced ventilation system. It consumes only half the energy of other buildings. It is also interesting from an architectural point of view, with a flexible and multi-functional design geared towards today’s users, who are more interested in individual sports than in team sports.

“Sustainability was a very important element in the extension of our sports centre” Bo Jonø, former chairman of sports centre project in Fynshav

2 /

“Augustenborg – historic castle with a wide-open future”

ust seven kilometres from Sønderborg lies the town of Augustenborg, which takes its name from Augustenborg Palace, home of the Dukes of Augustenborg. The present palace was built in 1770-1776 in the late Baroque style and was named after the Duchess Augusta. Here, before the Schleswigian Wars, there existed a sort of subdepartment of the Danish court in Copenhagen, and one with close ties to Europe. The last Duke to live at the palace, Christian August II of SchleswigHolstein-Sønderborg-Augustenborg, supported the Schleswig-Holsteiners in the Three Years War (1848-1850). When Denmark won the war he and his brother fled south. After being taken over by the Prussians in 1864 the palace was turned into a seminary for ladies, and after the Reunion in 1932 it became an asylum for the mentally ill. The palace still houses a psychiatric hospital, but over the decades the number of beds has been drastically reduced and the council of the Region South Denmark has now decided to move the remaining departments out of the Sønderborg area, starting in 2013. The region is now looking for investors to take over these historic listed buildings and the park surrounding them. In recent times the psychiatric hospital has gradually opened its doors to the public. Doctors with a musical bent took the initiative to hold public café concerts of classical music in the palace conservatory, with

patients serving refreshments during the intervals. Every August for the past eleven years the concert of popular and classical music, ‘A Sunday on Als’ has been held in the palace park, and the Kultur i Syd (Culture in the South) association has also used the park for mega-concerts featuring rock stars such as Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. Behind the palace, close to the forest, lies the Mansion House, built by Duke Frederik Christian I between 1786 and 1788 for his daughter Louise Christine Caroline. After her death in 1815 it became the home of the dowager duchess Louise Augusta who also held the title of princess: she was the love child of Queen Caroline Mathilde and the king’s physician Struensee, who was eventually charged with treason and executed. Louise Augusta lived at the mansion house from 1820 until her death in 1843. She was a flamboyant, artistic woman who loved to have a good time and surrounded herself with handsome officers, noble gentlemen, works of art and a whole menagerie of horses, dogs, monkeys and parrots. In more recent times the Mansion House has provided accommodation for consultants at the hospital and been used as a recreation centre for the patients. Latterly, though, it had stood empty. Then, five or six years ago, some artists from Sønderborg had the idea of turning the Mansion House into a new cultural centre, and indeed to turn the whole of the palace area into an art Mecca, with galleries, workshops, a film school and an art school for young people. The first step has been taken with the opening in the spring of 2009 of a sculpture and art centre in and around the Mansion House, which has been rented by Sønderborg City Council.

The centre’s name, Augustiana, was chosen by a competition among local people. There are high hopes of turning Augustiana into a cultural power centre and the hub of a wider arts and culture scene spanning both sides of the DanishGerman border. In this respect a breakthrough was made in May 2011 with the opening of an exhibition of watercolours, sculptures and prints by the German Nobel prize-winner Günter Grass, and of contemporary Chinese art. This exhibition was organised in partnership with Kunstwerk Carlshütte in Rendsburg, only a hundred kilometres from Sønderborg. This is a partnership which holds great potential for Augustiana.

square metres of the foundry’s premises into a public arts and culture centre, presenting art, music and drama – both indoors and out. Each summer the centre hosts the NordArt exhibition and the last of these featured 250 selected contemporary artists from all over the world. In 2011 Kunstwerk Carlshütte will also be hosting the SchleswigHolstein Music Festival, which presents some concerts in Sønderborg every year. Hans JuliusAhlmann is full of enthusiasm for the vision of Sønderborg with Sønderjylland-Schleswig as European Capital of Culture, and he points out that Rendsborg has close historical and intellectual connections with Denmark which are often overlooked.

Kunstwerk Carlshütte is owned and run by businessman Hans-Julius Ahlmann of the ACO Group in Büdelsdorf. Ahlmann has strong family ties with southern Denmark and Sønderborg. The Ahlmann family has been a patron of the arts for generations and after the iron foundry at Carlshütte closed, Hans-Julius Ahlmann converted the 80,000

The partnership with Kunstwerk Carlshütte is central to a scheme devised by Sønderborg City Council for the Mansion House and Augustiana to turn it into a popular regional and national attraction. At the moment the art and sculpture centre is being run as a private gallery by Kim Nørballe, with support from the Sønderborg City

2 /

Council Arts Foundation and a friendship society chaired by Else Marie Bukdahl, former rector of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. What fate holds in store for Augustenborg Palace is still uncertain. At the beginning of 2011 the council of the Region South Denmark launched a competition for ideas on what to do with Augustenborg Palace, and in mid-January 300 people attended a local meeting to discuss the future of the palace. The competition will run until the end of 2011. Among the entries so far received are suggestions for turning the palace into a hospice or a hotel, and Museum Sønderjylland has suggested that it could become a foreign branch of the Hermitage Museum at the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, like the Hermitage Amsterdam in Holland, which opened in 2009 in a large building from the seventeenth century. Generally speaking, established artists in Sønderborg feel there is a serious need for initiatives that will raise awareness and draw younger artists to the area. Of the relatively large proportion of the local population working within the ‘creative business’ sector most are engineers. Good conditions and good opportunities for attracting new artists to the area are vital, if the art scene here is to continue to grow and flourish.

“It is very forward-looking of the local community to have such large, visionary ambitions. I am happy to add my signature to the project” Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect

e may be 82 years old, but he is still one of the greatest and most innovative architects in the world. Canadian Frank Gehry, who has spent the whole of his adult life in America, has designed iconic buildings in Los Angeles and Brooklyn, New York; in Barcelona, Bilbao and Seattle – and soon also in Sønderborg. Here he has already delivered the designs for his biggest ever project in Western Europe – a master plan for Sønderborg’s old industrial harbour. This is going to be turned into a totally new part of the town: close to the sea, with housing, offices, restaurants, an eighteen-storey hotel, an Urban Square complete with green areas, floating tennis courts and an art exhibition centre. This last alone will cost 46 million euro and has been given the city council’s seal of approval, together with the promise of funding to help with the running costs. The art exhibition centre is also designed by Frank Gehry. “It is exciting for me to design a new urban space that will allow for a great variety of activities, both leisure and commerce, making it an attractive destination for locals and tourists alike,” says the architect. Gehry also notes that there is strong local support for the project. “I think it is very forward-thinking of the local community to have such large visionary ambitions. I am happy to add my signature to the project,” he says. The wide array of people from the world of architecture and influential individuals from the Danish art scene who attended the presentation of 2 /

the master plan at the Alsion building in Sønderborg were very impressed that a provincial town could entertain such great ambitions. The chairman of the New Carlsberg Foundation, Hans Edvard Nørregård-Nielsen, the administrative director of the Danish Architecture Centre, Kent Martinussen and architect Jan Utzon were all full of praise for the project. “But we needn’t be totally awestruck by the fact of Gehry’s involvement. We have something to offer him, and he has something to offer us. Whether you’re building in Copenhagen or in Sønderborg, it makes no difference. Denmark is one big city and Copenhagen is only one part of it. It’s only a twohour drive away if you put your foot down,” says Hans Edvard Nørregård Nielsen. Jan Utzon praised the town’s dreams for the near future: “I can really sense that there’s something in the air. That something is happening in Sønderborg.”

“The children have fun, and they’re learning another language” Claus Sax Hinrichs, language clown and educator

ases and declensions. Der, die, das .... That is how many Danish adults remember their school German lessons. And Danish is not an easy language for foreigners either – the pronunciation of it least of all.

Nowadays the idea that the Danes of Southern Jutland are, in general, good at German is not altogether true. So, for anyone who has not grown up using both languages - as a member of one of the minorities, for example – communicating with people on the other side of the border can be tricky. The language is one of the most concrete hindrances to day-to-day cooperation. But one man with a big red nose, a lab coat and bottle-glass specs is now touring the border country, meeting its very youngest inhabitants and doing something about this. This is Professor ABC. He shows up in kindergartens, where little language learners help him to find the other language – because he’s terribly forgetful.

“They love it. The children have fun, and they’re learning another language. We also sing a song in the language they don’t know,” says the professor – normal everyday name Claus Sax Hinrichs – who is a bachelor of education and has been performing as a clown for twenty years. “In the Southern Jutland-Schleswig regional offices they discovered that there were no language courses for small children – there are for all other ages – and so I came up with Professor ABC,” explains Claus Sax Hinrichs, who has visited forty different Danish and German kindergartens since 2005. This has been followed by programmes for schoolchildren in Primary 1, 2 and 3, implemented in collaboration with the University of Flensburg, which produced the teaching materials. In the autumn of 2011 it will once again be the turn of kindergarten children to go hunting for foreign phrases and have their curiosity aroused – and an eagerness to learn Danish or German as a foreign language when they are older. The project with the crazy professor won the EU’s language prize in 2009 and it was recently named by the European Commission as one of eleven lighthouse projects dealing with multilingualism in the border regions.

Professor ABC is a project run under the Kulturdialog (Cultural Dialogue) programme – formerly known as Kulturbro/Kulturbrücke (Culture Bridge) – funded by the Danish Ministry of Culture, the Schleswig-Holstein State Chancellery, the Region of Southern Denmark and the EU Interreg 4 programme.

”Not since New York have I had such an international day-to-day life” Camilla Karlsen, journalist, on moving from the Danish capital, Copenhagen, to Sønderborg

“One of the first things that struck me about Sønderborg was the fresh air and the countryside. It was so much fresher than in New York or Copenhagen, where I have lived.” So says journalist Camilla Karlsen, who moved from Copenhagen to Sønderborg to work with a large company. “And right from the start in Sønderborg I found myself living this very international life. Not since New York have I had such an international dayto-day life. In Copenhagen you do meet people from other countries, but you speak mostly to your friends. In Sønderborg, in your spare time, you become part of the lives of a lot of foreigners, you go out together. After only a short time I now have friends from Rumania, Chile, Nepal, America and Germany. “Many of my friends in the capital look towards cities such as New York, London and Berlin. They’re all nice places, but they’re not the whole world. In Sønderborg globalism is just a part of normal

NytNetværk Sønderborg aims to help people coming to the region with their work to settle in and build careers for themselves here. The network offers educated professionals new to Denmark some insight into the values and the norms of the Danish jobs market – thus helping them to find work. Danish business people with their own strong networks act as volunteer mentors for NytNetværk Sønderborg. On November 2nd 2010 the network was awarded the Danish ‘Integration Prize 2010’, for an impressive venture which addresses the needs of the individual and makes Sønderborg an attractive town in which to work. The prize was presented by HRH Crown Princess Mary. 2 /

everyday life, I’m hardly conscious of whether I’m speaking Danish or English. And because we’re so close to the border it doesn’t seem to matter much whether you’re in Sønderborg or Flensburg – and we can always nip down to Hamburg.” As a newcomer Camilla Karlsen has found Sønderborg to be an open and welcoming town. “I set out to check what networks there were, and I discovered NytNetværk Sønderborg. The language used here is English, not Danish. That’s just how it is. At the university and in global companies the language is English. And if we’re in a café in Sønderborg with friends from abroad we’ll talk English all evening. In Copenhagen, after a while people tended to switch to Danish.”

“I feel better prepared for a job with an international company” Michael Munday, Danish student, and Katalin Horvath, Rumanian student

“Sønderborg has a completely different international study environment from that found anywhere else in Denmark – there’s nothing quite like it,” says Michael Munday.

“The language was a bit of challenge to begin with, though – mainly because not everyone’s English was at the same level. That could make group work rather heavy going at times.”

The university campus in Sønderborg is the only one in the country to have more foreign students than Danish. Michael moved here from Central Jutland to do a BA in Innovation and Business at the University of Southern Denmark.

Katalin Horvath is also a part of the international student body in Sønderborg. From Rumania, she is studying Fashion Design at the College of Design.

“Here all the teaching is in English. And the fact that we all come from different cultures makes for some interesting discussions both in class and out of it. I feel better prepared for a job with an international company than if I had done a normal Danish university course along with other Danish students.

“I came to Denmark because there’s more focus in design courses here on work experience, and because the educational system is much more easygoing than in Rumania. I like that. I feel that just being in another country opens one up to fresh impressions and fresh inspiration, and I’ve made lots of friends here.” Both Michael and Katalin have found it easy to get to know people in a new town. “It’s easy to meet people with whom you have something in common, because there are so many different nationalities here. There was a little while right at the start when people had a slight tendency just to hang out with other students from their own country. It seemed simpler to stick with people you could speak your own language with. But that passed. Now we all have friends of all nationalities. My own closest friends are a mix of Danes, Germans and Hungarians,” says Michael.

“Everyone on the board has to care passionately about the drama society and give it everything they’ve got” Johannes Heesch, chairman of the Sønderborg Drama Society

t the beginning of September, Sønderborg Drama Society embarked on a new season, with a repertoire which the society itself describes as its best and most international ever – in both breadth and quality of range. For example, in December it will present Russia’s Tartastan State Opera, with their production of The Nutcracker. “It has a cast of over a hundred, and even if we are completely sold out, we’ll still make a loss on it,” says the society’s chairman, Johannes Heesch. But the society does it anyway, because it wants to do more than simply stage sure-fire hits. It aims to present a high-quality programme, and the bill for this season features twenty-nine different productions, with thirty-five performances in all – and a budget of more than 671,000 euro. Its programme for this season boasts, therefore, more shows than either of the two national theatres in Odense and Aarhus. In October the drama society will play host to Den Jyske Opera (The Jutland Opera), which will spend a whole week at the Alsion, rehearsing with the Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra for the premiere of Verdi’s The Troubadour, and seniorsecondary students and other young people will be invited to the Alsion for a closed-door dress rehearsal and, prior to that, an introduction to the piece. There is also a plan to invite all the primary 7 classes from schools in Sønderborg to a performance of one of the season’s productions. “Well, the schools are having to cut back at the moment and can’t do this sort of thing themselves,” says the society’s chairman. Generally speaking, Sønderborg Drama Society does a lot to bring young people into the theatre. In some cases, before a production is staged, the performers will visit

2 /

schools to make a presentation. And through the the city counsil’s social services department the society gives tickets to socially deprived families. Over the past few years the drama society has been going from strength to strength and now sells almost 20,000 tickets per season to audiences drawn from the whole of Sønderjylland and south of the border. Its success has been due, not least, to the new concert hall at the Alsion, which has made it possible to present big musical productions. That such a large range of theatrical productions is at all possible in Sønderborg can be put down to the fact that the nine members of the drama society’s board of directors – and often their spouses too – do such a tremendous job of work, and it’s all voluntary. Not that the board has any shortage of volunteers: “No, lots of people want to get involved – even though I warn them beforehand: everyone on the board has to care passionately about the drama society and give it everything they’ve got - and they do too,” says Johannes Heesch. As a native of Als, with thirty-five years under his belt as a journalist and editor of the local newspaper, Johannes Heesch has no doubt that the people of the area are very committed. As can be seen, for example, from the number of voluntary societies and associations – over 700 of them – in Sønderborg Municipality.

“Here we take a personal responsibility for our community” Melissa Sevelsted, member of Broager Volunteer Fire Brigade

“I want to do something for my local community. It means a great deal to me that I should be able to look back on my life and see that I have helped others. I like the idea of a volunteer fire brigade – here we take a personal responsibility for our community.” Melissa is one of the newest members of Broager Volunteer Fire Brigade. She is also the brigade’s only woman. It is a time-honoured tradition in Southern Jutland for almost every little hamlet to have its own band of unpaid volunteer fire-fighters. Fire brigades manned by volunteers are quite unique to Southern Jutland. In all other parts of Denmark the fire services are manned by professional, salaried fire-fighters. “I’m a girl who likes a bit of excitement. I’ve just come to the end of my career as a boxer and have

become a trainer instead, so I’m in need of a new challenge. My sister is a qualified fire-fighter and I thought that sounded interesting, so when I heard on the radio that they were looking for volunteers I decided to apply. “There are 73 volunteer fire brigades in Southern Jutland, numbering around 1,670 unpaid volunteer fire-fighters who risk life and limb to save other people and their homes. Besides putting out fires and saving lives the fire brigades also play an important part in the activities of local clubs and associations. “I won’t be a fully qualified fire-fighter until 2012, but I’m already involved in the social side, helping to organise the Shrovetide party, the summer party, the Christmas party and so on. And when we have a party it’s for the whole family – children and all. I’ve just moved from a place 14 kilometres outside of Sønderborg to the small town of Broager, so this was also a really good way of making new friends.” The idea of volunteer fire brigades originated in France and was adopted by towns in Germany. Southern Jutland belonged to Germany at that time and so volunteer fire brigades sprang up here too. The tradition continued after the area became Danish. The EU has just granted funding for Danish and German fire services to assist one another with fires, accidents and disasters on both sides of the border.

“Traditionally, if the idea is right, the timing is right, and the right people get behind it, a project will succeed” Erik Randel, newspaperman

ønderborg is like the bumble-bee: it really shouldn’t be able to fly, but it does anyway. That is how Erik Randel sees it. Randel is the former editor of the regional newspapers, Jydske Tidende and JydskeVestkysten, and editor with the national newspaper Berlingske. He was born and raised in Sønderborg and has also followed the town’s progress with fond and not entirely uncritical interest through all his years in Aalborg, Copenhagen and, now, in Kolding. So he is not at all surprised that such a relatively small town should be a candidate for European Capital of Culture 2017. “There is an almost fanatical zeal, I find, and a visionary approach to the competition, coupled with a brilliant line of thought: the concept of the border country, and the idea that challenges and problems are not solved by force or weapons, but by mutual respect – and, not least, by humour and good humour. Which is all part of the DNA of folk from Als anyway,” he says. Randel would, however, urge Sønderborg not to act the cultural big brother towards other towns north and south of the border. “Sønderborg should be proud, but not too proud,” says Erik Randel. He points out that Sønderborg has seldom been handed anything on a plate. The town has had to fight for what it has, and he believes the go-getter spirit is a real mark of the region. “The town acquired a business college, an express train link and a special office at the Ministry of Housing for building on the island of Als. Jydske 2 /

Tidende stepped into the breach to save the army’s NCO school and brought about its return, both on paper and physically, from Odense. Most recently, the Alsing will to succeed showed itself in the Alsion project, with the university and the concert hall,” he says. “So traditionally, here, there is a belief that if the idea is right, the timing is right and the right people get behind it, a project will succeed. There is a tradition here for massive involvement and tremendous debate before the realisation of major projects of this nature,” says Randal. He cites another example of how what seems like an impossible project can actually succeed. “There were a few raised eyebrows – including mine – when Stephan Kleinschmidt, a member of the German minority, was elected chairman of the Sønderborg Committee for Culture and Commerce a few years back. Danish Germans tended only to occupy senior posts in the more technical committees. But Kleinschmidt’s enthusiasm and openness, not to mention his background, could be said to be the epitome of the sort of successful integration or Zweiströmigkeit that ought to be the anthem for the whole of the border country. Then we had Flensburg’s new proDanish mayor, Simon Faber – and the Isted Lion is back in Flensburg where it belongs. Bless my soul, could you ask for more?”

challenges and dile

challenges dilemmas T

he soil around SĂ¸nderborg is rich and for decades the wages have rolled in steadily from the big production companies. This has led to a sleepy complacency. The younger generation head for the cities and do not come back â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the older generation continues to increase. The fact is that the area can no longer manage on its own; it has to adjust to the fact that there is a world outside. All around us and on the other side of the border there are other languages and other cultures which it would be worthwhile getting to know. There might even be answers to questions we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know were crucial to us.

A FUTURE AS A BEAUTIFUL OLD FOLKS’ HOME?

oday Sønderborg is part of what is known somewhat disparagingly in Denmark as ‘Udkantsdanmark’ – the outer fringes of Denmark. These tend to be districts suffering from economic recession, low education levels and a brain drain – the loss of the expertise that might otherwise have given the region the kick-start it needs. And the fact that Sønderborg lies between major cities in Denmark and Germany does not make things any easier. It’s not that living in the provinces is seen as ‘uncool’; it just means there’s no future for many of the young people here. Development is also hindered by the scars still borne by Sønderborg and the surrounding region from their war-torn past. Full and final reconciliation between Danes and Germans has not yet been achieved. This gives rise to a number of concrete challenges and dilemmas which the region has to accept and deal with in order to ensure the growth that will keep it alive.

A lost generation It is absolutely vital for a town to be a welcome place for young people, to listen to their changing demands, respond to their views, involve them in new plans and implement some of them. In return they will contribute to the town’s continuing existence. Sønderborg is finding this very hard to do. As many other similar smaller towns in Europe. With the 25-29 year-olds as the smallest age segment in the municipality (within the 0-65 age range) it is fair to talk of ‘a lost generation’. We can speak about the economic crisis in the medium term, but it’s the social crisis that really matters to us in the long run. This contributes, in practice, to a brain drain – the town is quite simply drained of young talent, and with it all the originality, energy, enthusiasm, creativity and innovation that it represents. Not only that, but while the number of young people is falling, the number of elderly people is expected to rise by a third over the next two decades.

Although Sønderborg has, relatively speaking, a great deal to offer in terms of educational opportunities, after finishing secondary school many young people are still drawn to the big university towns of Aarhus, Odense and Copenhagen. This may be in order to follow a particular course of study or out of a healthy urge to experience city life.

A region in recession The population of Sønderborg is shrinking. After rising by only one and a half thousand in three decades, over the past three years it has slowly begun to fall. And if the forecasts are correct it will continue to fall steadily in the years ahead. Fewer inhabitants means fewer taxpayers, houseowners, voters, active members of our communities and hence less money to maintain a sustainable society. These developments result in fewer production jobs. During the financial crisis around 1,500 people in the Sønderborg area lost their jobs. Many of these did, however, find work and now, two years on, it is estimated that 500 jobs were lost. We feel the importance of a flexible labour market in a global economy, and we have seen some of it. But how do we keep a flexible workforce or even

3 /

strengthen it? Some people have left the area, or have switched to working in another sector and more people are now commuting to jobs outside the area. With a lower educational level and an average income lying 7% below the national average, the big challenge for Sønderborg is going to be how to adapt. While the population of Sønderborg is slowly shrinking, in the Nordals area – where Danfoss has its headquarters and where production was high 15 years ago – it is dropping sharply. Within five years, Nordborg, the municipality’s second largest town, has lost approximately 516 of 7,246 inhabitants, a drop of 7%. In January 2011 one housing association had 230 of its 1,500 flats in Nordals standing empty. As a result the association is now tearing down blocks of flats. Within Sønderborg City Council the decision has also been taken to launch ‘Project Nordborg’ to address the challenges facing the area.

Making the adjustment from industrial society to knowledge society For Sønderborg as a whole the realisation that it needs to adjust to globalisation and the knowledge society has come as something of a shock. Manufacturing jobs need to be transformed very quickly into knowledge- and service-based jobs. Within Sønderborg’s two largest companies, Danfoss and Linak, the financial crisis that started in 2007 prompted reorganisation and trimming, and the following year both companies showed decent profits. But many people previously employed in the manufacturing industry now need to retrain and readjust to working in other sectors. For this reason, too, the town needs to shake off old habits and shake up its ideas.

Legislation gets in the way For a border region it is only natural to interact with other nations. Sønderborg wishes to improve and widen its connections on the other side of the border. But the laws of Denmark and Germany and international legislation could get in the way

of such cross-national collaboration. The challenge is, therefore, to convince the international community of the need to adjust the legislation for a given region – such as Sønderjylland-Schleswig. One obvious example where this would help is that of shipping between Sønderborg and Flensburg. The distance from the one to the other across Flensburg Fjord is only a few nautical miles, and in the not too distant past both towns were part of the same country. Now, though, they are in two different countries, and so international legislation comes into play. This demands that the captain of a small tourist boat on the fjord should have the same qualifications as the captain of an ocean-going liner. Both are sailing on international waters. The same problem applies to the stretch between Broager in Denmark and Holnis in Germany, only three nautical miles away across the fjord. But it is not only in the case of shipping that the legislation – both the differences between Danish and German law and international law – can get in the way. All too often, cultural projects involving individuals and/or bodies from both sides of the border get caught up in a mass of unproductive bureaucracy which can, at the very worst, stifle the enthusiasm that is so vital.

Learn each other’s languages or our sense of culture is lost The inhabitants of a border region find it only natural to hear many languages being spoken. In a town like Sønderborg, containing more than 120 nationalities, it goes without saying that communication cannot be conducted in just one language. The linguistic encounter between Danish and German is, of course, the most notable example. On an everyday basis the two languages rub along quite comfortably together, even though in a conversation between a Dane and a German each will often choose to stick to their own language. When it comes to official matters, though, simultaneous interpreters and translators are frequently used – members of the German minority in Denmark are still entitled to be addressed by the authorities in their own language. One possibility might be to resort to English – as many people on both sides of the border are quite capable of doing. There are even those who recommend that English should be the standard language for all cross-border communication since it is also a global language.

3 /

But a language is more than just words. A language is always inextricably bound up with a culture. And in switching to a third language – or totally neglecting to learn the language of the neighbouring country – is to throw away a vital key to mutual understanding. And if the reluctance to learn the other language is allowed to prevail this will only form an even greater hindrance to potential collaborations. Hence the reason that many of the region’s cultural projects are, in essence, language projects which focus on this aspect. If by such means we can encourage everyone to be able to speak both Danish and German then not only will we be able to manage without interpreters and translators, we will also strengthen inter-cultural understanding. One step in the right direction would be to increase the number of multilingual publications, websites and signs in the region.

How to handle immigration? In an internationally minded region with a declining population it seems obvious to welcome people from abroad. One cannot always be sure, though, that the local population will happily

accept this vision and welcome immigrants. That is a major dilemma. Young, gifted international individuals who can help to boost the town’s fund of expertise are more than welcome. As are those people able to take on jobs in the care sector and service industries. There is, however, a natural suspicion of newcomers in need of social benefits, not least because the region already has a relatively large number of individuals who fall into this category. But a strongly selective immigration policy is neither morally defensible nor feasible. So how else can we create a social climate that will primarily ensure an influx of the sort of citizens we need most?

rather closed in on itself. It can be hard for an outsider to be included and accepted on equal terms with the natives of the region. The Sønderjylland sense of identity is exceptionally strong, just as the sense of being Danish or a member of the German minority (and vice versa) means a lot. Being on a border shows that the more people are alike, the more they tend to look at the differences. But the question is how to hold on to all the positive aspects of a tight-knit community while at the same time making it more open.

How can a small town fulfil its ambitions of becoming a

How to ensure acceptance into the community? Both the town and region are notable for a strong sense of community, and this is essentially a positive thing – especially for those who are a part of that community. One thing which newcomers would agree on, however, is that the community can seem to be 3 /

countryside metropolis? We cannot simply snap our fingers and turn Sønderborg into a big city. Nor would we want that. Small is beautiful. Even a doubling of its size would only make it one of the eighth largest towns in Denmark, on a par with Horsens and Kolding – which can’t exactly be regarded as cities either, not in the real sense. So Sønderborg is a small town, no matter what. Demographically, at any rate.

The demographics are one thing. The level of ambition is something else. And in Sønderborg you will find ambitions that can, in many ways, match those to be found in far bigger towns and cities. This can be seen, not least, in its business and cultural life and in the education sector. We know we have a high level of services, comparable to a metropolis in many ways. Companies, cultural events and the educational courses on offer aim in many cases to be world-class and where that’s not possible being authentic, being ourselves is also fine. And if you look, for example, at Danfoss, Linak, folkBALTICA and at everything going on at the Alsion building you can see that Sønderborg has made an extremely good start. We are being active since the sense of urgency to do something about our shrinking population is so strong. But even though its dreams of becoming a countryside metropolis can give the town and the region a welcome boost, Sønderborg will still be a relatively small town. In the current trend of hyper specialisation we are forging our own path. We know for instance that just like craft workers of the past, knowledge workers engage in peripheral activities that could be done better or more efficiently by others. Also at web-enabled intermediaries, workers are typically judged by what they produce – not by CVs, prior experience or references. We feel we can exploit these opportunities. Our goal is to create a town and

a region where the focus is on a high quality of life, security and beautiful natural surroundings – with a wide range of world-class cultural options within reasonably close reach and an international environment containing exciting educational opportunities and jobs. This presents us with another dilemma: how can we fulfil some of these ambitions and still remain a small town living in harmony with our natural surroundings?

How to safeguard the region’s accessibility? Increased accessibility ensures increased growth potential. There is a clear awareness of this in the region. So the prospect of a bridge over the Femern Belt by 2020 does give cause for some concern. Such a bridge will provide better accessibility between Denmark and Germany – and more specifically between the major cities of Copenhagen and Hamburg; a route which will bypass Sønderjylland-Schleswig completely. Not surprisingly this has prompted worried citizens, politicians and businesses, like Danfoss, to commence discussions regarding a bridge to connect the islands of Fyn and Als.

The question which we in the region ask ourselves is, therefore: How, if you are only a small town, can you survive in a world where priority is placed on the big cities and accessibility to these?

What role should history play? Countless wars have been fought in the region’s past. Nowhere – least of all in Sønderborg itself – can one avoid being reminded of the confrontations with the Germans. Monuments, museums and anniversaries prevent the wars from being forgotten – whether they took place fifty or a hundred and fifty years ago. This gives rise to widely differing responses. Often the past is simply swept under the carpet, unresolved. In some Danish families the pain of losing a grandfather forced to fight on the German side in the First World War is still felt. Or there are personal memories of the German occupation during the Second World War. These links with the past can be of a sentimental nature, but they can also manifest themselves in a deep-seated, implacable anger which finds expression in a nationalistic insistence that the problems are eternal. 3 /

The most productive solution is to practise the art of reconciliation with a wider and wider group of people from different backgrounds. So how do we achieve reconciliation in a region where the voice of irreconcilability still prevails? It is a dilemma we must struggle with since we also feel we can’t allow tradition to get in the way of innovation.

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word ‘Dane’? mark I When I think about Den y are The s. dog think about hot nk thi I ion nat a As . ish very Dan ed. ind the Danes are very open-m

Be nj am in Sim mo n, Fle ns bur g

L uk as M ar qu ar dt ,

I’ve been visiting Denmark for year s, so the first thing I think of are good memories. When I think about Dane sI think of solidarity. Danes are good at sticking together.

Fle ns bu rg

Expensive. Denmark is an expensiv e country. But the Danes are really nice people. I’ve got to know quite a few of them on holiday here and made some good new friends.

J ef f er s on W es s n, Fl en sb ur g

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word ‘German’? To me Germany is crossing the border to shop, and cheap booze. The Germans are nic e enough, but they hang on ve ry tightly to their own customs and language. They expect everybody German, even when to speak they’re on holiday in Denmark.

More cooperation. We need to be bett er at collaborating with Germany. When I think of Germans I automatically think of tour ists. We get a lot of German tourists here, but you also come across a lot elsewhere in Euro pe.

Id a S o f ie R a smussen, S øn de rb or g

St ee n A ag e M aj Jø rg en se n , Sø nd erb org

When I think of Germany I think of beer. And I think the Germans are more conservative than us. You have to pay to lie on the beach or go to the toile t.

3 /

Hj al m ar T ho m se n , Sø nd er bo rg

Lessons learned

essons learned I

n just a few hours, on the 18th of April 1864, Denmark suffered the most dreadful defeat, when the Prussians captured DybbĂ¸l Hill. To this day the bloody battle in which Denmark lost a third of its territory still defines the national character and Denmarkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attitude towards Europe and the rest of the world. But we hope to learn from history, deal with the traumas and make crossing the border natural to everyone.

LEARNING FROM HISTORY. AFTER 147 YEARS. TIME FOR RECONCILIATION “A German is a German - yesterday or today, it makes no difference.”

[…]

Danish man on the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Dybbøl Hill (2nd

At the time, more than anything else I found all of this embarrassing. Just as I hoped that the neighbours wouldn’t see the boy from across the road giving the Hitler salute outside our house. I blushed for my Dad when I heard that the father of my very best friend had refused to shake his hand at a party held by one of our neighbours. And it made me feel sick to hear the cries of “Nazi swine!” levelled at my school’s basketball team when they played Danish teams. In history class we were taught that the referendum held after the First World War to decide where the DanishGerman border should run had made the DanishGerman border area the best place in the world. Just think of the former Yugoslavia, we were told. But there was still an invisible dividing line

war of Schleswig, April 18th 1864)

“A German is a German, and that, so it seems, is still the case. Although I was sure that things had changed since I was a girl, growing up in Sønderjylland in the Eighties as part of the German minority. I went to a German school in ‘little Germany’ as the small town of Tinglev was known back then. Because I was a German, and I never forgot it. Having a Swedish mother did help a bit, but that advantage was cancelled out by the fact that my father was a real German. He comes from Osnabrück in the west of Germany and even after forty years in Denmark he still speaks Danish with an unmistakeable German accent.

The Battle of Isted 1850.

running down the main street and cutting Tinglev in two – with the German school on the one side, the Danish on the other.” “A German is a German”, by journalist Malin Schmidt in the newspaper Information, April 23rd 2011

“Germany is a neurotic nation, constantly dogged by the shadow of its past.” Danish member of parliament in the newspaper Information, June 25th 2011

The above statements are all from this year. 2011. Made by Danish citizens and politicians. The human rights-based view that all human beings should be treated equally regardless of their differences is being superseded by political multiculturalism, the view that people should be treated differently because of their differences. And all relating to what, for Danes, has always been – and apparently still is – the very epitome of all that is dangerous and foreign: Germany and the Germans. Nothing has defined the Danish national character and self-image and Denmark’s attitude towards Europe and the world as much as its stormy relationship with its neighbour south of the border. In 1864 Sønderborg was the scene of the actual confrontation with the Germans, when the Danish army crossed swords with the Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s superior troops. The Battle of Dybbøl on April 18th 1864 is required reading in history classes in all Danish 4 /

schools. No other historical event – apart, perhaps, from the liberation in 1945 – has so captured the interest of the Danish people. And still does. The Danish parliament has just invested 100 million Danish kroner (13.4 million euro) in a television series about the battle, and the media coverage was intense earlier this year when, for the first time, Danish and German soldiers marched together through Sønderborg in memory of all those who fell in 1864. A hundred and forty-seven years had to pass, apparently, before this step could be taken. This cannot be read as anything except a sign of how open the wounds of the border country still are today. “What does God want with his Denmark?” exclaims the dean in Tine, the world renowned Danish writer Herman Bang’s (1857-1912) depiction of those terrible days in April. Bang, who was raised at Asserballe Vicarage outside Sønderborg, was personally affected by the war. He had to flee further north in Jutland with his mother and siblings and in Tine he described how Danish assurance of victory turned in a matter of hours into terror and existential dread. The Danevirke, the ancient line of earthworks in Southern Schleswig, was regarded by the Danes as a solid bulwark against attacks from the south – as indeed it had been for hundreds of years. But on the evening of February 4th the Danish army

104

116

The Prussians by Redoubt 2 after the battle on 18th of April 1864

4 /

Konrad Adenauer and H.C. Hansen at the signing of the Copenhagen-Bonn Declarations.

could no longer hold its ground. The retreat to the entrenchments at Dybbøl was a reality. Panic spread like wildfire on Als. The Prussians and the Austrians came pouring in.

108

107

110

The air of defeat also spread. A sense of having lost much more than a stretch of land took hold. The United Monarchy of Denmark had lost a third of its territory and was thus reduced to an insignificant Lilliput state. But, more than that, the Danish spirit and the Danish self-image were shattered, like the glass that the dean in Bang’s story throws at the picture of King Christian in the presence of all the nobles of Sønderjylland. “This night Denmark has been betrayed,” he says. Its defeat by the Prussians was also the defeat of Denmark’s hopes of playing a central role in Europe. And to compensate for this defeat the country had, instead, to turn its gaze inwards. “What is lost on the outside shall be won on the inside” was the saying which for many years thereafter was to form the core of Danish selfperception. Denmark turned its back on Germany and the rest of Europe. Traumatised and fearful. And this reaction is still in the blood here, despite the fact that after the First World War, through a referendum in 1920, the country did win back a small part of its lost territory – Northern

Schleswig, otherwise known as Sønderjylland, the largest town of which is Sønderborg. There has been a desire for reconciliation between Danes and Germans ever since the end of the Second World War. But it has been a slow business, far too slow, and only since the turn of the millennium have we made some progress. But now we really want to get on with it. Now we are ready to learn from history. Like so many warscarred places in Europe, we feel the need to let go and move on. We need to work with Germany in order to generate growth in this part of Denmark. Otherwise we are going to lose our young people, our energy and enthusiasm, our creative individuals and our knowledge workers.

Talk about taboo subjects The trauma from 1864, the First World War, the Second World War and all the other historic confrontations with Germany have to be dealt with. We want to develop the border country’s cultural intelligence by building upon the ‘inborn’ ability so characteristic of people from this part of Europe to understand whatever is foreign and different. Unfortunately it hooks into the European

HISTORIC BORDERS: 1.

The border in 1864

The border from 1864 to 1920

The border from 1920 to now

Aarhus

DENMARK

Billund

Vejle

Copenhagen

Kolding

Esbjerg Ribe

Haderslev

Aabenraa Tønder

Svendborg

SØNDERBORG Flensburg

Husum

Odense

Schleswig Kiel Rendsburg

GERMANY 4 / Hamburg

trend towards particularism, tribalism and inwardlooking parallel societies. We want to regain the mentality that reigned in the old Schleswig, in the days when cultural and linguistic diversity flourished and the border did not cut through the landscape like a psychological barrier.

History is not enough We want to transform political integration into the living integration of people. The present border between Denmark and Germany is a democratic border. It was established in 1920, in the shadow of Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s defeat in the First World War, and is one of the few in Europe to be determined by a referendum. It is the peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s border. And in 1955 it was supplemented by the Copenhagen-Bonn declarations, which guarantee the Danish and German minorities on either side of the border the best possible conditions in which to speak their own languages and pursue their own cultures.

112

The border is a political success story. The political structures work well. But we want to .make people on the street feel the effects. The psychological barriers and the unaddressed traumas that still lie between Danes and Germans are hindering the border countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s development. Cultural, economic and social development are all dependent upon

One of the annual Danish-German cultural events is the Brasswind Academy, held every summer in Sønderborg. In 2011 the participants finished off by playing at Dybbøl Hill. opposite: On April 18th 2011, German soldiers joined the Dybbøl Day march through Sønderborg’s streets for the first time. Here with Dybbøl Mill in the background.

a desire to cooperate and to solve our problems together. A small start has been made, but the process needs to be given a lot more impetus. The old Schleswig was a dynamic region, but the border that cuts across the region has created two marginal areas – in the south of Denmark and the north of Germany. We want to create a new centre in Sønderborg, close to the border, together with our neighbours on the other side. There is a way to forge national unity without being nationalistic. This includes retaining cultural differences that make for cultural diversity. When we proceed from this position of strong cultural identity, are open to others and pool our strength, then we can turn two marginal areas into one region of growth.

time, Sønderborg is unable to attract a creative workforce. The transition from industrial society to creative knowledge society has happened far too quickly. Young people are moving away and the area is suffering from a widespread brain drain. The initiation of cross-border economic collaborations has been far too long in coming. The second half of the twentieth century was wasted on cold-shouldering each other. But such collaborations are now being set up, and it is these that will save the economy of the border country.

114

106

Without economic collaboration

117

we will shrink During the industrial age things went well. Numerous high-tech companies saw to it that there were plenty of manufacturing jobs in Sønderborg. But with the advent of a new age and a new economic climate, things have become more difficult. Unskilled workers lose their jobs and are unable to find other work. At the same 4 /

118

2030 2017

TOWARDS A COUNTRYSIDE METROPOLIS

2012

Potential nomination to European Capital of Culture. The transformation of historical borders into a countryside metropolis rich in creativity and invention takes a quantum leap forward.

2007

The Cultural Agreement for Sønderjylland-Schleswig for the years 2013-2016. For the first time a joint cultural agreement for the area is drawn up in conjunction with the Danish Ministry of Culture. Political support for the creation of a border-transcending cultural region is hereby secured.

Project Zero is introduced. Sønderborg sets itself the goal of becoming Denmark’s first CO2 neutral municipality by 2029. This venture has an economic as well as a cultural and a social aspect to it. The aim is to develop a new economy, create jobs, knowledge and growth. And to ensure a sustainable social structure and sustainable practices.

100

1933 1920

The Copenhagen-Bonn declarations are signed, guaranteeing some of the best conditions in the world for minority populations.

1955

The Alsion building. The inauguration on the harbourfront of the strongest symbol of Sønderborg’s vision of breaking down the borders between art, commerce, education, research and sustainability.

The 2nd Battle of Dybbøl. The Danes are routed in a matter of hours. Sønderborg is left in ruins. A national trauma is born. The Danish national spirit turns its back on the world. “What is lost on the outside shall be won on the inside.”

The county – later duchy – of Holstein is united with the duchy of Schleswig by means of a coronation charter – Treaty of Ribe – signed by the nobles of Holstein and the Danish King Christian 1. Thus Christian becomes Duke of Schleswig and Count of Holstein. Sønderborg lies in the north of Schleswig. The duchies become an independent part of the kingdom of Denmark with their own laws and administration, both of these coloured by culture, language and identity of the two countries. The union of the two is dissolved after the war of 1864.

1240-1250

1864

10 events that have shaped Sønderborg’s history

1460

The present border is established by plebiscite and gives rise to large national minorities on either side of the border.

Mads Clausen invents what would later become a very famous cooling valve in an attic on his parents’ farm. The entrepreneurial spirit of the area is born and Danfoss is founded. One of the first innovative entrepreneurs in our territory.

Sønderborg is founded and the first Sønderborg Castle is built. The town of Sønderborg is first mentioned in 1256.

Hans Christian Andersen in Sønderborg’s Castles

H.C. Andersen

“I came to the beautifully situated hunting lodge of Graasten and as before was graciously and warmly received. I noticed nothing that could wound Danish minds or hearts. Within the family only Danish is spoken. I stayed there for a whole 14 days. The countryside alongside Flensburg Ford is undeniably the most picturesque in Schleswig. Here are great forests, mountainous hills and constant variety. Even the drifting mists of autumn render the landscape that much more picturesque, something strange to an island dweller used to seeing such scenery only on a smaller scale. I wrote ‘The Little Matchstick Girl’ here and to the accompaniment of much urging to come again to Graasten and Augustenborg I left a place where I had enjoyed happy days. A grim and bloody time was to overtake this countryside. I have not had the heart to see those parts again. The last notes to sound in my ears from there were “Lot is tot”. The princesses of Augustenborg played it with youthful gaiety. The memory of that time and its Echo is a painful “tot – tot”. The Danish writer of fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was born into a poor family in Odense in the south of Denmark. For years he was not taken seriously as a writer in Denmark. He first gained recognition in Germany which he often visited and travelled around.

4 /

102

4 /

ha ic

an ci

tti ro va Pa

ic Er

p la

n to

104

g Ro

s er at W

en rk pa le Ă¸l M

Business people behind big concerts in Sønderborg “We’re all dependent on things going well for the

12,000 fans at the park. He has been followed by a whole

Sønderborg area. And that won’t happen all by itself.

string of stars, including Roger Waters in 2007 and

Culture is an important aspect for people when it comes

Mark Knopfler in 2008. Kultur i Syd also co-arranged a

to choosing where they want to live.”

concert by Leonard Cohen in Odense.

So said car dealer Torben Lindvang six years ago,

During the past few summer seasons the association has

when launching Kultur i Syd (Culture in the South),

organised a number of concerts on the Mølleparken open-

an association which has since been responsible for

air arena in the middle of Sønderborg. Kultur i Syd has

organising a number of major cultural events, mainly in

had a big hand in the renovation and expansion of this

Sønderborg.

stage, the capacity of which has been increased from 3,000 to 5,500. The renovations cost 5.4 million Danish

Behind Kultur i Syd are as many as forty businesses, large

kroner – of this, one million was donated by the city

and small, from the Sønderborg area and around ten

council council and one million by Kultur i Syd.

from Haderslev, where the sports arena provides an ideal venue for concerts attracting audiences of up to 40,000.

Kultur i Syd is also eager to organise other types of cultural event, apart from concerts. In August 2007

The first big name Kultur i Syd was able to present was

the association caused something of an international

Luciano Pavarotti, who chose Sønderborg as the Danish

sensation when it presented an evening of discussion with

venue on his farewell tour. First, his technical director

the controversial American film-maker Michael Moore

visited Sønderborg to check, among other things, whether

at the Alsion building, where the audience was also treated

the park surrounding Augustenborg Palace was suitable

to a sneak preview of Moore’s film about the American

for their purposes. The park met with approval and an

health system, Sicko. When asked: “Why Sønderborg?”

audience of close on 8,000 heard Pavarotti sing.

Moore replied: “Sønderborg – that’s why!”

The next really big name to play at Augustenborg Palace was Eric Clapton, who filled the park with a good

4 /

onuments and important ancient relics are not allowed to rest in peace in the border country and some can still cause emotions to run high, even after a hundred and fifty years. The Isted Lion, erected in Flensburg in 1862 as a Danish memorial to the country’s hard-won victory at the Battle of Isted Moor, has led a turbulent existence. In 1864 it was carried off to Berlin as a German war trophy, but in 1945 it was returned to Denmark and until very recently was to be found in Copenhagen.

106

But on September 10th 2011 the lion was transported back home to the Old Churchyard in Flensburg. An attempt to have it moved back as recently as 1993 proved unsuccessful. At that time opposition to the victory symbol was too great. But since then the mood has changed, something which can be taken as a sign of friendship and trust between Danes and Germans. But on both sides of the border some people do still have mixed feelings. They think that the lion has an aggressive air about it.

in Flensburg I think of what all those soldiers and their families in Denmark, Prussia and Austria went through. I feel grateful for the sacrifice they made in order that we can now live peacefully side by side, respecting one another. And I thank my lucky stars every day that I was born and raised in a border area with all of its extra dimensions.”

One of those who feels this way is cultural consultant Helle Barsøe:

There are those, on the other hand, who feel that the Nydam Ship ought to be returned to Denmark. This 23-metre long warship from the Iron Age, one of Northern Europe’s most important archaeological discoveries, was found near Sønderborg in 1863 and has led a life every bit as peripatetic as that of the Isted Lion.

“The Isted Lion? I find it incredibly hard to swallow the idea of an old lion as a symbol of the fallen at the Battle of Isted in 1850. A monument, okay – but a lion? In Schleswig? “When I visit the Idstedt-Gedächtnishalle exhibition and read the soldiers’ diaries I’m filled with respect. When I read the gravestones in the Old Churchyard

After it was discovered, it went on exhibition in Flensburg, which at that time was still Danish. When the 1864 war broke out, the Danes hid the ship but after the war Prussia demanded that it be handed back and the Nydam Ship is the first ancient relic to be officially mentioned in a peace treaty between two countries. The ship was first sent to Kiel and during the Second World War was hidden in a lake near Lübeck, but it is now on display in the SchleswigHolstein Archaeological Museum at Gottorp Castle in Schleswig. Museums on both sides of the border have been collaborating much more closely in recent decades. One result of this was Gottorp Castle’s offer to lend the Nydam Ship to the National Museum of Denmark, where it was exhibited for a year from May 2003.

“A monument, okay – but a lion? In Schleswig?” Helle Barsøe, cultural consultant, Sønderborg

Pro-German Flensborgians topple the Isted Lion after the Prussian entry to the town in 1864.

“Mojn” – I’m a Southern Jutlander – almost Kirsti Madvig Olesen, communications assistant, Sønderborg

108

n the border country we have our very own greeting: the word ‘mojn’. It can be used at any time of the day, both on arrival and on departure or as a quick hello in passing. ‘Mojn’ is common parlance throughout Southern Jutland and large parts of Northern Germany, particularly in Eastern Frisia and Southern Schleswig. In Germany they usually say ‘moin-moin’, spelt with an ‘i’. But it sounds the same, which means that whichever side of the border we come from we can greet one another in our own language. ‘Mojn’ is used both by those who speak the Southern Jutland dialect and those who speak standard Danish.

Anyone moving to the area has to get used to this new form of greeting. When I first moved here myself I said ‘farvel’ (bye-bye) to an assistant in a shop. And he replied with ‘mojn’. On another occasion, when I took the initiative to say ‘mojn’, I received a ‘farvel’ in reply. At the time this felt like a bit of an insult! As if a point was being made of the fact that I was obviously not from around these parts. To me, the word ’mojn’ is an indication that one identifies with Southern Jutland. And sometimes you find yourself caught in the dilemma of having to choose whether to play along or not. I still find it difficult to say ‘mojn’ without a slight ironic detachment. On the other hand, it can be fun to say it to people from Copenhagen, for example, as a nice little Southern Jutland touch. There are several theories regarding the origins of ’mojn’. One widely accepted explanation is that it comes from the vernacular form (morjen) of the German Guten Morgen (Good morning) and was introduced to these parts by tradesmen and merchants from Berlin and Brandenburg. When Southern Jutland was in German hands the proDanish inhabitants of the region regarded ’mojn’ as a German word and refused to use it. A new slogan was coined: ‘Mojn er forbojn’ (mojn is forbidden). But ’mojn’ has gone from being a national bone of contention to a popular symbol of Southern Jutland identity.

“I don’t look down on young German people. They ought to have the chance to become worthy citizens of Europe” Mogens Dyre, World War II freedom fighter and prisoner-of-war 1944-45

s a young man Mogens Dyre was imprisoned in a concentration camp in Germany. His prisoner number was 69.133. Fifty-seven years were to go by before he would return to that camp, which now houses a museum, intended to act as a horrific warning. For almost half a century he never spoke of his life as a prisoner-of-war. He says: “I was afraid that no one would believe me. It was very lonely. Even the strongest of words can barely describe how bad it was. The stench, the humiliation, the fear and the deaths. What can I say?”

Mogens Dyre lived through it, and made a good life for himself. Born in Frederiksberg on April 23rd the year the First World War ended, he was twenty-one when Germany and the Nazis occupied Denmark on April 9th 1940. He was in class with his friends at the Military Academy in Copenhagen when German planes came droning over the Danish capital. “We were young and idealistic. We ran to the windows and saw the planes. We felt very, very let down by our government. We were outraged. Some of us pounded the desks with our clenched fists,” Dyre recalls. He did his national service in Sønderborg, married a grocer’s daughter from Nordals and went on to become an engineer and the head of Danfoss’s 4 /

research department. He has served as a scout leader and been actively involved in local history societies, arts and crafts societies and societies for members of the Danish resistance movement; he is also a freemason and a member of the Home Guard. But he is not anti-German. He is a strong advocate of a close European collaboration. “I don’t hate the Germans, but I do hate those people who mistreated my friends and me. The grandparents of today’s young Germans – them I despise. I don’t look down on young German people. They ought to have the chance to become worthy citizens of Europe. But after what was done to me – after all that I went through and all that I’ve seen, I think I have the right to make that distinction.” Mogens Dyre does not reject out of hand the idea conceived by artist Kenn André Stilling and presented by the latter to a number of Sønderborgians and others: he suggests the building of a peace monument on Dybbøl Hill. Like a‘ ‘hand of friendship’, as he puts it, to all of those who survived the war – to be created, if possible, by the German artist and sculptor Anselm Kiefer. But, says Mogens Dyre: “I’m simply not sure what message such a Danish-German monument is supposed to convey.”

“A war is never just the story of one nation” Kristian Jørgensen, historical interpreter, Dybbøl Hill Historical Centre

110

t was a cold, foggy February morning. The bullets began to rain down thick and fast around our ears. Cannonballs screeched hellishly over our heads, snow and ice were thrown up. Our first encounter with the Danish 84 pounders was horrific! The soldiers charged forward without a shadow of cover now, as the fog began to lift, patchily and pitilessly. Behind the Danes the town of Mysunde was in flames. We were never going to break through here. On that very first day the retreat was sounded. On that very first day we had

to go round and pick up the dead and the wounded, and they could be numbered in their hundreds. Eyes are wide and ears pricked up here in the darkened army barrack in the activity centre at Dybbøl Hill Historical Centre. The spectators have taken their seats in the two long, low boxes filled with straw that run down either side of the centre aisle. In the war of 1864 soldiers lay packed like sardines in a can in barracks such as this, in straw infested with mice and other vermin.

Kristian Jørgensen paces up and down the centre aisle, dressed in an old army uniform. He is acting out an extract from a memoir written by a Prussian corporal, J. Bubbe of the 24th Brandenburg Infantry Regiment. 21-year-old Kristian has been involved in the activities of the historical centre for five or six years and for the past couple of these he has been one of the presenters who bring to life the dramatic accounts of those who witnessed the war at first hand – the soldiers in the field. Many of their letters have since been published. In this particular instance, Kristian Jørgensen deciphered the Gothic script personally and translated J. Bubbe’s memoirs, which were published after the First World War. His story tells us of how the Danes surrender the Dannevirke – the ancient earthworks running across the neck of the Jutland peninsula – and the cold and hungry Prussian troops advance as far as Blans near Dybbøl. There a Danish farmer’s wife gives J. Bubbe a ham and refuses his silver coins, but begs him instead to spare the life of her son, who is fighting on the Danish side. We hear of the demoralising hours of waiting in the trenches and of how quiet it was that morning, on the 18th of April, before the battle erupted – that battle which, within just a few hours, would leave almost 1,700 men dead and wounded on the Danish side and around 1,200 on the Prussian side. When Kristian introduces J. Bubbe, before presenting his story, a boy in the audience pipes up: “But, does that mean he was fighting for the Danes?” It can be hard for a nine- or ten-year-old to understand, and indeed until a few years ago only the accounts of Danish soldiers were presented at the historical centre. 4 /

“For years and years accounts have been told of soldiers at war, of their motives and of how they fought. Not so much attention has been paid to how it felt to be at war. But that is what the historical centre wants to do now: to shed light on the individuals involved, no matter whether they fought under the Prussian flag or the Danish. If you only tell one side of the story the victorious army can end up seeming like an invincible war machine – especially when it all happened so long ago. But the Prussians were just as afraid of dying as the Danes.” Kristian Jørgensen was also quite nervous when it came to telling the story from the Prussian angle for the first time. “But the response has been very positive. Sometimes there’s the odd bit of booing, but only in fun, and more than once someone has come up to me afterwards with tears in their eyes and told me that they have a son or a nephew fighting in Afghanistan.” Such things make a deep impression on Kristian, because although peace now reigns at Dybbøl the cannons are roaring elsewhere in the world: “We’re used to thinking of 1864 as our own private little trauma, but a war is never just the story of one nation, there are always two sides – at the very least.” The historical centre’s goal is for audiences in the army barrack also to be able to hear the stories of the war in German, and the historical interpreters are starting to experiment in a small way with this. At the moment the only obstacles are of a practical nature – the main one being mastery of the language.

parents felt it was important that their children could also get by in the other languages.

112

“Today, our generation of the Danish minority still feels very Danish, but we are also trying to trace our roots back beyond 1864 and 1920. To a time before we had such things as solidly established nations separated by borders; when the border region was an area of fluid transition, embodying both the culture you were leaving behind and the one you were travelling towards. I hope that one day we’ll have that again, and that’s what those of us in the border country now have to work towards. In a strange way there’s something very old-fashioned about what is happening here.” So says 40-year-old Katrine Hoop in an interview in GRÆNSEN – magasin for mindretal, sprog og kultur (THE BORDER – magazine for minority, language and culture), published by the Danish Border Association. If anyone knows what it means to be a Schleswigian then it’s her. She was born and raised in Follervig in Northern Frisia where her father was headmaster of a Danish school. Her father’s family came from Sild and Holbøl while her mother’s family were from Ejdersted and the Rendsborg area. So within her own family circle the Southern Jutland dialect, German, Low German and Frisian are all spoken. At home they spoke Danish, but her

Katrine Hoop has a degree in criminology from the University of Hamburg. After graduating she returned to Schleswig where for the past five years she has been the head of the Danish minority’s Activity Centre in Flensburg. “When you live in a border region it’s actually really false to think in terms of nations. My parents’ generation found it hard to say this, but my generation is saying it and we are putting the notion of different nations behind us. We younger people open up to one another and when you do that it changes you, mentally and emotionally. So there’s a big difference in mental attitude between young and old within the minority – far greater than the difference between young and old generally in Denmark,” Katrine Hoop explains, and she goes on: “The really crucial difference is that the generation that has grown to adulthood since the fall of the Berlin Wall has had to rethink its identity, and we no longer think of ourselves as Danish or German, but as Schleswigians. In the future anyone who is purely German or purely Danish will seem more like a foreigner here.”

“When you live in a border region it’s actually really false to think in terms of nations” Katrine Hoop, Schleswigian

4 /

“The fact that we were invited to the reunion celebrations showed that we were now also regarded as having equal status” Hans Heinrich Hansen, president of FUEN, the Federal Union of European Nationalities

114

very year Danes throughout Southern Jutland celebrate the Reunion of 1920, but in 1995 – on the 75th anniversary of North Schleswig’s restoration to Denmark – something momentous occurred. For the first time ever, a representative of the German minority was invited to make a speech at Dybbøl. This caused an uproar, but there was also support for the organisers and they stood firm.

Egernsund near Sønderborg and now president of FUEN (the Federal Union of European Minorities), an umbrella organisation for European minorities.

The speaker was the then chairman of the German minority, Hans Heinrich Hansen, a resident of

“No, the German minority made a declaration of allegiance way back in 1945, and with the

Among Danes the celebrations of 1995 are remembered as the day when, for the first time, the Germans acknowledged the border established by a referendum in 1920. But Hans Heinrich Hansen rejects this notion.

Copenhagen-Bonn declarations of 1955 we were accorded equal rights. The fact that we were invited to the reunion celebrations showed that we were now also regarded as having equal status. That, for me, is the key point,” says Hans Heinrich Hansen. The invitation was intended as a gesture, and the gesture was reciprocated. “I said that day that we were conscious of our responsibility – not least when it comes to pro-Nazi feeling, which was widespread among the Germany minority during the occupation. I apologised, but that’s all in the past and now we have to look forward.” According to the president, equal status is, in fact, a vital factor, and one which is often overlooked by politicians. Equal rights are not enough. On this particular point a lot of progress has been made in the relationship between Danes and Germans in the border country. Their relationship is a harmonious one – partly due to the modest numbers of the minorities on either side. Elsewhere in the world it is a different story. For example, two to three million Hungarians live outside their own country – in Slovakia, Rumania and the Czech Republic – as a result of the partitioning of Hungary after the First World War.

find the same thing in many other places too – including Germany. But apparently that can’t be done in Denmark,” says Hansen, who notes sadly that equality of status seems to be under threat in our corner of Europe. “There are indications that everything’s crumbling. A person has equal rights, but is still not quite as good – and I’m not just talking about the minorities here. It’s this concept of nationhood – people feel very Danish, but is that the same as saying that everything else is inferior?”

•

The Copenhagen-Bonn Declarations of 1955 established the rights of the minorities to have, among other things, their own cultural institutions and political parties. These declarations, which are often said to represent a ‘constitution’ for the minorities, are used as a model for other border regions. The declarations make it clear that the authorities are not allowed to check whether a person belongs to the minority or the majority.

•

It is estimated that around 50,000 people belong to the Danish minority south of the border and approximately 20,000 to the German minority north of the border.

Not enough attention is paid to these problems in Europe, Hans Heinrich Hansen believes, and points out that if we count Russia, every seventh person in Europe is a member of a minority group.

•

The Federal Union of European Nationalities has its headquarters in Flensburg where there is also a minority research centre, the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI).

But on the home front too there is still room for improvement. “Take road signs, for example. In France, if you drive down to Brittany you’ll find that all the signs are in both French and Breton, and you’ll

topped smørrebrød – open sandwiches piled high with multifarious combinations of meat or fish and relishes – and Southern Jutland’s own special coffee and cake feast, which can include as many as twenty different types of cake.”

n a globalised world we need to know where we come from. And the memories of the food we have grown up with are, in a strange way, instrumental in forming our identities.

Closer studies have shown that centuries of cultural exchange between the German and Danish sides have left their distinct mark on Southern JutlandSchleswig – and on the food of the region.

In 2012 it will be possible to read more about the taste of Southern Jutland-Schleswig and a cuisine that knows no borders.

Here one finds a symbiosis of Danish, North Jutland, Holstein and Frisian cuisine to which have been added other influences from abroad. It is this same blend of many culinary traditions which is such a distinctive feature of the border country, one which has given rise to a cross-border cuisine that is still alive and well. A cuisine that has, over the past decade, been given a boost by a growing interest in good, regionally produced raw ingredients.

116

Professor Inge Adriansen, museum director, food historian and author, has written a book in which she describes both the culinary history and traditions of the border country - which is to say: Southern Jutland-Schleswig – and the modern gastronomy of the whole region. The book also contains numerous stories relating to the unique history of the area, linked to 60 recipes for dishes, baked goods and delicious drinks from Southern Jutland and Schleswig. “Denmark wouldn’t take up much space in an atlas of the world’s gastronomic heritage, because the contribution that a nation of porridge eaters and pig breeders can make to this significant area of civilisation is an extremely modest one. Generally speaking, the rest of the world has been enriched by only two dishes which can with some justification be described as being particular to Denmark: high-

“Birnen, Bohnen und Speck (pears, beans and smoked pork) is an excellent dish. In fact, generally speaking I believe that all the different smoked meats found here and nowhere else in Denmark serve to enrich the cuisine of the region,” says Inge Adriansen. Among the recipes included in Inge Adriansen’s book are ones for knæpkager (snap biscuits), gode råd (good advice) and ingenting (nothing). But far from being nothing, ingenting – a Southern Jutland biscuit – is a decidedly delicious accompaniment to a good cup of coffee.

The Sønderjysk Kaffebord – the Southern Jutland coffee and cake spread - first became popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Tradition says that at least 14 baked goods should be served – seven types of biscuit and seven types of cake. Guests are expected to sample a little of everything, in order not to offend their hostess. The writer Siegfried Lenz has even written a short story entitled Sønderjysk Kaffebord.

“The regional cuisine has been given a boost” Inge Adriansen, historian, professor, writer, museum curator, Sønderborg Castle

RECIPE: Ingenting Ingredients

375 gm. flour 2 egg yolks 250 gm. butter 2 tablespoons cream Bake at 150° for approx. eight mins. Mix the dough and roll out using a rolling pin. Use a wine glass to cut out the biscuit rounds and add the topping before baking.

Topping

300 gm. sugar 2 tablespoons chopped almonds 2 egg whites 1-2 teaspoons vinegar Whip the egg whites with the sugar until they are stiff, add the vinegar and the chopped almonds.

This recipe is considered by many Southern Jutland housewives to give the most delicious of all biscuits. The name – ‘nothing’ – refers to the lightness of the biscuits. One can always eat nothing, so these were ideal to serve at the end of a long round of cake and coffee. In Central Schleswig this biscuit is sometimes called an ‘Israelite’.

4 /

“The Dannebrog has become a festive symbol” Inge Adriansen, historian, professor, writer, museum curator, Sønderborg Castle

118

“In Denmark we regard our flag as something ‘personal’, not as an official symbol of the state. And hence we tend to fly it in all sorts of situations where people in other countries would never dream of doing so. The Danish flag – the Dannebrog, with its white cross on a red background – has become a festive symbol signifying consumption, celebration and togetherness.” So says Inge Adriansen, assistant curator at Sønderborg Castle, researcher and author of the book National Symbols in the Kingdom of Denmark 1830-2000. The Dannebrog is one of the oldest national flags in the world and in her book she describes how the ordinary people nigh on forced the Danish authorities to renounce the view of the flag as an official state symbol and acknowledge it to be the common property of all Danes. In 1854, prompted by the widespread flying of the flag during the Three Years War (1848-1850) the authorities lifted the ban imposed by the king

twenty years earlier against ordinary citizens flying the Dannebrog. “I see the popular adoption of the king’s flag also as a sign of a nationalisation of the culture of the border country and one which led to the development of a popular sense of fellowship which did not extend to the German-speaking citizens of the United Monarchy.” As soon as Southern Jutland came under German rule in 1864 the flying of the Danish flag was forbidden. Flagpoles were removed from houses and farms and flags were tucked away. But while the government might have been able to forbid the showing of the flag it could not forbid the sentiments attached to it. The Danes have become one of the most persistent and enthusiastic flag-waving nations in the world, flying the Dannebrog on all sorts of occasions, like decorating birthday cakes with it and painting their faces red and white for big football internationals. The people of Germany rarely raise their flag on private property – whether it be on German, Danish, Schleswig-Holstein or Friesian soil. The German flag has come to be regarded as a symbol of nationalism and Germans automatically associate nationalism first with militarism and then with Nazism. But this view is gradually becoming more normalised. During the last World Cup Germans could be seen waving their national flag and driving around in cars with flags sticking out of the windows – even in Denmark.

“In the media we’re only just getting started” Mads Sandemann, editor of the newspaper Jydske Vestkysten, on eliminating the national border’s function as an information barrier

any people regard the Danish-German border as being four borders in one: A national border separating two constitutional states. A cultural border. A linguistic border. And an information border. “The national border is easily crossed, but there is an enormous lack of information on what’s happening on ‘the other side’. The mass media can do a lot to eliminate this barrier to information,” acknowledges editor Mads Sandemann who has been anchorman for a newspaper project entitled ‘Among Neighbours’. Every Saturday for a large part of 2010 the four newspaper concerns to the north and south of the border published the same reports from the lives of Danes and Germans in the border country. This initiative began as a pilot project in 2008. A new version of this was then developed and ran until the end of 2010. Already the word from Schleswig is that this joint project has done more to provide the general public in the border country with knowledge and insight than any amount of official speeches over the past 50 years. The plan is therefore for the collaborative project between Schlweswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag (sh:z), Flensburg Avis, Der Nordschleswiger and Jydske Vestkysten to be taken up again in the autumn of 2011, in order to present news from each

4 /

side of the border which readers on the other side would not normally get to read. “The information border is not just a media thing, it also exists inside the head of every single one of us in the border country. It’s a national trait which is ingrained, not least in the minorities on either side of the border, and there’s no reason to bemoan it. “But there is a historic bond between us. And on both sides of the border people are becoming more conscious of that bond. A sort of revival is taking place, along with a growing interest in Schleswigian history. In the media we’re only just getting started. We see the candidature for European Capital of Culture as a tremendous opportunity for the media to develop initiatives that will help to eliminate the national border’s function as an information barrier.”

“Of course we have to work towards greater Danish-German collaboration now. The young people are all Europeans, after all” Bitten Clausen, widow of Danfoss founder Mads Clausen

120

itten Clausen, widow of Danfoss founder Mads Clausen, is regarded by the people of the Sønderborg area both as the queen of Sønderjylland and as a dear friend who was, until only a few years ago, an active member of the local keep fit association. Bitten invites members of the local gardening club into her home and regularly turns out for local events – as she did this spring, for example, for the opening of a new ice-cream kiosk at the newly renovated Dyvig Hydro.

There are those who can still remember Bitten Clausen in the years just after the war, delivering parcels of clothes and organising a knitting club to help the needy. That Danfoss is much more than a workplace in the Sønderborg area – that it is also a generous local benefactor, a patron of the arts and leisure activities and always ready to initiate or support major projects such as the Alsion building, the Sønderborg harbour project and Project Zero – can be traced back to Bitten. And that same spirit

has been passed on to her children. It is enshrined in the company’s mission statement, as one of its five declared aims: “To participate in the regional development of Sønderjylland.” Mads Clausen met Bitten when he called on her father, Andkjær, a car dealer in Haderslev. The young manufacturer from Als was fascinated by cars and by car mechanics. This was one subject which could get the otherwise quiet young man talking. Bitten, whose real name was Dorothea Emma, married Mads in Haderslev in 1939, and the couple moved to Als to live. Here Bitten became a part of the company from day one. She was not the sort to put on airs;, she was on speaking terms with all the workers, from the factory floor up. And she had a busy time of it. Between 1940 and 1953 the couple had five children and the years when the children were small were also a time of meteoric growth for Danfoss. At the time of their marriage the company employed 26 people, in 1955 it had a workforce of 2,321 and by 1966 that figure had risen to 6,554. They also had lots of visitors from outside the area and in those days there was never any talk of them staying in a hotel, so Bitten put them up in her own home – occasionally at only a few hours’ notice. And sometimes it was Bitten who had to entertain their guests after dinner, because Mads was liable to take himself off – usually to work, which was what he did for most of the hours in the day. Mads died in 1966 and the fate of the company was left in the hands of Bitten, the company chairman. Five years earlier Danfoss had become a limited company with the Manufacturer Mads Clausen Foundation as the majority shareholder and Mads Clausen as managing director. Now a new director

4 /

had to be found. But it all worked out very well: over the next five years the company grew by 50%. In 1971 Bitten decided to take a little bit more of a back seat; she became vice-chairman of the board and put her majority share holding into the Bitten and Mads Clausen Foundation, of which she was chairwoman. Two new directors succeeded her at Danfoss, but the fourth new director was to be one of Bitten’s and Mads’s sons, Jørgen Mads Clausen, the current chairman of the board. Bitten can take pleasure in the fact that Danfoss is thriving and that its commitment to the development of the region is as solid as ever. Because more than once the local population has held its breath: the number of jobs at the Danfoss factory on Als has been falling, and what if the family decided to move the company headquarters away from the island and into the heart of the country, close to the motorway network? But the family has stayed put and has stood by its motto: If you can help, you should help! This sense of commitment also applies to the project to become European Capital of Culture 2017. Jørgen Mads Clausen is convinced that more culture will give rise to more creativity on all fronts. You simply have to keep aiming high. Bitten Clausen was born on October 20th 1912. At school, when she was a child, all of the teaching was in German and speaking Danish was forbidden. When she was a young girl relations between Denmark and Germany were very strained. But today Bitten Clausen is a strong advocate of the idea of greater cross-border collaboration on which the Capital of Culture project is based. “Of course we have to work towards greater DanishGerman collaboration now. The young people are all Europeans, after all.”

122

A EUROPEA LABORATO FOR BORD EXPERIME

AN ORY DER ENTS T

he founder of Danfoss, Mads Clausen, has been an example to several generations in the Sønderborg area. There are many other examples here of people who think ‘outside the box’ and have success with a niche product. This is an art – and by introducing art and culture into all sectors of our society we can become better at thinking in new ways – thinking beyond borders. It is absolutely essential that we do so, because it is this that we will have to live off in the future. This is the case both for the border country and for Europe.

124

Experiment with the borders

132

134

136

135

e want to experiment with borders. Now, in 2017 and beyond. And we have already made a good start. Sønderborg is known for its entrepreneurial spirit, not necessarily in a provincial way. Our credo is: Be small but dare to think big. This has manifested itself most notably in the worldwide concern Danfoss, which had its beginnings in the attic of a farm outside Sønderborg in 1933. But it also shows itself in a whole string of smaller companies in the town. Another example is in one of Sønderborg’s newer enterprises, the Lodam electronics firm which, during the worldwide financial crisis, managed to turn a massive downturn into success by entering into collaboration with its competitors. Together they formed the initiative Lean Energy Cluster – a growth project which, by means of applied research, enables companies and knowledge institutions to develop collaborations within the fields of effective energy handling and intelligent energy systems. Entrepreneurship is the ability to think innovatively and to dare to make connections between things that do not normally go hand in hand. It is about transcending and testing

borders – not to overcome the borders and create a borderless world, but to give rise to productive areas at those points where borders meet and disparate elements collide. Borders were transcended when Project Zero, the public-private collaboration aimed at making Sønderborg CO2 neutral by 2029, was set up in 2007. The intention is that by 2029 the municipality’s energy consumption will have been halved and all energy will be supplied by our own sustainable sources of energy. This will make Sønderborg Municipality the first CO2 neutral district in Denmark. Borders were transcended when the decision was made to house the Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra, the University of Southern Denmark’s Sønderborg campus, Project Zero and a number of other business and research bodies all together in one spot, at the Alsion complex centrally situated by Sønderborg harbour. In 2008 the Alsion won the Prime Property Award at the Expo Real commercial property and investment fair for its use of new technologies and sustainable building methods. This hybrid building is the first place in Denmark where education, knowledge and culture have been gathered under one roof and it is also here, of course, that Sønderborg 2017 has its home. We therefore have some experience of translating our wide definition of culture into structures. 5 /

138

140

126

Borders were also transcended when the notable French-Canadian architect Frank Gehry was asked to turn Sønderborg’s harbourfront, which boasts a number of distinctive Art Nouveau buildings from the days when Sønderborg was a part of the German Empire, into a modern centre for art, knowledge, architecture and healthcare. The harbour complex will include, among other things, a new art exhibition centre dedicated to the fusion of art and technology, where the digital universe will create a gathering point for art, culture and commerce. There will also be a knowledge centre, where innovative companies can share expertise and premises, and a multiculture centre which will be home to a fusion of knowledge, art and culture. In the multi-culture centre advanced learning environments will be housed right alongside traditional exhibitions and a library. And borders were transcended yet again just a few years ago, when Sønderborg developed a new strategy for the revitalisation of the municipality’s rural areas. Village Associations have been set up in twenty-six of the municipality’s village communities to involve the residents in the development of local plans, and art and culture are being used to forge links between the small, rural communities and the outside world. Under the title ‘FremmedArt’ – a neat play on the Danish word for unfamiliar, strange or foreign (fremmadartet),

Future visions for the region’s rural districts

Future City Game

Friendships and associations need not be determined solely by age. The rural districts of the region often contain a very diverse mix of residents including young families, pensioners, business- and tradespeople, newcomers and natives. In other words, harmonious, composite societies in miniature, and one of the strengths of the rural areas is this heterogeneous collection of residents, one which can be – and ought to be – exploited. With the help of the British Council’s Future City Game, these plans have developed further. The idea behind Future City Game is, through innovation in the cities, to solve the long-term challenges posed by globalisation, migration, climate change, urbanisation and social needs. The game urges players to turn towns into better towns. It is also about creating dialogue between the public sector, citizens and townspeople.

Village Associations to play the game. In the spring of 2010 five village associations competed against one another to create meeting places where all the generations can meet and intermingle. The winning association was awarded 40,000 Danish kroner (5,333 euro) with which to fulfil its dream while the other competitors each received 20,000 kroner (2,666 euro) to help them get started.

The game showed quite clearly that the rural districts abound in creative thoughts and ideas. The Dynt-Skelde-Gammelgab Association is, for example, planting a truffle forest with oak and birch trees and an underwood of berry bushes which will be a boon to all three The aim of the game is to come up with the best idea for village communities, both economically and socially. how to improve the quality of life within a particular area of a town or the town as a whole. It is played over two days. Players come from a variety of backgrounds, all representing different businesses, genders, generations and so on. There is a strong focus on soft relationships. Working in teams the players compete to design, test and present the best idea. Future City was designed to be played in larger towns and cities, but Sønderborg is a place where borders are broken down, so here it seemed obvious to get the

5 /

128

5 /

130

the word for forward (frem) and the English word ‘art’ – sculptures from all over the world will be installed for a time in a large number of the municipality’s villages. The sculptures, all executed by foreign artists, will visit all of the villages in rotation, with each village being graced by one sculpture at a time. It is this entrepreneurial spirit, and the ability to think ‘outside the box’, which Sønderborg presents to European partners, and which we invite Europeans to share. If our candidature is successful, we want to become a European laboratory in which to experiment with and play with borders of every sort.

139

Sønderborg2017 is about the development of cultural intelligence and creative capacity. Or, to put it another way, turning the development of the entrepreneurial spirit for which the business sector of the border country is known, into a cultural entrepreneurship that will contribute to the regeneration of the region – economically, socially and culturally. Culture is what binds us together; it is something we all share; something that gives us an identity as members of a given society. But in the twenty-first century, culture is also something else, something that is often just as important. Namely, the trigger for new ideas

in a wider sense, not least the sort of original thinking that will ensure economic growth and sustainability. We’re not looking for a fundamental change in our culture and identity, nor in the direction taken by our cultural institutions, but rather for a more cosmopolitan dimension to the process of identity creation. In the world of art and culture the aim is always to transcend established boundaries, to think laterally and combine widely differing elements in order to create a powerful new experience that can take us in a new direction. These same qualities are now called for within all sectors of society. If we do not evolve we will die. This is the case both for the economy of the border country and the economy of Europe. Cultural intelligence is the ability to understand and relate to those things outside of one’s own immediate frame of understanding. The ability to understand cultures other than one’s own, to identify with cultures other than one’s own and to operate within the frameworks constructed by unfamiliar cultures – and this, no matter whether we’re talking of other ethnic cultures, national cultures, minority cultures, work cultures or professional cultures. It is not only the borders between the nations of Europe that have to be exploited productively, so too must the borders between art, culture, commerce, politics and 5 /

research. That is why art and culture, cultural intelligence, must be used to transform borders of every shape and form into productive borders. This is what we call cultural entrepreneurship, a concept which is going to be of crucial importance to Europe in the years ahead. Because it is here, in the interface between all of the above-mentioned professional areas, that the new economy will be generated. Europe’s new economy. Starting in 2017 this cultural entrepreneurship will be used to turn a marginal region into a European countryside metropolis, ready for the challenges of the 21st century in which the borders created by history are used productively to shape new cultural, social and economic areas. In terms of size, Sønderborg might seem to be just a pretty average provincial town. But we want to create a countryside metropolis invested with the dynamism, creativity and innovation of the traditional metropolises of Europe; and one which, unlike them, will grow and thrive in harmony with and in close contact with its natural surroundings and thus be able to offer things that the big cities cannot provide. We don’t want to become a big city but to bring the idea of a metropolis back to its origins as ‘mother city’ within a set of adjacent and interconnected communities. The host of rural communities in the Sønderborg area will not be developed. That is not the

142

143

144

132

intention, because these offer alternative ways of living and of living together which can prove to be a great asset to the Europe of the future. In the villages, young families, pensioners and business and tradespeople often live side by side in a symbiosis that is simply not found in large towns and cities. For this reason we wish to experiment with the borders and create a countryside metropolis that will transform Sønderborg and the border country from a marginal area into a regional hub without erasing the ways of life distinct to the rural areas. This is the new joint project for Danes and Germans. A cross-national project and a European project.

145

146

But for this to work we need Europe’s help and recognition, in the form of the honour of being nominated European Capital of Culture 2017. And Europe needs Sønderborg as European Capital of Culture 2017. In 2017 Europe has a unique opportunity to turn the spotlight on its borders and the problems and possibilities born of these. A Danish town will share the honour of being European Capital of Culture with a Cypriot town. Cyprus has been plagued, as few other European countries have been, by a historic border conflict that keeps flaring up and ending in violence. Sønderborg has good links with the Cypriot candidates and will, if granted the status of European Capital of Culture 2017, initiate a

strong collaboration with the Cypriot title holder. Although border conflicts here in the northern half of Europe are not governed by the same circumstances as those in the south, the different border regions can, nonetheless, learn from one another. Because, in the north and in the south, we are speaking of European conflicts, bound up with European history, which is the history of both multiculturalism and extreme nationalism. 2017 will be used to endow Europe, this continent of conflicts and borders, with a soul, and forge ties between the poorer regions of the south and the often more prosperous north.

SØNDERBORG 2017

CYPrus 2017

5 /

“Working on a cultural project across the border has changed us completely.”

134

So says brickworks owner Christian A. Petersen, speaking of the time when he heard that the worldrenowned architect Peter Zumthor had been given the job of designing Cologne’s new museum of religious art. It was to be built on the ruins of the Church of St Kolumba, the oldest parts of which date from as far back as Roman times, around 2,040 years ago. The church was bombed by the allies during World War II. Christian Petersen wasted no time in contacting Zumthor and after presenting hundreds of boards showing different samples he received an order for 300,000 bricks. The project was completed in 2007 and left Petersen with a deficit of around a million euro, but the newly developed long, flat Kolumba brick has become a worldwide success. The Kolumba brick has also been used in the building of the new Playhouse in Copenhagen (Lundgaard & Tranbjerg).

“Then I got this equipment from Holland for making hand-moulded bricks. That’s when we began to go our own way. Why don’t you just write that I’m off my head. It can be an advantage sometimes. Perfectly normal people aren’t much use to us here – in fact it helps if they have the odd screw loose,” laughs Christian Petersen, who often has local artists about the place, while big names such as Bjørn Nørgaard and Olafur Eliasson are in regular contact with the brickworks. In August 2011 the brickworks at Nybøl Nor hosted a symposium for the World Association of Brick Artists. Bjørn Nørgaard was among those who attended. •

With the transition to building with brick in the eastern parts of Southern Jutland and after the Great Fire of 1728 in Copenhagen, the area around Flensburg Fjord became the leading brick-producing district in Denmark. At one time there were more than sixty brickworks alongside Flensburg Fjord. In 1925 the manufacture of bricks and tiles was still the main industry in Southern Jutland, and Egernsund near Sønderborg is still the

Over the past ten years Petersen has supplied bricks for forty architect-designed buildings on the Copenhagen harbour front. But his company has also provided the materials for projects such as the Gjesingparken council house development in Esbjerg on the west coast of Jutland.

biggest brick and tile producing district in Denmark. •

Cathrinesminde in Broager was a brickworks from 1732 until 1968. During the years 1985-1993 this was restored and turned into a brick and tile museum and today it houses the Museum of Southern Jutland’s department for the history of brick- and tile-making and industry in

In 1970 when Christian Petersen, newly qualified as a ceramics engineer, came home from Germany to take over the brickworks after the death of his father, Petersen Brick produced perfectly ordinary bricks, and this Christian continued to do. But then, in the Eighties, the Swedish artist Ulla Viotti came to call. She was working on a brick sculpture and was given a space at the works where she could produce her own bricks.

Southern Jutland. The Heritage Agency of Denmark has named it as one of 25 national industrial monuments – along with Danfoss. •

In the 20th century Broagerland and the area around Nybøl Nor were home to 39 brickworks. Today only six are left, but these produce ten times as many bricks as the brickworks of 100 years ago and employ far fewer people.

“Perfectly normal people are not much use to us here – in fact it helps if they have the odd screw loose” Christian A. Petersen, owner of Petersen Bricks, Nybøl Nor

“To create links between art and culture and the business world – there’s a future in that” Leif Maibom, director of Sønderborg Summer Revue

R 136

ecord audiences and full houses. When it comes to Sønderborg Summer Revue such things are no longer news. Over the decades its audiences have grown year by year and this past summer, when the Revue celebrated it’s thirtieth anniversary, was no exception: 24,531 people attended 48 performances – as many as could be packed into Sønderborg Theatre, and that with extra seating in the form of bar stools on the balcony. Many revue goers also have dinner before the show at the hotel attached to the theatre – or may actually stay for one or more nights at the hotel or some other place in the area, because quite a few people come a long way to see the show. And a large proportion of them are regulars who turn up fully expecting the revue’s director Leif Maibom, who is also the scriptwriter and a member of the cast, to present them once again with an evening full of laughter and hilarity laced with some sharp comments on national events and occurrences from the past year. It all started as a hobby in the village of Lysabild in the south of the island of Als where Leif Maibom

and his wife Johanna were both schoolteachers and members of a group which staged a local revue. In 1982 the group took the plunge and made the move into the old theatre in Sønderborg. “We simply wanted to see whether we could make a profit, and if we could we would share it. We had just one musician and a stage manager on the payroll and we used our own old furniture, whatever paint we had and so on,” says Leif Maibom, who has never really felt he was taking a gamble, because the revue has kept on growing steadily. “Well, I suppose when Johanna and I decided to give up teaching in the late Eighties we did sort of think: Oh God, can we really cut our safety line? It wouldn’t exactly be easy to go back. But we were careful with our money.” And now Sønderborg has the third largest revue in Denmark, attracting audiences and attention to the town. And unlike similar revues in other towns, its existence has never been dependent on support from the municipality. Quite the opposite in fact: the revue pays rent to the municipality for the theatre, which would otherwise stand empty all summer. “I didn’t think of myself as an independent businessman until we’d been up and running for quite some time, but I believe there are a lot of people around here who might well take a chance by throwing themselves into something new – who have a need for freedom. They may think: If Mads Clausen could create Danfoss then maybe I can make a go of it too. And it means such a lot that the town is actively working to create links between art and culture and the business world – there’s a bright future in that.”

”What I have going for me is my ear for music” Laurits Th. Larsen, violinist and string manufacturer

n Sønderborg there is a company that sends little, wax-sealed envelopes of lovely sound all over the world. This company is Larsen Strings A/S, whose strings for musical instruments are favoured by the very best musicians. And it is no accident that the company’s founder, Laurits Th. Larsen, was himself a violinist with the Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra for many years. Until 21 years ago, when he took up a new challenge. “I received a call from a musician friend in America who wanted to know if I could get hold of 300 A strings for him. But there was a year’s delivery time for the European make that was available, so I set to work in the garage,” says Larsen. The odds were not good for the new string maker. He had no experience of the trade, so he had to learn it from scratch. And his friend in America had tried to develop a string himself – without success. So he had been warned, but he went ahead anyway. It took him 18 months to develop the string. A colleague from the symphony orchestra who helped him by trying it out was delighted with it, then someone else wanted one and soon the orders were coming in thick and fast. After two years on sabbatical from the orchestra, Larsen decided to devote himself full-time to the company, which now employs 35 people in Sønderborg, owns half of a company in Germany and has a producer in the Czech Republic. “What I had going for me when I started out was my ear for music, and that’s still my big advantage. What I’m able to do is to ‘translate’ what the music is saying into a language that the technician can understand. Even when you have two people who can speak both Danish and German there’s still another language barrier. A musician will describe 5 /

a tone as being warm, cold, or bright – that’s the user’s language.” Larsen Strings also carry out technical tonal analyses in order to maintain a specific tonal quality and minimise the risk of it becoming lost between two worlds. The company is also very intent on ensuring close communication between all the different stages in the process. So, for example, Laurits Th. Larsen and his head of development have just been to Vienna to try out strings with the cellists of the Vienna Philharmonic. Larsen Strings is about to launch a range of new products for various stringed instruments – violin, viola and cello – and is also preparing to move into larger premises in Sønderborg. A move to a more central address in Jutland was considered, but then rejected. “There’s support for us here in Sønderborg and a lot of interest is shown in us, even though we’re not a big company. And so far we’ve been able to attract the specialists we need, although it’s not easy for them to up sticks and move down here with their families from bigger towns or cities such as Aarhus or Copenhagen. We also have some people who drive a long way to work. It’s up to us, therefore, to make sure that the company maintains its high standard, so that they’ll feel it’s all worth it.”

138

ome of Denmark’s finest flour comes from Skærtoft Mill near Sønderborg. And husband and wife Jørgen Houbak Bonde and Hanne Risgaard have solid proof of this. Since 2004, when the couple fulfilled their dream of adding a mill to their farm to supply freshly ground organic flour to retailers, bakers and restaurants, Skærtoft Mill has won numerous awards including one from the organisation SlowFood Danmark. “Skærtoft Mill does its part to put Southern Jutland on the map. Because while the world’s best restaurant might be in Copenhagen, when the best chef in the world makes risotto he uses pearl spelt from Southern Jutland,” says local social-democrat MP Benny Engelbrecht. As author of FoodFight.eu, a book about food quality, Benny Engelbrecht is particularly proud of the concept advocated by Skærtoft Mill: namely, that the primary producer should also be responsible for refining the product according to the best ‘earth-to-table’ principles, thus cutting out the industrial stage. “The very few stages from earth to table allow for a highly innovative way of running a business. I know, for example, that Jørgen Bonde works very closely with the Irma supermarket chain – known for its quality profile and emphasis on organic

produce – on the development of new products. Skærtoft Mill is also an excellent example of how culture – in this case food culture – can help create jobs. Because good food calls for more love and more hard work than industrially produced food,” says Benny Engelbrecht. But Skærtoft Mill is also innovative when it comes to turning food culture into a culinary experience. Courses in the art of good baking – kneading techniques, dough maturation, slow rising – are held in the mill’s kitchen, once one of the farm’s old barns. Skærtoft Mill also plays host to the annual bread and food festival, which attracts over 5,000 visitors, all of whom have the opportunity to attend presentations/demonstrations by leading national and international chefs, try their hands at different types of bread baking and enter food and bread competitions.

“Skærtoft Mill is an excellent example of how culture can help to create jobs. Because good food calls for more love and more hard work than industrially produced food.” Benny Engelbrecht, member of parliament and author of FoodFight.eu

5 /

“This is it, THIS is our chance to do something big” Lars Christensen, director of Broager Savings Bank, on the building of a sports centre

I 140

n Sønderborg, PPP (public-private partnership) has been a conscious choice in the effort to promote growth. The private business sector and Sønderborg City Council work together in a close and mutually binding collaboration. The fruits of this partnership could most recently be seen in 2010, in the town council’s decision to build a sports centre. “We were a small group of business people who put our heads together. Because the fact is that we need a better setting for big cultural events that will be good for the whole of Sønderborg Municipality. We need two halls,” says the director of Broager Savings Bank, Lars Christensen. And no sooner said than done. “This is it, THIS is our chance to do something big – on that we were all agreed. We presented the politicians with an idea whereby two halls could be built together to form a super sports centre with space for about 2,400 spectators. The city council

will pay for the one hall, the business sector and private individuals will foot the bill for the other. And the building will be ready to open in 2012.” Another example of a public-private partnership is the Sønderborg Harbour Company, a limited company set up in 2006 by the city council and the private Bitten and Mads Clausen Foundation. The aim of this was, and still is, to create a new and exciting part of Sønderborg – unique in both Denmark and Europe, with a hotel, a multicultural complex, an art exhibition centre, offices and housing. The Canadian architect Frank Gehry has designed the plans and work on the first buildings has already begun. A third important growth initiative is Sønderborg’s ambitious goal: for the entire area to be CO2 neutral by 2029 at the latest – and not only that, but a CO2 neutral growth area, one in which the drive to combat climate change will bring with it new green jobs. In order to fulfil this vision Project Zero was launched in 2007. Project Zero has been set up as a public-private partnership involving, among others, the Syd Energy company, the Bitten and Mads Clausen Foundation, DONG Energy, the Nordea Foundation and Sønderborg City Council. 2012 will see the opening of the first stretch of motorway in Denmark to be built as a PPP project. The 25-kilometre stretch of road will link Sønderborg with the E45 which runs down through Jutland and on across Europe.

“Sønderborg Beach Party sprang from the idea of Sønderborgians making something together – for the passion of it, not for money” Sheriff Danjo, moving spirit and driving force behind Sønderborg Beach Party

ne summer day in 2002, Sheriff Danjo was sitting on Sønderborg beach, soaking up the sun with a few friends. Suddenly he had an idea. Why not have an annual beach party? His friends loved the idea, so Sheriff fetched his ghetto blaster, which was all that was needed for the five participants in the first ever Sønderborg Beach Party. Today the ghetto blaster has been replaced by banks of professional equipment and the CDs by live acts from Sønderborg, Jamaica and Africa. In 2010 more than 1,000 gathered on the beach and for the tenth party in 2011 the event was extended to two days. But the basic idea is still the same as it was in 2002, nine years ago. “I come from a small village in The Gambia with fewer than eighty houses in it. Everything is a long distance away, so we have to rely on each other and whatever we can arrange among ourselves. We love dancing and parties, and social activities like these forge bonds between people. Sønderborg Beach Party sprang from the idea of Sønderborgians making something together – for the passion of it, not for money,” Sheriff says. Sønderborg Beach Party has grown bigger and bigger with every year and Sheriff has been kept very busy trying to interest and involve local businesses and associations in the event to ensure free admission to it for everyone, despite the big names performing at it and the many different activities on offer. Thanks to local sponsors and lots 5 /

and lots of volunteer helpers, Sønderborg Beach Party manages to stretch the budget of around 2,000 euro granted to it by the city council enough to make ends meet. “It feels great to know there is so much support for the project. From shops that make a small contribution to private individuals who lend us the trampolines from their gardens for our children’s corner,” says Sheriff. In 2010 people from around fifteen different countries attended Sønderborg Beach Party. This has encouraged Sheriff to think even bigger. “I think we could easily find room for 10,000 people.”

t the very same time as this application is being submitted, Sønderborg native, journalist and television producer Axel Boisen will be preparing for the presentation of the CSR awards show in the Alsion Building in Sønderborg – in all likelihood the first of its kind in the world. A conference and a show where company directors, CSR managers, consultants, representatives from humanitarian organisations and politicians will come together to turn the spotlight on the economic and social benefits of CSR and to pay tribute to its finest exponents.

142

Corporate Social Responsibility – or simply CSR – is a term and a concept that has found its way into the media, into boardrooms the world over, and onto everyone’s lips. “Traditionally, Danish companies have a reputation for being socially responsible. But they tend not to advertise this fact. It’s a shame, because there’s experience worth billions lying right there, waiting to be revealed and inspire others to adopt sustainable business methods,” says Axel Boisen. “September 29th 2011 will be a National Sustainability Day in Denmark and I firmly believe that this is the start of a new European awareness,” says Boisen, who has drawn inspiration from his own past experience of a communication project that involved touring 28 countries as leader of the Danish group Axel Boys Quartet. His knowledge of international relations and implementing concepts has been gleaned, therefore, from the worlds of both the media and the arts. “I’ve spent the last two years working on a documentary about CSR for the national public service TV station, Danmarks Radio. This takes its starting point the Danish parliament’s new regulation, which obliges companies to describe their social responsibility in their annual accounts. I’ve spoken to people at all levels on the CSR scene – from international directors and UN representatives, Danish bosses, politicians and civil servants, consultants, professional staff, researchers and students right down to the people whom all of this is also about: the African farmer, the Chinese factory worker and the man on the street on four continents.” The goal is for Sønderborg to provide the setting for future Danish award shows that can be used to tell the world about the achievements of Danish companies within the field of CSR. This year Al Gore, former American vice-president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2007, has been invited to be the main speaker.

Director of the CSR Foundation and organiser of the CSR awards show at the Alsion Building

”…there’s experience worth billions lying right there, waiting to be revealed”

“Dance and music can make people well” Merete Værge, head of teaching at University College Southern Denmark

144

an drama lift the spirits? Can illness be danced away? Can culture change a ghetto? Yes, they can, believes Merete Værge, head of teaching and the woman responsible for a new diploma course in Culture and Health that focuses on what visual art, music and other aesthetic experiences can do for sick people. “In the Danish health service we tend only to think of a person as a physiological being. We do so much finger-wagging: You mustn’t eat fatty foods! You have to exercise! - and so on. But people are also spiritual, cultural beings. If a nurse has done all that can be done from a medical point of view, the only thing left to do is to ask: How can I help you?

And in my experience what terminally ill patients want is to listen to a particular piece of music, or to have the chance to see one more spring. “We once had a patient in intensive care who said that one of the things that helped to make him well again was that one of the nurses wore red clogs. That, to him, was life-affirming.” Research confirms that dance and music can make people well or improve their condition. And we know that those patients who lie next to windows with a view are discharged from hospital sooner than others. “I find that very, very interesting, and we simply cannot afford not to exploit the health-giving potential that lies hidden in cultural experiences. We gain a great deal of inspiration from Norway, which is streets ahead of us when it comes to using art and culture within the health system.” From October it will be possible to take the diploma course in Culture and Health at University College Southern Denmark, but the plan is eventually to make the course available throughout the country.

“I was always being asked what I was. But do I have to choose?” Johanna Jacobsen and Safaa Abdol Hamid, cultural encounter ambassadors

ohanna and Safaa are a bit of both

“In high school, when the class was discussing immigrants, I used to think: But isn’t that what I am, really? My family only moved a distance of sixty kilometres and yet there are such big differences and some things aren’t all that easy to understand. Like how Danish humour can be pretty crude at times. And the fact that people hug one another in Denmark – oh dear, oh dear, they don’t do that in Germany.” Johanna Jacobsen says this in Danish with a faint German accent. Together with Safaa Abdol Hamid, she is visiting the Southern Jutland Social and Health Care School in Aabenraa to speak about what it is like to grow up with a foot in two different cultures. Johanna and Safaa are both members of the Danish Border Association’s team of young cultural encounter ambassadors who go out to schools and other institutions all over Denmark. Johanna’s father is German and her mother is half-German, half-Danish. In 2006, when Johanna was fifteen, the family moved from Flensburg to Haderslev in Denmark. She was not totally at a loss there, though, because she had attended a Danish school in Flensburg. But what does being from the Danish minority in Southern Schleswig have to do with coming from an Arabic background such as Safaa’s? Well, in both 5 /

cases there is often a feeling – especially among the younger generation – of being both one thing and another. Safaa Abdol Hamid also found herself confronted with a different culture. And not just in terms of the contrast between western culture and her own Palestinian background. She also encountered a culture clash when her family moved from Southern Jutland to Odense. “Language-wise it was a challenge. I mean, I was used to calling sweets ‘bom’, not ‘slik’!” As a fifteen-year-old, Safaa was, in fact, full of doubt: “Who are you? Where are you from: Odense? – No, Southern Jutland? – no. Are you a Dane or an Arab? I was always being asked what I was. But do I have to choose? I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s okay for me to say I’m a bit of both.”

“After the concert this elderly lady came over to talk to me, and she told me she thought we were lovely, sensible, young people. That was pretty cool.” David Ssempebwa, rapper

146

n March 2011, 21-year-old David Ssempebwa took to the stage of a packed concert hall at the Alsion building to rap his way through Haydn’s The Creation together with three of his friends and the whole of the Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra. This was the culmination of six months of intensive work to create a new version of the Haydn classic that would unite people by transcending cultural, musical and geographical borders. David Ssempebwa, a self-taught rapper with no stage experience to speak of, wondered a lot over those six months about how it would go. How would people react to this new interpretation – and, not least, to the rap music? But the response surprised him.

“We rappers talked a lot about whether it wasn’t a bit daring to stage something like this in a town the size of Sønderborg. We didn’t have any doubt that it would go down well in a city like Copenhagen or Aarhus. But Sønderborg! Luckily, though, we were very positively surprised. We got a lot of compliments, both from the audience and from the members of the symphony orchestra,” he says. David has his roots in Africa and two of the three other rappers on the stage are also non-Danish in origin – hardly the usual fare at a symphony orchestra concert with an audience made up largely of middle-aged Danes. David felt no sense of any prejudice towards himself and the other rappers. Instead the group may well have helped to destroy a few prejudices. “After the concert this elderly lady came over to talk to me. She had also seen the programmes about the project on TV-Syd (regional TV-station), and she said she thought we were lovely, sensible young people. That was pretty cool,” he says. David Ssempebwa and his three friends, who call themselves the Sønderbronx Boyz, feel that their performance at the Alsion helped to give them their local breakthrough. They are frequently booked now to play at different events in the area. “It really looks as though Sønderborg was ready for rap music. So ready,” he says.

“Being a moving spirit can be catching” Dorthe Ulstrup, moving spirit in the village of Nybøl, seven kilometres west of Sønderborg

“As a village, Nybøl welcomes newcomers with open arms. If you want you can become involved with the life of the whole village right away. Being a moving spirit is catching.” This was Dorthe Ulstrup’s own experience when she moved back to her native turf almost ten years ago after thirteen years in another part of the country. What brought her back was a rare opportunity for a job as a vision consultant, but it was also good to have her family nearby. Dorthe Ulstrup soon came up with some ideas of her own for the village and her suggestions were well received. First she was put in charge of raising millions of kroner in funding to allow the 1,000 or so residents of Nybøl to purchase and lay out their own recreational area, ’Nøffelskoven’, and two years ago, along with a group of other residents, she started an annual music festival in the same spot. She is also an active member of the Sønderborg Gospel Choir for whom, among other things, she has arranged a trip to London. On the fringes of Denmark many villages are facing a crisis. Houses cannot be sold, or are falling into ruin. It is a vicious circle and experts are actually recommending letting a bulldozer loose in the most hopeless-looking spots. But other villages are flourishing and attracting new residents. The reason is clear: a mere handful of local moving spirits can make all the difference. Nybøl has a sports club which organises an annual sports week in August; once a month throughout the year they hold a community dinner and every spring there is the Nybøl Fair in which shops, 5 /

societies and different hobby enthusiasts all take part. “At least thirty people are involved in organising the sports week, so it’s not a case of the same few people having to do everything. There are a lot of moving spirits in Nybøl,” says Dorthe, who couldn’t imagine living anywhere else now. “I wouldn’t like to live in a big city. It’s so impersonal. I like being in a place where people know one another. The sense of community means a lot to me,” says Dorthe, who is also happy that her three children are growing up in a secure local environment. One thing that does worry her, though, is the possible closure of the local school, which has a little over 100 pupils. This possibility has been aired in the municipality, where it has been predicted that the total number of schoolchildren in the area will fall by more than 700 in the next six years and by 1,200-1,700 by 2022. “The closure of our school would be a terrible blow. Personally, I would never have decided to move to Nybøl if there had been no school. And we would also be losing a place to hold meetings, gatherings and extra-curricular activities. My own guess is that people out here will get together and open a free school instead.”

to our identity, not replace it,” Ellen Trane Nørby emphasises. For her own part she was only a child when this awareness of being European was first brought home to her.

148

“Sitting in the back seat of my parents’ car, driving through Europe on holiday, I came to see that there is more to the world than Denmark. With my knowledge of border problems in Europe, I’m just as keenly aware that the people of the DanishGerman border country can set a good example. It’s so incredibly unproductive to always be at loggerheads.

Sønderborg received this award for having initiated a great many cross-border activities at official level and for working actively in both a European and an international context. Sønderborg’s candidature for European Capital of Culture 2017 was also cited as an argument, because through this, Sønderborg spotlights what can be done to solve the eternal European problem of the physical and psychological boundaries dividing nations, cultures and individuals.

“But I also have to say that even though the people of Southern Jutland and Schleswig get on well together, there really is a need for an integration process, to enable us to develop geographically – from our peripheral status into a growth centre in Europe.”

n 2010, at a ceremony in Berlin, the German chancellor Angela Merkel received the Danish European Movement’s award for European of the Year. In the spring of 2011, at the opening of the Danish-German folkBaltica music festival in Sønderborg, Sønderborg itself had the honour of being named European City of the Year.

“People in Sønderborg and in Southern JutlandSchleswig have gone from being enemies to being neighbours – and now friends – without any thought for the fact that the integration process that has taken place on both sides of the border is largely due to decisions taken in the EU.” So says Ellen Trane Nørby, vice-chairman of the European Movement. She believes that people have definitely become more European. “It happens without us really noticing. Like many others we feel that this sense of being European should not come at the expense of anything else. The European side should be a strong supplement

Ellen Trane Nørby, member of parliament and vice-chairman of the Danish European Movement, on Sønderborg’s candidature

“There really is a need for an integration process”

In April 2011 Sønderborg was appointed as the first European City of the Year by the Danish European Movement. Left to right: mayor of Flensburg, Simon Faber; Schleswig-Holstein Minister for Education and Culture, Dr. Ekkehard Klug; mayor of Sønderborg, Aase Nyegaard; chairman of Danfoss, Jørgen Mads Clausen and national chairman of the European Movement, Erik Boel.

5 /

150

5 /

What is a border? 152

der. I flew You can also fly over a bor ly and a Ita en we bet der bor over the country right next to it.

Anders

Borders make me think of when Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m in Denmark and then I cro ss over into Germany. When I drive over the bor der there are lots of flags from lots of different countries.

Maja B e n j a m in

at doing things th When you keep tell you ey th ad m n-ups make the grow r. fa g on going too you’re borderin

M a r t in

It’s fun to be on the oth er side of the border because it’s fun to be somewhere you’ve never been before.

M ic h e ll e

usement One time I went to the am we drove and Syd nd rla park Somme ght something over the border and bou perfectly t fel to drink. It actually side. er oth the on normal to be

We always dr ive to shop. Whe across the border n I was goin g to Italy there was a border there too.

5 /

Mathilde

154

TOWARDS A COUNTRYSID METROPOLI

A DE IS T

he artistic programme for 2017 and the activities and events that will take place in the years leading up to it are all constructed around the process of transformation which SĂ¸nderborg will be undergoing over the years to come â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from marginal area to countryside metropolis. We mean to bring radical growth to SĂ¸nderborg and the border country, to invest them with soul and, through our spirit of cultural entrepreneurship, to create a countryside metropolis.

OBJECTIVES AND METHOLOGY 1: DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE 156

CULTURE ACROSS BORDERS OBJECTIVES AND METHOLOGY 2: STRENGTHENING THE CREATIVE CAPACITY

EUROPEAN OBJECTIVE

RAINBOW BRIDGE

MIND BRIDGE

VITALITY BRIDGE

DANISH-GERMAN OBJECTIVE

TO RECONCILE THE DANISH AND THE GERMAN AND TOGETHER EXPLORE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL BORDERS

6 /

TO REVITALISE THE EUROPEAN SOUL IN CO-CREATION WITH EUROPE, STARTING WITH BORDER REGIONS AND PERIPHERAL AREAS

TO DEVELOP A NEW CULTURAL CONCEPT IN CO-CREATION WITH EUROPE

TO EXPLORE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL BORDERS IN CO-CREATION WITH EUROPE

TO DEVELOP THE CULTURAL SPIRIT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

TO DEVELOP SØNDERBORG AND THE BORDER REGION INTO A COUNTRYSIDE METROPOLIS

CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE

MIND BRIDGE

158

RAINBOW BRIDGE

CREATIVE CAPACITY

CONCEPT OF THE ARTISTIC PROGRAMME

ur artistic programme rests on three bridges, all of which will have their beginnings in the border country and take us on a journey into the future.

•

Rainbow Bridge

• The programme will strengthen and develop our creative capacity: the ability of the inhabitants, visitors, the business sector, knowledge institutions and the political system to generate new, progressive solutions that take due account of sustainability and health issues.

Building a bridge across cultural, mental, social and geographic divides

•

Mind Bridge

The bridge as metaphor

Building a bridge to create a spirit of cultural entrepreneurship

•

Vitality Bridge Building a bridge between country and town, between past and future

Our entire artistic programme is encapsulated in two main principles which are, in essence, common to all the elements of the programme.

• The programme will develop our cultural intelligence: the inhabitants’ and our visitors’ ability to understand and relate to other cultures and to actively use the insight gained from these to enrich and develop their own view of the world together.

The bridge forms the common symbol for the whole of our artistic programme. Bridges seem to defy the laws of physics, but are in fact a clear manifestation of what we did not think was possible. Bridges are also visionary projects in a physical sense – linking together, as they do, stretches of land between which there has never previously been a permanent connection. There are many different kinds of bridge, but most of them are built on the principle of the arch. The Romans were the first to figure it out and the arches of the medieval cathedrals were constructed according to the same principle. The Golden Gate Bridge and Denmark’s own bridge across the Big Belt are suspension bridges, and these are also arches of a sort, albeit upside-down versions. The arch

VITALITY BRIDGE

is physics’ way of distributing stress and strain most effectively. Once one has seen the principle developed, bridges become almost infinitely beautiful in themselves. The bridge is, therefore, an excellent symbol for the invisible links that connect people to the world around them. If it seems like a great feat of engineering, not to say an impossible task, to get a suspension bridge to take the strain and reach its goal, then our task is no less colossal. It too seems to defy the laws of physics. But we have what it takes to make our visions a reality, to make this happen and overcome the obstacles we meet along the way. We wish to engender an understanding of other cultures that will span physical and mental borders. We want to build bridges between the Scandinavian, Nordic culture and the European continent. We want to build bridges between two border regions – linking Scandinavian culture with the Greek-Turkish culture of Cyprus. And through our close international partnerships we will forge other links: particularly with Eastern Europe, but also with the new markets in Asia and the BRIC countries. To do this we have to develop a new world view and make our mark on the global scene – in other

6 /

words: perfect the discipline of both mental and physical bridge-building. There is a great deal of aesthetic sensibility, courage and vision behind the construction of a bridge. It calls for cooperation, ingenuity and diplomacy. In building bridges between border cultures, be they German, Danish, Asian or Cypriot, we will need to call on those same skills. The job of our imaginary bridges will, therefore, be to ensure the establishment of cultural connections – both at a personal level and in terms of longterm partnerships. These bridges stretch far out into the future and are proof that ours is a visionary project. When you pass the bridge you will see something new – but you will also be looking back, at something older. At the source, from which you drew your experience. Together, all of this forms our cultural heritage, our standpoint and our hub. It is from here that we will make our bid – and, in the end, win.

KULTUREL INTELLIGENS KREATIV KAPACITET

160

RAINBOW BRID A bridge across the border, a bridge between cultures

he Danish-German border cuts through what was the old Schleswig. But this real, physical demarcation line in the landscape is the least of our problems. Because, as one of the border’s great artists, the German writer Siegfried Lenz, who lives on the Danish side of the border, has said, the border is always, first and foremost, a mental border. We need imaginary bridges, and bridge-builders, to bind the people on both sides of the border closer to one another in the future. We will take the first step towards this by developing Sønderborg and the border country into a creative region. Economic, cultural and social cooperation is impossible without understanding and a sense of cohesion. We need all human, social and cultural expertise to be brought into play. And for this to happen we need a multicultural area, one which

opens its doors to Europe and the new markets in the BRIC countries and, by so doing, attract innovative workers. The rainbow metaphor is used to symbolise the openness, diversity and scope which the building of bridges between cultures will bring with it. A rainbow contains all the colours of the spectrum, not one is left out. The colours complement one another in the most beautiful fashion, each and every hue is brought to light and comes into its own. In this same way we want the ‘Rainbow Bridge’ to bring with it dialogue, acceptance, respect and understanding. We wish to create a dialogue that will span cultural, ethnic and generational divides. This requires insight and concrete projects that can provide the necessary knowledge, interaction

DGE and understanding. We first have to understand how that which we find alien functions. We need to get to know the way of thinking inherent in other cultures, other peoples and generations. Only then can we become open. This is why we want to encourage curiosity in other cultures, mores and customs – so that we can gain inspiration from that which is different, rather than feel threatened by it.

Challenges

•

The town is being drained of young, talented individuals, and the number of elderly citizens is

• • • • •

increasing. The population is shrinking. Legislation is getting in the way of cross-national collaborations. If we do not learn each other’s languages we will lose our sense of culture. Local inhabitants don’t always welcome immigration and internationalisation. As an incomer it is hard to gain a strong sense of belonging.

6 /

162

Emil Nolde – The Border Country’s Problem Child “It is a quite curious and not always happy thing to be born in a border country, where for and against, here and there, are more sharply defined than elsewhere. He who is born in the middle of his native land is spared a great deal of confusion and the many decisions that one has to make in the border country.” These are the words of Emil Nolde, one of the border country’s greatest problem children, whose life and work in many ways sum up all the difficulties and possibilities particular to Sønderjylland-Schleswig. Emil Nolde was a true child of the Danish-German borderland. His art is the art of the borderer, and the threads of his personal life are woven from an odd mix of the Danish and the German. He was born in 1867 in the town of Nolde outside of Tønder: an old Danish town that became German after 1864. He spent long spells of his adult life at his summer cottage on the island of Als, near Sønderborg, and made his home in the

village of Utenwarf outside Møgeltønder – which, until the referendum in 1920, was still part of Germany. After the referendum Nolde took Danish citizenship and maintained this even after moving to the southern side of the border, to the German town of Seebüll, in 1927. Here he lived until his death in 1956 and his home now houses the popular Nolde Museum. Nolde’s mother was Danish, his father was Frisian. The language spoken in his childhood home was Danish; with other people he spoke Low German, in school, High German and in Bible class, standard Danish. He met his wife, the actress Ada Vilstrup (1879-1946) on the island of Zealand, fell in love with Copenhagen’s ‘silvery light, soft sunshine and delicate hues’ and had a particular fondness for the rugged Nordic countryside, Nordic history and the Norse myths. This is clear from many of his greatest works. But he did his art training in Berlin and became known throughout the world as one of the leading exponents of German Expressionism.

Not until the referendum in 1920 did the relationship between Denmark and Germany become a serious problem for Emil Nolde. “The question as to what is German and what is Danish preoccupied my mind during that harrowing time,” he wrote later. “I loved my country and I stood, feeling no envy or anger, and looked north and south [...] I myself was born in the days of German Schleswig, and that my little Schleswig should have become an area of political discord has always saddened me [...] The most unique, perhaps the loveliest part of the Holy German Empire has been split in two, rent asunder and been lost by engineers strange to this country, folk’s cold eyes and the injustice of a national border.” Nolde abstained, therefore, from voting in the referendum. He couldn’t choose between Denmark and Germany. He couldn’t see himself solely as one or the other. On the contrary, he wanted his art to form a bridge to understanding between Germany and Central Europe on the one side and Denmark and the Nordic countries on the other. This didn’t ever really happen, though. Nolde played with the fires of Fascism and nationalism; he joined the National Socialist Association of North Schleswig on November 5th 1934 and was allocated membership number 1722. By doing this he became, for the Danes, a representative of all that was worst in the German nature: aggression and a supremacy mentality. Only a few years later, however, his work was branded entartete degenerate – and he won back the favour of the Danes. . But only to a certain degree – it took 29 years after the war for Denmark’s leading art museum, the National Gallery of Denmark, to stage a major exhibition of Nolde’s work. In any case, as far as reconciliatory art goes, Nolde’s work does not really fit the bill. As mentioned earlier, it is more truly the art of the borders. Vivid colours shoot out in all directions and weird, mythical creatures inhabit a landscape that is harsh, cold and alien, but which also possesses its own warmth and homeliness. It is 6 /

unmistakably art from the marshes, that place where Denmark and the North meet Germany and Central Europe; that place where Norse mythology and Expressionism collide and cross-fertilise. “Personally, I feel that despite travelling far and wide my art is deeply rooted in my native soil, in the narrow stretch of land here, between the two seas,”, Nolde said. Emil Nolde’s work can be regarded as part of a long tradition of border art in Sønderborg and Sønderjylland-Schleswig. It is art that deals with the borders between all the things in life that do not automatically fit together. Like, for example, Denmark and Germany. Or dreams and reality. This tradition must be continued and reinforced from now until 2017 and beyond. And not least in 2017 itself.

164

Selected projects Bridging the Gap Growth in the border area The drawing up of the Danish-German border in 1920 has proved to be one of the most successful arrangements of its kind in history. Particularly since the 1955 Copenhagen-Bonn Declarations, the comprehensive protection of minority rights has been the norm in the border country. It might one day be a source of inspiration to those living in other border regions. No one may be discriminated against due to their national affiliations, everyone can use their own mother tongue in public and maintain their links with the nation state on the other side of the border. Nonetheless, because of the border, Sønderjylland and Southern Schleswig have become marginal areas. The CopenhagenBonn Declarations deal with the rights of the minority groups in relation to the majority population, but not with the question of how to create as many cross-border, cultural, social and economic links as possible between Danes and Germans: the links that could make the border country not a fringe district, but a hub, a gathering point. We wish to build up a base, throughout the border country, of explorers and bridge-builders who will turn the spotlight on the border region’s problems, its opportunities for development, its differences and barriers. These bridge-builders and explorers

will go on a mental and physical journey across cultural, social and geographic divides. A Grand Tour. A formative journey in the most literal sense. And who are the bridge-builders and explorers? They are the top politicians in the EU, people in the business and culture sectors, researchers and educational institutions on either side of national borders and cultural divides. In 2013 each name will be announced at an openair concert presenting Jewish music, Arabic music, Christian music, black music, Western European music, Balkan music and so on. This will mark the kick-off for the European Capital of Culture programme. In 2017 our bridge-builders’ formative journey will culminate in a Rainbow Festival involving conferences and presentations of music, dance, art and drama.

CHILDREN’S CAPITAL OF CULTURE The children are our future. They are the ones who will inhabit the countryside metropolis of the future. The Children’s Capital of Culture

will be collaborating with a large variety of local operators as well as Danish and German experts on children’s culture to put together a programme that will deal with the concepts of borders and identity in terms that children will understand. Examples of projects to be staged include a Danish-German children’s drama festival and a series of concerts by the Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra und competent communicators of music to children. Many events are in the pipeline. The idea is for all children to know – and feel – that there is something special going on in the region; that established attitudes, opinions and borders are being demolished.

aim is to eradicate prejudices, to learn from each other and, not least, to learn to interact with one another. We wish to build bridges between the future generations in the various regions and encourage young people to become involved with culture through Nordic, Baltic and European collaborations. In addition, the project will strengthen talent development among children and young people across cultural, social and geographic divides.

This project includes

For centuries ships and shipping have connected our region to the rest of the world. In the very earliest times there were sailing routes from Flensburg to the West Indies and from Aabenraa to China. And where once we used the sea for the transportation of goods, now we mean to use it to convey the messages of the European Capital of Culture project.

• • • • • •

Children’s art A children’s film festival A children’s music festival A children’s literature festival A children’s drama festival A children’s dance festival

Another part of this project will involve the creation of musical narratives, based on concrete border conflicts within Europe – for example, in Cyprus. These narratives will be performed in the respective border regions and in Cyprus. The project will also focus on the aspect of children as active co-creators and creative producers when it comes to developing creative intelligence. Our 6 /

MARITIME ART PROJECT

The voyage will begin in 2016, when we set sail for Cyprus. On board we will have an exhibition about Sønderborg as well as a number of artists who will convey the message about Project Sønderborg 2017. Having dropped anchor in Cyprus we will swap our exhibition for theirs and bring Cyprus’s contribution to the project back home with us.

MARITIME ART PROJECT MAP Re-connecting people to the sea 166

rt has always been a means to connect people with the sea and to reflect maritime culture. In this regard, for most maritime museums, maritime art is a central collections group. Besides its art history value, maritime art is displayed to tell and illustrate the history of ships and the life at and with the sea. But what can artists tell us today about our connections to the sea? Can maritime art still be a gangway between the sea and the land? In autumn 2010 the Flensburger Schifffahrtsmuseum (D) and the Museum Sønderjylland - Kulturhistorie Aabenraa (DK) together with the artists Johannes Caspersen (D) and Rick Towle (USA/DK) have initiated the Maritime Art Project | MAP. Nine artists from Germany and Denmark – besides Caspersen and Towle also Anka Landtau (D), Christiane Limper (D), Kim Olesen (DK), Jacob Tækker (DK) and the jazz trio The Mighty Mouse with Adam Pultz Melbye (DK), Morten Pedersen (DK) und Håkon Berre (DK/N) – were invited to explore the museums’ permanent collections and to develop new perspectives on selected artefacts. The artworks that were produced for the project include photographs, collages, objects, sculptures, video- and sound-installations. Integrated into the permanent displays of the exhibition galleries, the installations have started a dialogue with the historical artefacts refreshing our perception of familiar objects and creating challenging reinterpretations of supposedly certain topics. In July 2011 MAP set sail and went on board the historic coastal vessel GESINE (built 1928). Inspired by Sønderborg’s candidacy for European Capital of Culture, the mission was to bring an exciting art-cargo to the regional ports of Aabenraa, Sønderborg, Kollund and Flensburg celebrating the region’s maritime culture and heritage that has always connected the villages and cities of the region and the region with Europe and the world. During the day the artists offered

6 /

children’s art activities where youngsters could paint pictures, print t-shirts, create masks and improvise with The Mighty Mouse. The central theme focussed on the ‘underwater world’ with the fish as leitmotif. There was a big 2.5 metre sculpture-fish that could be fed with small wish fishes. Hundreds of kids – but also adults – sent their wishes via MAP to the world. In the evenings people were invited to the ArtLounge with amazing live performances of The Mighty Mouse re-interpreting traditional shanties and sea songs in their unique avant-garde jazz style. Altogether the ArtShip-project was a week full of inspiration, creativity, engagement, interaction, art, music and – last but not least – fun. It gave an impression of how art can be an ambassador across borders, communicating through the experience of creating pictures, objects, sounds and music – not dependent on language. After the good experience of the ArtShip there are plans to send the GESINE in 2016 as a cultural ambassador to Cypress bringing the region’s culture to (hopefully) Sønderborg’s partner European Capital of Culture. Along the way there would be various art activities on board ship like exhibitions, readings, concerts etc. Back home in 2017 the GESINE will constantly cruise the Flensburg Fjord presenting an exhibition on the Cypriot European Capital of Culture, again with various art activities in the different ports. The Maritime Art Project | MAP is an ongoing experiment in connecting art and science that aims to navigate new courses in researching and representing maritime culture in order to re-connect people with the sea. With its focus on the maritime heritage of the region and the incorporation of strategies of engagement and participation, it aims to strengthen the feeling of a shared history and culture in our border region that is deeply connected with Europe and the world.

168

en, ) 1 pers Cas ish (201 s e n han : WishF o J g r ÂŠ sbu Flen

170

During the voyage, explorers from the ‘Bridging the Gap’ project will join the ship for selected stages of its voyage to Cyprus, as part of their mental and cultural Grand Tour.

MINORITY ZOO A hundred years ago Inuits and Africans were actually put on display in zoos and treated like animals. White people could satisfy their curiosity by peering at these people – observing their customs, their behaviour, their appearance - safe in the knowledge that they would stay behind the fence. The Sønderborg Minority Zoo has been conceived as a provocative living work of art which will prompt us to reflect on the way in which we act towards ‘foreigners’. In Sønderborg Minority Zoo, real live specimens of many European minority groups will be on display. They will roam around their enclosures, in their normal habitat, in their usual clothes, surrounded by the things they usually surround themselves with in their own homes, speaking the language they normally speak, practising their traditional culture and adhering to their customary values.

Sønderborg Minority Zoo is designed to provoke, and to provoke debate. It is meant to make us think about our attitude towards ‘the others’, but it should also cause us to consider how the diversity of human life presented by Minority Zoo could be turned into an asset in the development of the countryside metropolis. Minority Zoo is conceived as a living art installation which can go on a tour of other European border regions after 2017.

DYBBØL: CARNAGE – CONCILIATION – COEXISTENCE No one event has done more to define the Danish self-image than the battle waged over the trenches of Dybbøl in 1864. At one fell swoop Denmark was reduced to an insignificant state, its existence dependent solely on the good graces of the major powers around it. The Danes bowed their heads and turned their gaze inwards – away from their neighbour to the south. The Danish people never recovered from the experience: all of those dead

and wounded soldiers, the countless grieving families and the impotence of the state authorities. Sønderborg 2017 means to confront the trauma and turn the battlefield into a springboard to reconciliation with an event involving four symphony orchestras. A specially commissioned quadraphonic work will be performed by one youth symphony orchestra and one symphony orchestra from either side of the border. The Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Symphony Orchestra, one Danish and one German youth symphony orchestra are expected to take part along with one or more composers, an electronic group or composer, a light artist and a local choir. The first part of the work will be performed in 2014 – on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Dybbøl Hill in 1864. Here, voice will be given to all that has been forgotten. The complete work will be performed in 2017 when thousands of Danes, Germans and Europeans are expected to take part in the event.

6 /

BODY WITHOUT BORDERS Body Without Borders is an installation, an event and a forum for research and experience all rolled into one. It offers its audience the chance to play with the body’s borders. Body Without Borders will take place on the promenade at Sønderborg harbour; the work will consist of dancers whose movements are projected onto interactive water surfaces. Each performance will be a brand-new work because the surroundings – the weather, the backdrop of the town, life on the streets and the audience involvement – will change from day to day. Scents, tastes, 3D sound and visual manipulation – all of these will challenge the audience’s senses. This work is conceived as a major test of the concept of borders. The mental, physical, cultural and historical borders, and the border between the material and the immaterial. But Body Without Borders is also a research project, a field study, through which researchers, companies and artists can gain new knowledge regarding the way in which we experience and sense things, our perception of the body’s borders, our perception of the urban space, the way we use it and interact with it. And Body Without Borders is a salute to borderless communication through dance,

Asta Nielsen The first photo of Asta Nielsen, that was published in both Germany and Italy in 1911. It is not from a movie but from a theatre play.

172

which transcends all the borders determined by historical, political and cultural conflicts between people.

ASTA NIELSEN. A BRIDGE BETWEEN DENMARK AND GERMANY One of the most famous and respected Danes in Germany is the silent-movie star Asta Nielsen. ‘Die Asta’ was responsible for the establishment of the later world-renowned Babelsberg film studios outside Berlin, which are still in operation today. In connection with the year as European Capital of Culture 2017, a stage show based on the life and career of Asta Nielsen will be staged at the Alsion Concert Hall. The show will consist of a silent-movie collage supplemented by live performances of old and newly-composed songs. The aim of the show is to spotlight a successful example of cultural exchange between Denmark and Germany.

THE FALL OF THE KING AT SØNDERBORG CASTLE Kongens Fald (The Fall of the King), the most famous novel by Johannes V. Jensen, Danish winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, is set partly in Sønderborg Castle, where King Christian II of Denmark was imprisoned and where, legend has it, he spent years wandering restlessly around the table. The castle is one of the loveliest in Denmark and perfectly suited to a ‘site specific’ theatrical adaptation of the novel. The performance is in two acts. In the first act the audience passes through the chambers and rooms of the castle, viewing tableau after tableau; in the second act everyone gathers for a more conventional theatrical performance in the castle courtyard.

6 /

174

MIND BRIDGE The bridge across the knowledge gap

he transcending of the border between Denmark and Germany is actually only the starting signal for a far more wideranging eradication of borders. We wish to foster a spirit of cultural entrepreneurship in which culture will provide the impetus for a process of social development that will involve all academic and professional fields and match our spiritual values to the actual development of the society.

Mind Bridge symbolises the fact that all change and social development starts in the mind, and that the desire and the motivation to develop society spring from this same source. It is therefore absolutely vital that we build bridges across the knowledge gap that inevitably exists between the different sides of a border and between different cultural and social groups.

So the artistic programme for Sønderborg 2017 does not focus only on art’s ability to engender fresh insight. It also looks at what art and culture can do for society. The border country has to be instilled with a new spirit, a creative, cultural, entrepreneurial spirit which will, in fact, embody a new cultural concept. This will be a spirit of cultural entrepreneurship which will not only forge new psychological links between Danes and Germans, but also generate concrete social development in the interface between culture, commerce, research, education, climate and environmental studies, healthcare and politics.

Challenges

• • •

If we do not learn each other’s languages we will lose the sense of our very specific border culture. We need to achieve reconciliation in a region where the voice of resentment still prevails. Newcomers have difficulty in becoming part of the community on an equal footing with natives of the region.

6 /

176

Selected projects FATA MORGANA A visual 3-D organism, an elegant mastodon with a thousand languages, a floating chameleon capable of interacting with its surroundings and with people. A work of art the like of which has never been seen before. It look likes the airships of the past – the gently gliding Zeppelins; like the ones that used to take off from Tønder in Sønderjylland during the First World War. But it is also an image of the future – a UFO – a science-fiction craft. Fata Morgana is the name of a development project which will run for five years and involve a combination of many fields – but primarily art and technology. This floating ship will embark on a long, slow journey, with Sønderborg, European Capital of Culture 2017, as its starting point. Its journey will take it across the historic conflict and minority areas of Europe, and on its way to and from the other European Capital of Culture in Cyprus it will make five or six stops. The airship will represent a common forum bearing the message: it is possible to live together and to achieve a broad cultural community that transcends all conflicts, embraces all peoples or governments. And everyone can have their say here. Thanks to today’s technology it will be possible to transmit messages containing text, film, sound and music directly onto the airship’s

outer shell – for example, via mobile phone. Thus turning Fata Morgana into a very visible bridgebuilder in the sky.

LIFE-BOATS Life-Boats is all about meetings, about exchange, about being open to the foreign and the unfamiliar, about daring to enter unknown territory and creating new lines of communication. In concrete terms (quite literally!) the project consists of three concrete sculptures of female figures which are also fully operational boats. These sculpture-boats are 12 metres long and three metres wide, they have room for passengers and can sail down Europe’s old waterways to the continent’s many ports. They will set out from Sønderborg in 2013 and return home in the Capital of Culture year 2017. The boats are driven by electric motors which use alternative energy. Each sculpture-boat has its own identity and its own story and is decorated inside and out with works of art containing historical and cultural elements. The first sculpture is entitled: My ship is loaded with longing; the second: My ship is loaded with life; the third: My ship is loaded with memories.

Before the boats dock in a given town, the people of the town will have been asked to consider a particular topic related to the boats’ titles – memories of war, grief, loss and conflict, for example; or longing as it relates to health, sustainability, politics or culture. In this way the boats amass thoughts and ideas, feelings of longing and loss and memories from all over Europe and sail them back to Sønderborg for the start of the Capital of Culture year, during which they will be interwoven with the other events taking place in 2017.

are now European Capitals of Culture, towns that have been and towns which are seeking to be Capitals of Culture. Our aim is to create a network spanning culture, commerce, tourism and education; a network which can become a European catalyst for growth. A great ‘Hanseatic Union’ will show the rest of Europe that collaboration gives a region extra muscle, enabling it to point the way for other regions.

MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE CULTURAL HANSA The Hanseatic League was a political and commercial association of towns in northern Europe – and particularly northern Germany – established in the fourteenth century. We want to rekindle the energy and dynamism that the Hanseatic League was able to muster. In days gone by it secured something approaching a European monopoly on the sale of such things as salted herring. We have embarked upon the building of a modern-day Hanseatic network in the Baltic area – but a cultural association this time. The network consists of strong alliances between towns which 6 /

Traditionally, art objects are transformed into museum pieces when exhibited in well-guarded premises – museums, galleries and the like. But for the artist Stypa the idea of a Museum of the Future is that the work of art is the museum itself. Here it is not the things of the past, but the thoughts and visions, drawings, photographs, digital reliefs etc. of the future that will be displayed and given concrete form. Here the internet is brought into play as a modern, public, creative communication platform. A transparent ten-metre high glass cone, powered by solar cells, is brought to life by images projected onto its glass surface. The cone’s life is constantly

178

renewed via the internet and continually updated by means of the latest technology. When the future, climate and energy issues, poverty, values, hopes and dreams, poetry, literature and music are brought up for discussion in public all around the world a common global creative platform is created. People will be made aware of how much of the past actually lies behind our current visions for the future. These are based on the statistical information we download, which allows us little space or opportunity for thinking thoughts that have not been thought before. In the Museum of the Future thoughts and ideas will be exchanged interactively in the middle of the town in full public view. Everyone in the town will be able to follow what is going on and contribute their own thoughts and visions, which will be reflected onto the cone – both the local one and the one, or ones, in the other town(s) – for example in Cyprus. Once one set of visions has been given shape it disappears from the screen to be replaced by new thoughts and visions. Local people and visitors become eye-witnesses and co-creators of the visions and their realisation – not only in the one town, but everywhere where cones of this sort have been set up.

Because the idea is to have at least two glass cones on display in two or more different parts of the world. In the first instance in Sønderborg and Nicosia. But it will always be possible to add more cones to the network. And, from the cones themselves, with the aid of digital cameras, it will be possible to watch the artist at work and follow the life on the street in other towns in the world. Visitors to the Museum of the Future will find that the impossible is possible after all, and that new states of mind come into being – ones that we never knew existed.

LIVE STREAMING OPERA IN THE BORDER COUNTRY AND IN CYPRUS Opera is one of Europe’s oldest art forms. In recent years its popularity has increased to a point where it has, in many countries, become part of the heritage. Facebook and other social media are new phenomena, but they have very rapidly become a part of almost everyone’s life. The internet has redefined the whole concept of place and added a

layer of virtuality to the most concrete of situations and interactions. Sønderborg 2017 brings physical reality and virtual reality together, and it brings five border regions together, when it raises the curtain on the Flash Mob Opera project. An outline story, inspired by and written in collaboration with users of social media, will provide the framework for the opera, which will be performed simultaneously in the border country, in Cyprus and in three other European border regions. One part in the opera will be performed physically in each place: so, one performer in Cyprus, another in Schleswig, a third in another border region and so on. In each case they will be performing in unique, historic surroundings (in Schleswig alongside Flensburg Fjord or beside the Danevirke). So audiences in Schleswig, for example, will only see and hear one member of the opera’s cast performing ‘live’. The others will be presented on a big screen, with an internet connection to the other regions and the parts being performed live there. The event will be broadcast by the main Danish and German public service channels and edited in such a way as to provide a smooth and coherent presentation.

6 /

STATION NEXT SØNDERBORG In recent years Denmark has become one of the leading film-making nations in Europe, with Oscar-winning director Susanne Bier and the more controversial Lars von Trier. Germany has also made a big impact with films such as Der Untergang and Das Leben der Anderen. Inspired by these fine examples, Sønderborg 2017 will be launching its own film project, Station Next Sønderborg. Each year this film school will provide teaching and training for approximately ten young film-makers between the ages of 11 and 15, who will cover and record Sønderborg’s year as Capital of Culture. They will create video blogs on the internet and produce films which describe what it is like to be young in the border country and what prospects, from their point of view, it holds for the future. In each of these films the young film-makers will present suggestions about the different borders that still need to be broken down. These may be specific borders between Danish culture and German culture, but – in keeping with Sønderborg 2017’s focus on developing a spirit of cultural entrepreneurship – they could be borders between specific educational fields and specific art genres or branches of industry.

180

In 2017, a hand-picked team will be sent to Cyprus to report on the Capital of Culture events there and to compare the Danish-German border issues with those of Cyprus

theme – one that will never cease to be of interest or provide food for thought and interpretation. This forms the basic principle of the festival, one which will be put into practice in the following ways:

GRÆNZLAND – INTERNATIONAL THEATRE BIENNALE Grænzland will be a regular international theatre festival, to be held in the Danish-German border country and focussing on borders between countries, between people and within ourselves the border both as a necessity and as a hindrance to life. The festival is inspired by and hosted by Sønderjylland and Schleswig, and its aim is to establish an ongoing local and international dialogue on social, cultural and personal borders. The theme of ‘Borders’ will be followed through in every biennale, thus creating a unique profile which will help to distinguish the festival from other international festivals and confirm its roots in the history and identity of the region. It testifies to the seriousness and constancy of the biennale to have a dialogue that sticks to one important

In terms of theme, all productions must deal in some way with borders and conflicts between

individuals or social, cultural or national entities. The form/content/development methods of the art form’s own borders and connections must be

challenged and expanded. Social and cultural borders and connections should be challenged and expanded as a result of each production’s development processes.

The organising of the biennale will not be confined to the selection of artists, it will have as much to do with building a framework and a network for the development of their productions, forging a bond with Sønderborg and cultivating a process of exchange with other artists.

CREATIVE GREEN The art in energy; the energy in art Both north and south of the border there has in recent years been a growing emphasis on sustainable, energy-efficient solutions. Sønderborg is home to Project Zero, which has the aim of making the whole area CO2 neutral by 2029. The town also houses the secretariat for the Lean Energy Cluster initiative, whose aim is to develop new energy-efficient technologies and solutions on both sides of the border. Also in the region are two adventure parks which underline the focus on energy efficiency and sustainability. This focus makes it possible to play with the artistic design of the energy-efficient solutions. Artists can draw inspiration from the new technology and engineers and developers can receive input and gain new ideas from the artistic process. All of this will take place in open, experimental laboratories such as the Danfoss Universe adventure park near Sønderborg or the Phänomenta Science Centre in Flensburg, thus allowing the community to share in these new patterns of thought. The aesthetic dimension will go hand in hand with the practical dimension, thus building bridges between companies, artists and the general public – and presenting those on the receiving end with 6 /

a completely new sensory experience. Sustainable sources of energy, such as solar power, wind power, wave power and biomass/biofuel, can inspire permanent or transitory artistic experiences – sculptures based on solar cells, for instance, or decorated windmills which are not a blot on the landscape

182

VITALITY BRID The bridge between country and town, past and future “My capital city lies here. Here I have everything I need and more: the couple of years I have left to me are not enough in which to say everything that ought to be said about this stretch of land […]. And yet there can’t be any more to be said about a capital city, am I not right? But here you will find everything there is in the whole world.” So says the painter Nansen, Siegfried Lenz’s fictional representation of Emil Nolde, of the border country in Lenz’s novel The German Lesson. Just after the war Nansen receives a visit from an English superintendent. The Englishman cannot understand why Nansen has never been to London. Most Europeans today would be just as uncomprehending: the big city always wins over the country. But Sønderborg2017 wants to help change that attitude.

Growth tends to concentrate in the big cities. That is the way it has always been, but today the tendency is increasing. Europe’s marginal areas are become more and more marginalised. And the biggest financial crisis since the Thirties has not made things any easier. Workers and jobs are disappearing as the effects of social crisis become more evident. Nation states cannot afford to channel development funds into these areas, the young people leave and it becomes harder and harder to provide the sort of welfare that people want and expect. If the fringe areas of Europe are not to remain fringe areas they will, in other words, have to be able to regenerate and revitalise themselves. They have to show that these areas can become flourishing metropolises. Not metropolises in the same sense as the big cities. But ‘mother cities’

DGE

as in areas in which originality, innovation and development will have the best possible chance to flourish. Countryside metropolises – places where a sustainable future can be forged in harmony with the European countryside and the ways of life unique to the rural districts. The sense of community natural to the provinces and the rural districts revolves around the individual human being and forms Europe’s foundation and its soul. It is important therefore that we work for the revival of the provinces and the rural districts, so that the values from these will be accorded greater status and flow into the metropolises, where individualism, economy and systematisation rule.

Our goal, therefore, is to become a countryside metropolis, one in which cultural intelligence will connect us to one another across cultural, national and generational divides. Where at the moment the word ‘provincial’ has very negative overtones, we want to show that the provinces can be cool.

Challenges

• •

Despite our ambition to become a countryside metropolis Sønderborg is a relatively small town. We have to survive in a world where the big cities are given priority over small towns and rural

•

districts. We have to compete with larger, attractive college and university towns and encourage the younger generation to see the value of a countryside

Sønderborg is both town and country. By European standards ours is only a small town. But there is creativity here on a scale seldom seen in a town of Sønderborg’s size. The analogy made with the name ‘Vitality Bridge’ is intended to indicate that with a countryside metropolis we are moving into a new era in terms of habitat and lifestyles. But still in a spirit that oozes with vitality, energy, viability and stamina. Creativity, dynamism and innovation will be pursued - but on the rural districts’ own terms, by focussing on sustainability, health and a slow pace of life. 6 /

metropolis.

184

Selected projects FRANK GEHRY’S HARBOUR PLAN The Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry has devised a master plan for the transformation of Sønderborg’s old industrial harbour into a centre for art, culture, knowledge and commerce. Gehry’s master plan covers an area of 50,000 square metres down on the harbourfront, across from the Alsion building. This will be in all ways a sustainable scheme, in line with Sønderborg’s vision of becoming Denmark’s first CO2 neutral municipality by 2029. The financing of this project is not dependent on the candidature of Sønderborg2017. The master plan involves a number of new construction projects designed to integrate the historic buildings of the harbour with new buildings: Firstly, a new art exhibition centre which will set the national and international agenda for the merging of art and technology. This to be achieved through collaboration with educational institutions and businesses in the border country. Secondly, a multi-culture centre attached to Ewers Pakhus, the old warehouse designed by the architect Eugen Fink and built in 1910, when Sønderborg was part of the German Empire.

The multi-culture centre will be home to a fusion of knowledge, art and culture. Here advanced learning environments will be housed right alongside traditional exhibitions and a library service. Thirdly, a knowledge centre where small and medium-sized innovative companies can share facilities, knowledge and experience. The knowledge centre will reinforce Sønderborg’s tradition for creating growth at the interface between different branches of industry and commerce.

THE CHINATOWN OF TOMORROW Most European metropolises have a Chinatown, but often these present a fairly traditional image of China and the country’s position in the world. Sønderborg collaborates with China in several fields: culture, education and commerce, and its Chinatown will reflect the China of today and the China of tomorrow. Sønderborg Chinatown will symbolise cultural curiosity and the awareness that

knowledge and economic growth respect neither physical nor mental borders. Sønderborg Chinatown will be built up around an iconic building containing a restaurant overlooking Sønderborg’s new harbourfront. This will be shaped like a bridge, springing from the heart of Sønderborg, but not landing anywhere – a bridge that points out into the world, one which could be seen as forming a link between Sønderborg and any other cultural sphere. Due to our unique entrepreneurial spirit and strong innovative abilities, over the years Sønderborg has forged particular links with both China and the BRIC countries. These connections have led to collaborations within the fields of culture, education and commerce. And our approach to these collaborations has been distinguished by a natural curiosity on both sides, and the acknowledgement that culture, knowledge and economic development can overcome perceived differences. In Sønderborg we want therefore, to expand on this international aspect by building a centre which will reinforce our ability to collaborate and give rise to new cross-border projects. This building will contain a Chamber of Commerce which will work to promote a better business climate and increase commercial cross-border partnerships. In its design, the Sønderborg

186

Chinatown building symbolises the way in which Sønderborg is capable of forming links with the cultural, innovative sphere in many countries in the world.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE BORDER COUNTRY / CPH.LITT CPH.LITT is Copenhagen’s annual international literature festival. Held in May each year it presents a programme featuring a whole array of Danish and international writers. Sønderborg2017 has entered into an agreement with CPH.LITT whereby some of the festival’s activities in 2017 will take place in the border country and some of the Capital of Culture’s themes will be examined in depth at the festival itself. As a prelude to the literature festival in 2016 a number of well-known and less well-known Danish and German writers will be invited to the border country to write something – a short story, a novel, a poem – inspired by the rich history of the region and the question of borders in general.

The Capital of Culture will play host to the writers during their stay and the finished works will be presented at a series of literary events held during CPH.LITT 2017 / Sønderborg. In addition to this we will be instituting a cultural exchange programme whereby the members of at least two very different cultures can work together on the writing of a multicultural short story about the border country, one of which will play with both the Danish and German languages and/or the dialects of the borderland. CPH.LITT will also collaborate with the annual Danish-German literature festival litteraturfest. nu on the staging of annual festivals from 2013 till 2016, a collaboration which will culminate in the international festival in 2017. In the years leading up to this, occasional reading events will be arranged at which writers will make impromptu visits to schools, nursing homes, workplaces etc. to give readings.

The Jens Jensen Council Ring – a forum for physical dialogue – nature in the town Sønderborg can boast a famous and all-butforgotten son: namely, Jens Jensen (1860-1951), a farmer’s boy from Dybbøl who emigrated to the United States and became one of America’s great landscape gardeners and architects. His thoughts and ideas are still a source of inspiration and the basic principles for aspiring landscape architects all over the world. Jens Jensen cherished a fundamental belief in the connection between nature and the good life. In this way he can be said to have paved the way for the view today of green and sustainable towns and parks as social and psychological breathing spaces. And, through his close contact, in 1918, with the American president Woodrow Wilson, the landscape architect from Dybbøl had some influence on the decision as to where the current Danish-German border, drawn after the First World War, was to run

6 /

188

Jensen was born on the family farm, Dybbelsned Farm, on Dybbøl Hill and, as the eldest son, he was expected to take over the farm. But he fell in love with Anne Marie, the daughter of a smallholder and therefore, as far as his father was concerned, beneath his station. Jens defied his father, and on September 22nd 1884 he sailed for New York with his Anne Marie. During the voyage their luggage was stolen so the young couple had to start with nothing. They began by working on a plantation in Florida, but later moved, via Iowa, to Chicago, a city which was in the midst of massive industrial expansion. Jens Jensen got a job with the parks department where he rapidly rose up through the ranks. In 1902 he became director of Union Park and fours year later of Humboldt Park. In Berlin, where Jensen had done his national service as a member of the German Imperial Guard, he had seen the grand parks of that city, but his own view of nature was a rather different one. His idea was to bring the native landscape – the prairie landscape – into the city, whose different parts should be linked together by green belts and gaps and wedges. Jensen was a social reformer who believed that open, natural landscapes helped to give rise to decent, upstanding people. Schools ought to be constructed with direct access to patches of natural countryside where children could get dirt under

their fingernails, and in his parks and gardens he created places for music, dance, theatre and other art forms. In Chicago he succeeded in building 70 playgrounds and more than 100 small parks. And in Columbus Park, designed by Jensen in 1916, he constructed a large pool in which thousands of people could bathe every day. In 1890 Jens Jensen was fired from his post as director for refusing to accept the political corruption of the day and started taking on private commissions instead. This led to collaborations with the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright among others. In 1905, after a political clean-up in Chicago, Jensen returned to West Parks as general director, and in 1912 he founded the organisation Friends of our Native Landscape. Inspired by his own time at the Vindig Folk High School in Nordjylland (Northern Jutland) in 1888, after his wife’s death, Jensen created ‘The Clearing’, a Grundtvigian Folk High School, at Ellison Bay in north-east Wisconsin. The school is still thriving to this day. On the 100th anniversary of Jens Jensen’s birth, a stone was erected in his honour in Columbus Park. In Denmark, over the past few years, a Dybbøl resident and local history buff who also happens to be a descendent of Jens Jensen, has managed to whip up fresh interest in the great landscape architect. As a result, the 150th anniversary of

A countryside metropolis takes the sort of initiatives normally associated with the big cities, but for this new way of life to become a reality the surrounding area needs to be instilled with vitality and the urge to be creative. We are therefore initiating projects which will help to reinforce the development of dynamic local environments.

Jensen’s birth was marked in Sønderborg with an exhibition, a series of lectures and an international conference attended by American and European experts. In Columbus Park in Chicago, among other places, there is a so-called Council ring – a circular stone structure with bench slabs. Jensen’s inspiration for the building of this ring came from the old Viking council rings and the Danish Grundtvigian ideals of free and open dialogue. Sønderborg2017 intends to work for the inclusion in one of the green areas in the Sønderborg harbour project of a Jens Jensen Council Ring. This should stand as a symbol of the need to bring nature into the town, in line with Jens Jensen’s own philosophy, and emphasise the need – in this digital age – for physical meetings and dialogue. At the same time the Jens Jensen Council Ring will serve as a link with Chicago, Wisconsin and the whole of the MidWest - that part of the multicultural United States where the majority of Danes settled during the great wave of immigration. Sønderborg2017 will also help to spread the word about Jens Jensen’s very modern ideas through the dissemination of information and knowledge about his life and work.

6 /

FREMMEDART ‘FremmedART – Art on the Move’ is an art project involving the villages of Søndeborg Municipality. In 2011 three different sculptures will be erected in three different villages. But that is only the start. In the years leading up to 2017 more and more sculptures will be erected – the goal being 17 sculptures in 17 villages in 2017. The sculptures will only be visiting each village. Each year they will move on to other villages. And since the sculptures will be executed by artists from different countries, the whole world will, in effect, be visiting each individual village. The villages of Sønderborg Municipality have said yes to having a foreign sculpture visiting them for a year. A ‘yes’ which testifies to the fact that the villages are vital, flourishing environments, open to new impressions and new visitors. And the sculptures also provide a physical illustration of the way in which the villages of Sønderborg Municipality are connected, and how they are a part of the globalised world. Art endows the life of the villages with a new awareness, and the sculptures offer both villagers and visitors to the villages the chance to experience new avenues of interpretation and unique forms of expression. The many ingenious sculptures to be

190

erected in the future in the villages of Sønderborg Municipality can be enriching, moving, provocative and polemical.

CULTURAL VILLAGE The Cultural Village represents a vision: of creating a physical cultural hub in the Danish-German border country, one in which nature, culture and history will combine to form a pulsating creative platform. Here, amateurs and professionals will be united by bonds that transcend the borders – both physical and mental – and through this cultural interplay create a breeding ground for diversity, the exchange of experience, tolerance and creativity. The inhabitants of the area – both children and adults – and visitors from all over Europe will have the opportunity to come into close contact with nature, history, culture and each other under the themes: Walk through history – experience the countryside – share the culture – inspire reflection and understanding.

• • • •

Community centre The living history archive Creative workshops Presentation centre

• •

Course and camp centre Tourist attraction

In the first instance a cultural village will be established in Gråsten, in the old breeding stables at Gråsten Agricultural College. This cultural village will open in 2017; work will then continue on the establishment of new cultural villages both to the north and south of the border. The basic principle behind these is border-transcending and one of its key elements is bilingual communication. Here, visitors can quite literally get to grips with the countryside, either in the creative workshops or in one of the Nature School’s set courses, where they can learn about conditions for life. Here, too, storytelling evenings will be held, at which the stories and legends of the local area will be collected and passed on to new generations.

Natural Art Festival The Natural Art Festival is a unique annual event which makes active use of the natural surroundings to popularise art and culture. By taking art and culture out into the countryside we create unique settings in which to accomplish this goal. A focus on water and the sea is designed to reinforce the border country’s maritime image.

Sønderborg2017 held a one day workshop with the idea jugglers at Nygård House, the old forester’s lodge at Nørreskoven forest on the east coast of Als. The lodge is now a cultural centre run by an association of citizens.

Through a range of distinctive, offbeat initiatives the festival will focus on activities relating to the past, the present and the future. Each separate element of the festival will build bridges between these three ages. From the border country we will set off together on a journey into the future. Common to all the activities will be their use of the natural surroundings and their way of actively involving visitors in art and culture. The festival will be rounded off with a public event on Sønderborg’s harbourfront, featuring all eras – past, present and future – as well as elements such as music, water, art and design. By combining art with elements from the natural sciences we can show visiting tourists exactly what league the border country is in, musically and in terms of research. And at the same time involve the people of the area in a unique experience. Examples of ideas:

•

National and international ensembles playing music from all parts of the border country on rafts

• •

in the harbour basin. Jazz on a floating stage on the Als Sound and on Flensburg Fjord. Sailing tours to a selection of forests where artists will give children the chance to paint their own

• 6 /

pictures out in the countryside. The possibility for children to make their own

musical instruments in the countryside around Cathrinesminde Teglværksmuseum (Brickworks

•

Museum). Balloon safari and picnic. Visitors will be able to take a flight in a hot-air balloon and see the area from above. The balloon will land at a given spot

•

where a picnic will be all laid out and waiting. Small unplugged concerts where experiments with sound and light will be carried out in the

•

countryside. A farmers’ market down by the harbour in both Sønderborg and Flensburg, with local farmers selling their produce from barges and children baking their own bread in outdoor stone ovens.

The many different events and projects planned for Sønderborg 2017 will be staged in a wide variety of places both within and outside the border country. But three of the main venues will be located in the town of Sønderborg itself: namely, Dybbøl Hill, the harbourfront and Alssund – the Sound running between Sønderbog Bay and the island of Als.

192

Places of special interest The harbourfront in the heart of Sønderborg is currently in the process of becoming one of the most innovative parts of the town. It lies only a little over 500 metres from Dybbøl Hill, a fact which highlights how, in the border country, historic conflicts and innovation go hand in hand. Today the harbourfront is home to the Alsion building and from here, in 2017, you will be able to see Frank Gehry’s new art exhibition centre and multi-culture centre, which will stand next to the old German marine base and Ewers Pakhus. The harbourfront will provide the setting for many of the most innovative and forward-looking projects of 2017. Danish, German and European artists are being invited to develop projects for this venue based on two of the Capital of Culture’s three themes – cultural entrepreneurship and the countryside metropolis – and, through these, show a way in which we can break down the borders that need to be broken down in order to create a countryside metropolis in the DanishGerman border country.

Sønderborg has a long and rich history of sailing and shipping, and so the waters around Sønderborg – Alssund – will also provide a key setting for many Capital of Culture events. The Sound will provide both a historic stage and an innovative stage, with the boundlessness of water serving to underline the theme of overcoming established borders on which many other Capital of Culture projects will focus.

Dybbøl HILL, near Dybbøl Mill, is one of Europe’s most famous theatres of war. The hill forms the historic setting, so to speak, for Sønderborg 2017, and it will be the venue for a whole series of events, all endeavouring to build bridges over the borders created by history. A whole string of artists – Danish, German and European – have been asked to develop projects to be presented at Dybbøl Hill in 2017. This Danish-German – and, in a wider sense, European – battlefield will stand as a symbol of reconciliation. This will be achieved by means of diverse artistic events centring around music, drama, literature, visual art and other art forms.

6 /

194

65 //

196

On the way to 2017 DYBBØL 2014 2017 lies six years in the future. But in just three years’ time the border country will be celebrating a grand and historic occasion: the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Dybbøl. This event will be commemorated by a variety of Danish-German initiatives and, if Sønderborg is nominated European Capital of Culture 2017, it will also mark the real commencement of the candidature’s programme. Last year the Danish parliament granted an additional 100 million Danish kroner (13.4 million euro) to Danmarks Radio for the production of a major historical drama series aimed at a wide Danish audience. In terms of subject matter there were two possible options: a production dealing with the years leading up to the First World War or a series about what took place in Sønderborg and the border country in 1864. It was agreed to choose the latter, it being seen as one of the most significant events in modern Danish history. The eight-part series will be shown in 2014. Sønderborg2017 plans to enter into a collaboration with DR and other partners to develop teaching materials and other forms of activity to reinforce the major interest in 1864 generated by the television series.

2014 – the year that also marks the 150th anniversary of the war in 1864 – sees the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War, later to be known as the First World War. In the spring of 2011 the Museum of Sønderjylland – Sønderborg Castle campus – opened a permanent exhibition about the First World War entitled ‘Trenches and the Home Front’. The war went more or less unnoticed in Denmark, which remained neutral. But Sønderjylland was at that time part of the German Empire. Thousands of men from Sønderjylland were conscripted into the Germany army, regardless of whether they were pro-Danish or pro-German, and more than 5,000 of them never returned home.

DYBBØL 2014-2017 Sønderborg2017 has entered into an agreement with the internationally-acclaimed Danish event concept, Stella Polaris, for the staging at Dybbøl Hill of a major, public, interactive reconciliation event. This event will be launched as part of the 2014 celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Dybbøl and will culminate in 2017. Stella Polaris is a free, electronic, chill-out/ambient music festival held every year in Copenhagen

Artist Ingvar Cronhammar had a hand in the arranging of the new First World War exhibition at Sønderborg Castle.

among other places. The festival is open to all ages, but mainly attracts young and middle-aged festivalgoers. Each year the festival presents top international names and is attended by thousands of people. From 2014 onwards a special Stella Polaris concept will take shape, one which focuses on the building of bridges between Danes and Germans and, in a wider sense, between Denmark and Europe. Berlin has already shown a lot of interest in Stella Polaris, and the idea is for several events to take place simultaneously in Copenhagen, Sønderborg and Berlin, with Sønderborg as the symbolic epicentre of this endeavour to reconcile Danes and Germans. Starting in 2014 the whole thing will gradually be built up until its culmination in 2017, when several hundred thousand people are expected to take part.

FØRSTE VERDENSKRIG 2014 2014 is the 150th anniversary of the war in 1864 and also the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War, which later became known as World War I. South Jutland Museum - Sønderborg Castle opened the permanent World War I exhibition 6 /

How do you try to tell the story of the war of 1864? “We do it by taking the stories of individuals as our starting point. We try to bring a real person from history to life, and do all we can to stay true to the historical sources, which in this case are often diaries written during the war, or memoirs written some years after the war. Dress, manners, speech have to be as close to the original as possible. We also have a sutler – a grocer, Axel Zimmerman, who specialised in selling choice delicacies to officers in the Danish army. Axel could supply well-heeled officers with both oysters and wine. 198

At the moment we’re working on the story of a pro-German Schleswigian. How did he see the war, how did he feel about it and about the pro-Danish Schleswigians he fought against on the battlefield? We’ve found our individual and now we’re making a close study of his memoirs so that we can bring him to life. We present a series of stories central to the war of 1864. In each case we involve visitors in the story and encourage them to take an active part in it. They make food exactly as the soldiers would have done, they have a go at casting a cannonball. We have one brilliant story in which visitors take the parts of soldiers: they have to retract a rolling bridge, are made to drill to a string of barked commands, and help to load a cannon which is then fired – with the visitors at a safe distance! Then we have another story, an ‘outpost story’. In this one, visitors take the parts of soldiers sent out on patrol. And we have a special children’s story in which the children are introduced to a soldier called Rasmus and can ask him all sorts of questions: did he miss his parents, his wife and children, how did he manage to brush his teeth, and so on. Rasmus unpacks his knapsack and shows the children the things that he takes to the front with him. The children are allowed to hold these things – articles such as the coarse, woollen ‘long johns’ they wore in those days – and inspect them carefully.”

What plans do you have for the years between now and 2017-2018? “Our biggest project at the moment is the reconstruction of the Battle of Als. For the last two years, on the last weekend in June we’ve reenacted the battle. It’s played out in real time – we sail the Prussian troops over Alssund in the middle of the night, exactly as it really happened. The reenactment also includes some of the key battles on Als itself. 2014 marks the 150th anniversary of the war, so for that we’ll be making a bit more of the Battle of Als. There will be more soldiers than usual, and more banging and crashing. It’s going to be wonderful. We would also like to make a film about the war in 1864. We’re hoping to be involved when film director Ole Bornedal shoots the television series about the war. With any luck we’ll be able to borrow some of the footage for our own film. But that we’ll have to see about. We’re also working on an exhibition entitled ‘Dybbøl Destinies’. In this we tell the stories of those invalided by the war, and of the families of dead soldiers. How did they manage? In this way we also tell a story about Danish society, its norms and the kind of social relief that was available at that time. Also on the drawing board is ‘Route 1864’. In this we trace the story of the war through the countryside and in the local area. We’ll be putting up signs to indicate where notable events occurred. On each sign there will be an illustration of the event and a QR code which, when photographed by a Smartphone, will give access to a recording of a reporter describing what happened here. It will also be possible to listen to eye-witness descriptions of the event – which might be the evacuation of the Danish army from Kegnæs, or a story from the Prussian field hospital at Broager. The building is still there – in those days it was a school, now it’s a vicarage.”

1864 – A STORY BROUGHT TO LIFE At Dybbøl Hill History Centre, which is part of the Museum of Sønderjylland, the story of 1864 is brought vividly to life. According to curator Bjørn Østergaard the Centre has big plans for the years ahead, and not least for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Dybbøl Hill in 2014.

Søren Kierkegaard

200

”Trenches and the Homefront” in 2011. Denmark remained neutral and was relatively unaffected by the war, but back then South Jutland was part of the German Empire. Tens of thousands of men from South Jutland were enlisted, regardless of whether they had Danish or German sympathies.

The Region of South Denmark provides support for the project and regards it as one of its star attractions.

The Danish artist Ingvar Cronhammer has designed the Museum of Sønderjylland’s new section dedicated to the First World War. One of the museum’s next ventures will be the opening of an exhibition on the plebicite and the Reunion of 1920. And, last but not least, the museum’s exhibition on the years of German rule, from 1864 to 1914, is to be given a facelift. The focus at Søndeborg Castle on the First World War is part of a major educational and preservation project initiated by the museum. During the war a lot of military installations were built, among them a Zeppelin base in Tønder and a long fortified line, Sicheringsstellung Nord - Defence Works North – which ran across Sønderjylland. Many of these installations are well-preserved – among the best preserved in Europe from this war.

On May 5th 2013 it will be 200 years since Denmark’s greatest ever philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, was born. Throughout that year the bicentennial will be celebrated all over Denmark, Europe and the rest of the world.

Today the Zeppelin Museum is open to visitors and it will now be developed, to form the hub of the Southern Jutland educational project. Museum Sønderjylland aims to have part of the project completed by 2014.

Kierkegaard 2013

Søren Kierkegaard lived all his life in Copenhagen, but the Kierkegaard family had strong spiritual links with the Moravian Brethren, a religious society which has had its headquarters in Christiansfeld, north of Haderselv, since 1773. This connection will be examined and analysed in books and in a series of lectures. The bicentennial will also be marked by the presentation throughout the border region of a wide range of public talks and lectures and by the holding, in Sønderborg, of a major international Kierkegaard conference, under the heading ‘What is mind?’ The conference will take as its theme the statement, so crucial to Kierkegaardian philosophy, that “man was created to become mind”. A string of internationally acclaimed philosophers,

theologians, psychologists and literati have been invited to come and be challenged, provoked and inspired by this fundamental Kierkegaardian proposition: the ever-topical intellectual discourse on what it means to be human – which contrasts sharply, as it happens, with the spirituality that is so widespread today. In 2017 the thread from this Kierkegaard conference will be pursued. 2017 sees the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. In 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of that church in Wittenberg, he set in motion a process that brought about great changes – spiritually, politically, economically, linguistically and socially – in Europe. In 1536, King Christian III implemented the Lutheran Reformation in the kingdom of Denmark, although eight years earlier, in 1525, as the Duke of Sønderjylland, he had already introduced it to Haderslev, and in 1528 he ordered the drawing up of the so-called Haderslev Articles, which present the guidelines for the Lutheran Church in Sønderjylland – the first in Scandinavia. Since then Haderslev has been known as ‘the Wittenberg of the North’. Between 1568 and 1570 the first Reformation church in Denmark – the Queen Dorothea Chapel – was built at Sønderborg Castle. During the Capital of Culture year Sønderborg will play host to an international symposium which 6 /

Nederland 2018

MONS 2015

DONOSTIA-San Sebastián 2016

Marseille 2013

UMEÅ 2014

RIGA 2014

202

will discuss the bearing the Lutheran legacy has had on the development of Europe over the past 500 years and examine its importance today.

SØNDERBORG 2017

The symposium will be held in conjunction with the universities and educational institutes of the region and will form the basis for various teaching projects. The possibility of working with Wittenberg, Haderslev’s twin town, and of tying in Sønderborg’s activities with its own celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, are also being investigated.

Wrocław 2016

Plzen 2015

Košice 2013

Cooperation with the European Capitals of BULGARIA 2019 ITALIA 2019

Culture 2013-2016 Sønderborg has established good links with a number of former, present and future European Capitals of Culture. If Sønderborg is nominated European Capital of Culture 2017 the town will enter into collaborations with those Europeans cities nominated as European Capital of Culture in the years 2013-2016. These collaborations will concentrate primarily on the exchange of CYPRUS 2017

MALTA 2018

concrete projects, so that some of the projects staged by these different Capitals of Culture will also be presented in the Danish-German border country. In this way a certain continuity will be created between the various cultural capitals. Not only that, but the staging of projects from other Capitals of Culture in the border country in the years leading up to 2017 is an excellent way of raising the profile of Sønderborg2017 with cultural operators and institutions and with the Danish and the German general public. Sønderborg has also entered into a close collaboration with the three Cypriot candidates: Nicosia, Limassol and Pafos. Should Sønderborg be nominated European Capital of Culture 2017, our collaboration with the winning city in Cyprus will be intensified during the years leading up to 2017.

Cultural Passport 2016 In 2016 every inhabitant of the border country will be issued with a cultural passport. This passport will be stamped every time its owner attends a cultural event on the opposite side of the border. Once you have five stamps you become 6 /

eligible to take part in a competition to win free admission to a whole string of the main events of the Capital of Culture year – a simple way of drawing attention to the themes of the candidature and engaging the interest of a great many local people.

204

6 /

206

Mobilising the inhabitants

arginal areas are defined by their distinct lack of resources. Sønderborg’s aim is, in due course, to develop into a countryside metropolis, but the town does not have the same resources as a big city. This means that Sønderborg is to a great extent dependent on the inhabitants of the town and of the region as a whole, and their commitment to realising the candidature’s visions. Its inhabitants are the town’s greatest asset in its efforts to turn the area into a countryside metropolis and make the year as Capital of Culture a success. They need to be mobilised. It doesn’t make any sense without them. Should the town be nominated European Capital of Culture 2017, Sønderborg2017 will set up a project centre where the people of the town and the border country, artists and representatives from the educational and business sectors can help to develop projects and activities for the year as Capital of Culture. The centre will be answerable to the Sønderborg2017 secretariat and will consist of three departments: Arts & Business, Local Projects and Volunteer Programme.

Arts & Business Under the heading of Arts & Business the project centre’s job will be to facilitate concrete collaborations between local artists and local businesses. A flourishing art scene and a flourishing business sector – these two go hand in hand, and the interplay between the two needs to be strengthened. This is absolutely vital if Sønderborg is to expand upon the town’s entrepreneurial spirit and become, in due course, a countryside metropolis. The project centre will be a place to which artists and business people can come with their ideas and be matched up with potential collaborative partners. The plan is for these teams to go on to develop their projects themselves, with the project centre providing help and advice where necessary.

Local Projects Local people, local cultural institutions and artists have all helped greatly towards the development of

Sønderborg2017’s candidature. We want them to play an equally pivotal part in shaping the year as Capital of Culture. The project centre will therefore help local people, artists and cultural institutions to devise and realise projects – although it is, of course, up to the artistic leadership of Sønderborg2017 to decide which projects will be included in the final programme. But the project centre will also help with the realisation of projects to be presented in ways other than as part of the official Sønderborg2017 programme.

Volunteer Programme Sønderborg intends to launch a Volunteer Programme, one which will have both a practical aspect to it and a developmental aspect. Sønderborg2017 wishes to involve the people of the border country as much as possible. It also needs their help to get the Capital of Culture project off the ground. So the project will be making a concentrated effort to involve children and young people, employed people and pensioners in preparing for and effectuating the year as Capital of Culture on a voluntary basis. In conjunction with this the project centre will also 6 /

explore the possibilities for new types of voluntary work and new ways of organising and carrying out voluntary work. The recent financial crisis has highlighted the need for society as a whole to come up with a new concept of volunteering: in the long run the welfare state simply does not have the resources to take care of all the tasks its citizens expect it to fulfil. The border between voluntary work and paid employment ought, therefore, to be debated, in order to arrive at new solutions and new models for Sønderborg and the border country, and for Europe as a whole.

When Sønderborg2017 gather idea jugglers from both sides of the border simultaneous interpreters are there to help with communication.

208

Breaking down the information barrier Communication The Danish-German border is, above all, a barrier to the free flow of information. Sønderborg and Sønderjylland have their media and information channels and the Germans, on their side, have others. The border country is not a common forum for knowledge, information and communication. It is a divided area, with no common public authority. The Danish media report on Danish issues, the German media report on German issues. But none of them look at the border country as a common area with common problems and a common need for joint solutions. The term ‘communication’ comes from the Latin verb ‘communicare’ meaning, among other things, ‘to make common’ or ‘to share’. Communication is all about creating fellowship between people through the exchange of thoughts, ideas, values, attitudes and viewpoints. Communication can be many things: it can be superficial, quick, commercial, or it can be deep, slow and substantial; it can take place in a physical space full of closeness and attentiveness, or at a distance, out in cyberspace, where the laws of nature are

overcome and things that are very far away are suddenly brought close. But no matter how it is conducted, communication always involves at least two parties, and it turns the space between them into a common space. Communication breaks down borders – between people, between cultures and nations. And this is the role we intend communication to play in our candidature. Its task will be to ensure that all of the many bordertranscending projects will also break down borders between the general public – be it Danish, German or European. Communication cannot, therefore, simply be regarded as an ‘add-on’ to all of the different activities to be held during and in the runup to the year as Capital of Culture. Because communication, the endeavour to make common cause and break down the border between cultures and between art and its audiences, constitutes the essence of and the whole purpose of the countless activities planned for the year as Capital of Culture. This means that we cannot simply rely on the old familiar modes of communication. We also

have to come up with new ideas and elaborate on these. There will therefore be two strands to the communication strategy for SĂ¸nderborg2017: A research-based strand, which will explore, uncover and develop new communication models and suggestions for new forms of human contact via media. And a second, strategically more conventional strand which will provide information on the Capital of Cultureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s messages, activities and projects to the general public of Denmark, Germany and Europe. It is not ambitious enough simply to tell nice stories about the Capital of Culture to people around Europe. That has to be done too, of course, but that is only a very small part of the strategy. Because when, as in SĂ¸nderborg2017, you are working to build bridges across the psychological and physical borders of Europe, you also have to engage in the development of new communication platforms and models that will expedite this process. Only then will participation become a key word with an authentic and real meaning.

6 /

Teenagers playing the 2017 game.

210

Culture Encompassed

ulture passed S

ønderborg City Council has embarked on a strategic process which will result in a new cultural strategy – Cultural Compass 2020 – designed to underpin Sønderborg’s ambitions and form the foundation for its vision of becoming European Capital of Culture 2017. Here, the head of the municipality’s Centre for Culture, John Bøgeland Frederiksen, talks about Cultural Compass 2020.

Interview with John Frederiksen 212

How important will Cultural Compass 2020 be to the building of a strong international profile for Sønderborg on the cultural front in the future? “The strategy is going to be of vital importance to the image of Sønderborg as a pioneering, multicultural municipality. If we are to develop our international profile, all of the city council’s resource areas have to subscribe to the same cultural mind-set. A great selection of cultural events on its own is not enough. “Thanks in part to the entrepreneurial spirit of the area, and to close international partnerships within the industrial sector, Sønderborg has

become a multicultural society where people of many different nationalities have made their homes. We also have a lot of foreign students at our university. Such factors call for a high level of cultural dialogue and, not least, cultural understanding. There is also a certain expectation that our cultural events should be diverse in nature and of an international standard. This has led to a great many collaborations with foreign operators and festivals. For example, several big companies in the area have close ties with China, and because of these we are also collaborating with various cultural bodies in China, within areas such as film and drama. “In addition, since 2007 we have had the Alsion Concert hall, which ranks as one of the best

classical concert halls in Europe and is also home to one of Denmark’s five regional orchestras, the Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra. A concert hall of this calibre attracts lots of international guest productions and these have done much to colour Sønderborg’s cultural programme today. We’ve also attained the status of satellite town for the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival which presents a number of concerts in our area every year. And then there are the more specialised cultural collaborations that have taken root here. For example, we’re also involved in the annual folkBALTICA Festival, which spotlights folk music from the Baltic countries. “The Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra has been based here for many years and this means that our audiences are used to a high standard of classical music. The town also has the largest drama society in Denmark outside of the capital, and this has been presenting top-quality theatrical productions for decades.”

How do you ensure good collaboration with other organisations beyond the borders of Denmark? “We are a key member of the DKK (Danske Koncert og Kulturhuse) network. Through this we have access to a great many artists, both Danish and international, whom we would never

7 /

otherwise be able to attract to a town of our size. We’re involved in every active cultural network there is, within every genre – precisely in order to make sure that we are a part of the wider cultural scene. International networks can also be of great help, if we are to attract niche events while at the same time maintaining the breadth of our cultural programme. So we are, for instance, a member of Si Tous Les Ports Du Monde, and in fact have just completed our chairmanship of it. Si Tous Les Ports Du Monde is an international network of harbour towns all over the world, dedicated to exchange within the areas of culture, knowledge and tourism. As part of this network we have just taken the initiative to launch a major project on the exchange of talented classical musicians from all over the world and a programme of cultural exchange for young music students.”

What is the Centre’s philosophy regarding the nurturing of talent? “Talent grows from the ground up, and is nurtured through close collaboration with our two music schools, one for popular music and one for classical music. Here we develop the talents of young musicians who will later go on to the Academy of Music and out into the world. Similarly, our dance academy works closely with the Danish Royal Theatre’s Ballet School, and our

214

art school offers foundation courses designed to prepare students for entrance to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and other art schools. “The city council places a lot of emphasis on art. We have set up the Augustiana Sculpture and Art Centre, which has become an art Mecca of the highest international standard. And close to the Augustiana Centre we’ve also created the best possible surroundings for the municipality’s amateur artists, by turning ‘the Old Post Office’ in Augustenborg into a centre where they can work and exhibit “We do a lot to get international stars who are visiting the town to hold master classes for amateur artists and performers. For the past four years, for example, we’ve hosted a Danish/German Brasswind Academy for over 60 students and teachers from all over the world. “For us, amateur art is many things. It also includes the underground scene, where hip-hop, skater culture and graffiti can inspire and beautify, if done in the right way. We deliberately allow graffiti art to flourish in tunnels, on selected gableends and in our bus-station waiting room.”

How do you integrate the many different cultures in the area into the art itself? “Art is more than just an experience. It has as much to do with cultural encounters, a feel for a new culture, an introduction to another language or another cultural heritage. When we bring culture into our exchanges with other people we achieve a greater understanding of one another and encounter far fewer cultural and social barriers. “So it is our job, in the department for culture, to arouse people’s curiosity about new sorts of cultural experience, and to provide financial support for projects that would not be economically viable on their own. One of our niche events was a visit by the Middle East Peace Orchestra, in performance with the Danish National Vocal Ensemble. As a prelude to the concert we invited the members of various ethnic associations and of the Jewish and Muslim communities to treat the audience to a whole riot of sensory experiences in the form a bazaar of food, music, singing and dancing. In this way a wide variety of different groups were able to present a little taste of their own culture, and a lot of people were also treated to a totally new musical experience – possibly their first classical concert. Many were not what you’d call the usual type of concertgoer.

“We’ve learned that we have to bring culture out to citizens of all ethnic backgrounds and social levels. We can’t expect the cultural consumers of the future to make use of the same institutions as we have been using for centuries. So we’re investing a lot of time and energy in alternative cultural forums such as residents’ associations, community centres, parks, public pathways and roads. Culture doesn’t have to have a common language in order for us to share the experience. We had one collaboration with a Russian theatre company that toured Denmark performing different pieces based on fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen. The actors didn’t speak any Danish, but they learned a few sentences by heart and other than that it was all music and mime and gesticulation. Children and adults alike got a lot out of that. Our latest venture is a formal collaboration with a Danish-Arabic Friendship Society which we are supporting in practical ways and with a cultural exchange programme. So for us culture is also a vital element in the process of inclusion.”

How will all of these initiatives be developed in Cultural Compass 2020? “With Cultural Compass 2020 we’re going a step further and introducing culture into every area of the municipalitiy’s activities. Culture will

7 //

not simply be the concern of the department of culture alone, it will permeate everything we do in the municipality. Culture inspires original and innovative thinking. So it’s gratifying to know that other sectors - such as the departments for Health, the Elderly, Children and Young People and Town Planning and Tourism - can all see the value of culture as a key element in their work. “We have progressed from the narrow definition of culture as a succession of individual aesthetic experiences to one which also involves cultural intelligence and creativity. For Sønderborg it’s all about creating a spirit of cultural entrepreneurship and breaking down cultural barriers between people. At the same time culture plays a vital part in our endeavour to create growth and good living conditions for the local people here and visitors to the area.”

216

Cultural Compass 2020 A navigational tool for

The Vision for

cultural strategy

Cultural Compass 2020

In April 2010 the Sønderborg City Committee for Culture and Commerce agreed on the development of a cultural strategy to fulfil the cultural visions for 2013-2017. During the years prior to this Sønderborg Municipality had undergone great changes, with seven administrative districts being amalgamated into one big one – Sønderborg Municipality. Each of these districts had its own cultural policy and all of these policies had to be merged into one common cultural policy and one common vision. This has now been achieved.

The vision for Cultural Compass 2020 is that by 2020 Sønderborg Municipality will be recognised as a engine for growth within the cultural sector and as an inspiration and a model for other regional, national and international public bodies. Culture plays a pivotal role in all of the district’s dealings with the various professional groups, institutions and external bodies. And culture is a vital parameter when it comes to ensuring future growth in the form of new jobs and an innovatively minded population.

Now work has begun on the development of a cultural strategy which will underpin our ambitions and form the foundation for Sønderborg’s vision of becoming European Capital of Culture 2017. This strategic process will lead to the formulating of a new cultural strategy – Cultural Compass 2020 – designed to tie in with the established political vision and to reinforce economic growth in Sønderborg Municipality. The completed cultural strategy will act as a matrix and blueprint for the rest of the 2017 border region. Each individual district in the border region will thus be provided with a template from which to develop, refine and maintain their own navigational tool for cultural strategy.

The whole concept of culture is rapidly changing and in the years ahead it will encompass much more than just the cultural events and experiences initiated by actual cultural institutions. Culture will extend to all of the established professional fields in the district and encourage those working with healthcare, climate issues, tourism, town planning and so on to include the concept of culture in their strategies. We want to win the title of European Capital of Culture 2017, and we intend to expand our perception of culture as a concept to also include cultural diversity and cross-cultural dialogue. We

Centre for Culture Inclusion

Students

Leisure Cultural Institutions

Vision 2020

Commerce

Sundhed Children & Young People

Climate

The Elderly Town Plan Tourism

need to regard culture as a catalyst for creativity, innovation and growth, but also as our cultural heritage, dictating how we interact with each other - within our own country and across national borders.

The philosophy behind Cultural Compass 2020 Our strategy goes beyond 2017. In the first instance we are concentrating on a baseline measurement running from today until 2020, In the second phase we will concentrate on the years 2020-2030. The great thing about the strategic navigational tool is the very fact that it is a central element in a process. We are not going to alter the thinking and habits of an entire district in a handful of years. That requires a continuous process of development with regular checking, adjustment and refining. This tool will also provide a platform for the time after European Capital of Culture 2017. Sønderborg Municipality will still be as focused on culture as an integral part of all of the municipality’s development areas. As a municipality we wish to have a global outlook and to be a pioneering European district.

7 /

Sønderborg as European Capital of Culture 2017 is about a development of cultural intelligence and creative capacity that will transcend mental and physical borders – borders that must be overcome – between nations, cultures and people. Our whole candidature rests on three main pillars:

• Borders, both mental and physical Good examples of cultural and human interaction and respect for attitudes and opinions across cultures, nations, ethnicity and physical boundaries.

• Entrepreneurship The strong entrepreneurial spirit that manifests itself in the area’s will, desire and ability to innovate and to create new business areas and companies.

• Countryside Metropolis The essence of the area’s quality – the countryside, peace and quiet, fresh air – combined with cultural and business-boosting ventures and activities that are normally considered the preserve of a big city. All initiatives related to the three pillars must be elements which foster sustainable development. And the way in which initiatives and activities are presented must accommodate the expectations

218

of future generations in terms of presentation platforms and new technology.

Denmark and abroad, the continued development of the town or something completely different.

Over the years we have developed a strong entrepreneurial spirit in this area, in the business sector and in the political system. We intend to build upon this entrepreneurial spirit and create a spirit of cultural entrepreneurship. Culture unites us and gives a sense of fellowship. And culture plays a key role as a prerequisite for the creation of growth and good living conditions for local people and visitors to our area.

The changes in our lifestyle between now and 2030 are going to place greater and greater demands on the diversity of culture on offer to the people of the municipality. According to Fremforsk, the Danish Centre for Future Studies, in the years ahead everyday culture will become one of the prime core benefits provided by city councils. The focus has shifted from big, spectacular events to budding cultural options in the local area or in the town. This local, enlightening, educational culture reinforces our pride in the area where we live. And it gives us a sense of belonging and identity. At the same time, over the next 20 years the focus within the concept of culture is going to shift from the highbrow to the more multi-faceted, boundless, global and, not least, digital. The next generation will be known as ‘Digital Natives’. They will consider themselves to be as much citizens of the world as citizens of Denmark and they will travel across borders all over the world thanks to the digital age into which they were born. This development inspires Sønderborg to look to the future and operate with a more multi-faceted concept of culture, to ensure that culture here will develop on many different platforms and span borders.

Culture as a central element in the district The process is begun that will lead to all administrative bodies within the municipality recognising the value of culture as a central element in the municipality’s way of working. Each individual area must regard culture as a source of inspiration and a new way of communicating, one that will make people feel their voices are being heard and understood. This is essential, whether we are safeguarding the interests of the elderly, the health of the town’s citizens, the educational opportunities for children and young people, the appeal to newcomers from

Attractive surroundings for cultural consumers European Capital of Culture 2017 Central Library on the harbour front Vision 2013-2017

Multi-culture centre Framework for cooperation with the border region The forging of ties between commerce and culture A vibrant youth culture

A navigational tool – Cultural Compass 2020 We have used the analogy of a compass because a compass needle always points in the same direction – north - no matter where you happen to be. The compass shows you which way to go and the division of the compass into 360 degrees takes you all the way around the world. The Cultural Compass ensures that everyone feels included in this strategy and that in the future the cultural sector will have just one navigational tool – Cultural Compass 2020. Cultural Compass 2020 is designed to involve cultural institutions and inter-disciplinary areas in Sønderborg Municipality more closely with the district’s strategy for growth in the cultural sector. Cultural Compass 2020 is more than just a strategy for how culture will look in the year 2020. Culture has to act as a driving force; it also has to integrate knowledge, research, education, politics and commerce into an overall concept of culture – manifested by the area’s strong entrepreneurial spirit. This will be achieved by a way of thinking that spans all professional fields and eliminates mental and physical barriers. Cultural Compass 2020 will be both a practical instrument and a strategic navigational tool that will enable each

7 /

sector within the district to keep up-to-date on development of the strategy in the cultural sector.

Cultural Compass 2020 – the process The Cultural Compass is split up into a number of focus areas within the municipality, all of which will eventually interact to a much greater extent with the cultural side. Each of these focus areas has been presented with a mandate containing a description of the thoughts and the philosophy behind Cultural Compass 2020, a series of questions to which they should give answers relating to their own area, and a form on which progress can be tracked. It will be necessary to carry out a baseline measurement of every single focus area within the municipality in order to see how they interact with culture today. There are some focus areas where culture will obviously not play a central part in the day-to-day activities, while others will involve culture in their work as a matter of course. An analysis will then be carried out of each focus area’s plans for ways in which culture will be progressively integrated into their day-to-day activities.

External bodies

Institutions The City Council

the process

Professional groups within the municipality

SE 2 PHA

SE 1 PHA

Cultural Compass

220

In the first instance we will be looking at professional fields within the municipality. The next phase will include decentralised institutions, and the final phase will involve an analysis of interested parties outside the district. Each phase will take its starting point from within the mandate, the set questions and a KPI – a Key Performance Indicator – to monitor progress. Over the coming years all of this will help us to form a picture of how the district as a whole interacts with culture and what plans and goals each focus area has for making culture central to its awareness from now on.

Mutually-inspiring task force A task force has been set up, consisting of representatives from each professional field in the municipality. Regular meetings of the task force will provide its members with the inspiration for activities which they can take up within their own focus areas, and ideas for how they and active members of the community can devise and develop new cultural options. At its inception the task force was presented, in a lecture, with one future-studies expert’s ideas on how the concept of culture is likely to change between now and 2030.

In the years ahead the concept of culture will be expanded and redefined – moving from an institutional way of thinking towards a more comprehensive, all-embracing approach. The future-studies expert explained how local authorities develop in relation to settlement patterns and how culture interacts with the local authority’s areas of activity. This lecture was also produced as an article which can be of help to each member of the task force in their work. The task now is for each individual professional field in the municipality to define ways in which to support the candidature for European Capital of Culture and include the concept of culture in its own sphere of activity. They will have to answer a number of questions on how their professional field is interacting with culture today and how it will interact with culture in 2020. They will also be asked to map out those activities of which culture is already an integral part and those where it will become one in the future. All of this will be summed up in KPI form showing goals, undertakings and current status. The complete report from each professional field will amount to approximately two A4 pages.

Clarificatory questions for use in completing the KPI form Status in 2011 for professional field X 1. How does my field interact with ‘culture’ today? 2. What concrete strategies have we launched within our field that already include culture as an integral component? Strategy 2011-2020 for professional field X • What is our strategy for integrating ‘culture’ into our sphere of activity over the next nine years? • What part will the concept of culture play in our field in the year 2020? • What concrete initiatives do we intend to launch in order to integrate ‘culture’ into our sphere of activity? • What sort of action plan, with what concrete goals, do we intend to devise in order to integrate ‘culture’ into our sphere of activity?

An original and innovative strategy Sønderborg Municipality wishes to increase its competitiveness by making the concept of culture a central element in every aspect of the municipality’s activities. It is therefore extremely important that each professional field’s strategy for 2011-2020 should be original and innovative – and always with the concept of culture as an integral part of each individual field’s activities. Set ways of thinking should be challenged at every level of the administration. Instead we have to ask: couldn’t we take a radically different approach, and form a totally fresh conception of culture? 7 /

Several studies tell us, for example, that we would do well to ensure everyone keeps a clear mind as they get older if we want, in the future, to have a workforce in which individuals are able to work on beyond the age of 65. Culture has the ability to stimulate and preserve life skills, thus helping to keep weaker members of the community physically and mentally healthy. This could inspire a wide variety of professional fields to activate and stimulate the senses by means of culture. The Centre for Culture will inspire the rest of the organisation to participate in a process whereby all inter-disciplinary groups and cultural institutions in the municipality will meet regularly and inspire one another to come up with good new ideas and projects involving the whole district. The Centre for Culture will see to it that Cultural Compass 2020 is regularly updated, and at the beginning of 2012 it will initiate the next stage – Cultural Compass 2030. Both of these instruments will act as guides for the municipality when it comes to deciding which cultural initiatives will see the light of day in the years ahead. At the same time it will ensure that each cultural initiative embraces as many professional fields and interested parties within the municipality as possible. This will serve to reinforce long-term growth and provide an attractive settlement environment. The completed cultural strategy – Cultural Compass 2020 – will be a navigational tool in a quite graphic sense, since it involves the production of a piece of visual material which can be of relevant help in our day-to-day work. This is not meant to be a strategy for strategy’s sake, but a strategic, tactical and practical instrument – one that can be used at many different levels. It will occupy a central place on the mayor of Sønderborg’s desk, but it will also have an equally prominent position on the front desk of the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

222

7 /

Peter Duelund, Cultural sociologist & Associate Professor at University of Copenhagen

224

ationalism is on the advance today, both inside and outside of Europe. And the burning question for researchers and institutions devoted to the study of Europe’s future is how to combat this. At the same time, throughout Europe there is a growing tendency in cultural policy – both national and regional – to foster a sense of national identity, one which often harks back to a ‘primordial’ culture. It seems like an attempt to create a national unified culture, one that differentiates between ‘us’ and ‘them’ and is in some cases linked to a country’s immigration policy. The Danish cultural anthropologist and associate professor at the University of Copenhagen Peter Duelund, described this tendency in a report to the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee for Culture in July 2011. In this he cites a number of examples in Europe – in France, Germany, Denmark, Scotland, Poland, Turkey, Greece and Serbia. Examples which contrast sharply with the vision of the people of Europe being regarded as individuals living in a multicultural society that respects not only freedom

The Council of Europe is not an EU body, but an international organisation with a membership consisting of 47 European countries. The organisation was founded with the signing of the Treaty of London on May 5th 1949. In 1950 the council published the European Convention on Human Rights, which formed the basis for the European Court of Human Rights. The Secretary-General of the Council of Europe is Thorbjørn Jagland, a former prime minister and foreign minister of Norway. The Group of Eminent Persons was created by the Council of Europe and is chaired by the former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer. The other members of the group are Emma Bonino (Italy), Timothy Garton Ash (United Kingdom), Martin Hirsch (France), Danuta Hübner (Poland), Ayse Kadioglu (Turkey), Sonja Licht (Serbia) and Vladimir Lukin (the Russian Federation).

and fundamental rights, but also the individual’s cultural and social identity. According to Peter Duelund, these examples show that there is a need for a more thoroughgoing investigation and discussion of nationalism in cultural policies and, not least, that steps have to be taken to develop counter-strategies, complete with directions on how abstract concepts of human rights and cultural diversity can be put into practice. Granted, there is no obvious recipe for how to form alternative cultural concepts, but Peter Duelund points out that a good starting point already exists, in the conventions and documents of the Council of Europe – for example, in the Convention on Human Rights and in the European Manifesto for Multiple Cultural Affiliations from 2007, which employs modern concepts – such as the concept of ‘multiple identities’ – to address the lack of cultural dynamics. The very acceptance of a multiple identity represents an important step towards integration, a fact stressed by the Council of Europe’s Group of Eminent Persons which, in 2011, presented a report entitled ‘Living together – combining diversity and freedom in 21st century Europe’. With a background of rising intolerance and discrimination that is threatening the European model and social cohesion, the group was charged with the task of discovering where the threats lie, ascertaining the reasons for them and ways in which to combat them. The group maintains that identity is an individual question and that European society needs to open up to diversity and accept that a person can be a ‘hyphenated European’ – Turkish-German, for example, or North African-French – just as, in America, we’re used to hearing people referred to as African-American or Italian-American.

National identity in the future â&#x20AC;&#x201C; diversity is the key

7 /

In Europe there are more than 20 million immigrants from countries outside the EU. They make up 4 per cent of the population. Increased immigration is necessary in order to maintain living standards. By 2013 or 2014 the workforce will have shrunk due to an ageing population. Over the next 50 years the total working age population is due to fall by 50 million. By 2020 there will be a shortage of two million workers in the health sector.

226

But this requires that everyone be accepted as equal – regardless of religion, culture or ethnic background. The trend seems however, to be going the other way. The group concludes that intolerance towards minority groups is rising and that there is also an increase in support for movements which claim to protect the interests and the culture of the original majority against immigration and the spread of Islam. Even though these parties may not have a political majority they have succeeded in gaining a great deal of influence and they pull the parties of the centre along with them in the race against Islam, employing a brand of xenophobic rhetoric that legitimises and contributes to the spread of racist beliefs among the general public. This has its roots in a widespread sense of insecurity among ordinary people – born, not least, of the global financial crisis which affects pretty much everyone while at the same time threatening the thrusting economies of East and South Asia in particular, by upsetting the existing distribution of the world’s commodities. There is a shortage in Europe at all levels of leaders capable of articulating a clear vision of Europe’s destiny and a convincing strategy for achieving that objective. This is most apparent in immigration policies, where the trend seems to be to close off rather than to open up. But, as the group points out, every politician must surely know that, more than ever before, Europe now needs the boost in creativity that diversity can give it. And if we are all

to live in harmony together in Europe, we will have to look farther out into the world, not least to our neighbours in the Middle East and in North Africa who are now fighting for universal democratic rights. In its recommendations for better integration the group rejects the use of force and emphasises that mutual respect has to grow in the hearts and minds of the people. They need to be persuaded by good examples and for that to happen we need a good social structure, one which will foster interaction between different cultural groups. Prejudice is more liable to spring up, after all, where cultural groups hold themselves apart and have no regular contact with one another.

different cultural backgrounds can feel at home. Living together means doing things together. But the politicians have to lead the way. At the very least they ought to step forward and present a complete, true picture of society’s need for more immigrants.

The group also points out that civil society plays a vital and often overlooked role. It is in everyday interaction, be it through trade unions, sports clubs or local volunteer and charity organisations, that the bridges across the ethnic and cultural divides are formed. The politicians need to acknowledge and appreciate this fact, the group says, and emphasises that local town councils have a crucial part to play in this respect. Because a sense of place is a vital element in the forming of one’s identity and by defining the place, a community’s leaders can help each citizen to define his or her own identity. The main onus is therefore on the towns, to ensure an open and culturally diverse community where people of 7 /

On July 20th 2001, the last day before the summer recess – and while in Denmark, as it happens, the debate on tighter border controls was raging – the European Commission adopted a new agenda for immigration from Third World countries and made the comment that, if well managed, the diversity brought about by immigration can become a competitive advantage and a source of dynamism for the European economies. In a response to this Cecilie Malmström, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, commented on her blog that the integration of migrants in Europe has not been very successful. As she writes: “During these times of populist movements and xenophobic winds sweeping across Europe it is worth pointing out that immigrants contribute in a positive way to our societies – both economically and culturally.” And she goes on: “It is clear that everyone gains from improving integration. But to get there we must all contribute – both Member States’ governments, local actors, civil society, EU citizens and immigrants.”

228

Sønderborg 2017

The Border Country’s Challenge to Europe by Peter Dragsbo, Director of the Museum of Southern Jutland – Sønderborg Castle

ønderborg is seeking to become European Capital of Culture because we believe that the special experience we possess and the aims of our candidature are necessary to the future of Europe. This necessity has two threads to it, both fraught with dilemmas and challenges: Sønderborg as a representative of all the border regions of Europe, and Sønderborg as a place which, right at this very moment, can tip the scales for both the local community and for Europe – away from a marginal outlook, narrow-mindedness, neo-nationalism, inward-looking, parallel societies and xenophobia and towards a bridge-mentality, openness and an ability to embrace different cultures and welcome the modern world.

Sønderborg as representative for the border regions of Europe Lying as it does at the administrative heart of the Danish-German border country, Schleswig, Sønderborg offers both experience and a challenge

to the rest of Europe. Its experience lies in a long tradition of embracing different cultures and a long progression from war and confrontation to cooperation and peaceful coexistence. The referendums of 1920, the Copenhagen-Bonn Declarations of 1955 and the border-transcending collaboration of today – all of this is just part of the fund of experience we have to offer Europe. But it is not possible to apply ‘the Schleswig model’ in all cases: some border regions lag behind us, others are ahead of us in the move away from confrontation and towards a common understanding. It is not a competition and we know that every region needs to develop its own solution. That doesn’t prevent us from learning from each other, though. As European Capital of Culture 2017, Sønderborg could act as a catalyst and encourage other European border regions in similar situations to compare themselves to one another, learn from one another, exchange individuals and ideas and act with a shared purpose. But the year as Capital of Culture must also be used to show all of specific target groups in Europe that ‘borderlands are the norm’. Border regions, with their mix of languages, cultures and national identities, have had as much of an influence on Europe’s past, and its present, as national states with one language, one culture and one identity.

230

Both threads are essential to Europe, to enable the continent to benefit fully from its unique diversity and multiplicity, instead of stiffening into armourplated nationhood.

Sønderborg as political signpost for Europe Sønderborg as European Capital of Culture 2017 not only involves a long-term necessity, but also another necessity that is both urgent and acute. We find ourselves now in a Europe that is wavering between, on the one hand, a return to more restricted borders, the resurrection of cultural and religious enmities, xenophobia and a right-wing nationalist fear of the modern world and, on the other, the swing towards diversity, openness and an acceptance of a modern multicultural, multinational, multilingual world. Both these outlooks are also evident here in

Schleswig, in the Danish-German border country. But, like so many other border regions, Schleswig is also wavering between remaining a marginal area in its own country or becoming a common ground. All too often in the border country we marginalise ourselves, by looking towards our national or regional centres and thus neglecting to see our partners just on the other side of the border.. Are we going to take an interest in our neighbours in Europe – or merely follow a fictional process of globalisation in the English-language media without making any attempt to learn the language next door ... let alone take an interest in the ‘others’? In its endeavour to become European Capital of Culture 2017 Sønderborg and the whole of the Danish-German border country have set themselves a challenge – one which can be a challenge to all border regions. We want to tip the scales towards openness and the building of bridges in today’s Europe. If we don’t take up that challenge now it may be too late.

CO-CREATORS

001

004

Sønderborg 2017 SECRETARIAT

232

001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Else Christensen Redzepovic / director - 2017 Candidacy Gitte Bjørn-Lüthi / process coordinator, INTERREG coordinator Henriette Pilegaard / director of communications Inge Salomon Madsen / secretary Gurli Christensen / project leader, marginalised groups Karen Andersen / project leader, culture & health Maike Baum / student assistant Kai Schröder / intern Mariya Emilova Tashkova / intern Patrico Soto / photographer John Frederiksen / cultural director, Centre for Culture Helle Barsøe / cultural consultant, Centre for Culture Anne Kathrine Hviid Bagger / cultural consultant, Aabenraa City Council Lotte Urfe / cultural consultant, Tønder City Council Gry Vissing Jensen / cultural consultant, Haderslev City Council Sus Lindemann Lindahl / cultural consultant, Haderslev City Council Johanna Jürgensen / cultural consultant, North Friesland District Dr. Matthias Schartl / cultural director, Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg Thomas Frahm / head of Department of Culture , Flensburg Town Council Christiane Wege-Brocks / Schleswig-Holstein Diet, Kiel Kia Sofie Abildtrup / development consultant, The Region of South Denmark, Vejle Christian Have / creative director, Have Communications, Copenhagen Rasmus Navntoft / project manager, Have Communications, Copenhagen Mikkel Elbech / assistant consultant, Have Communications, Copenhagen Mike Tylak / art director, Copenhagen

005

002 006

007

003

Executive Board 026 / Aase Nyegaard / mayor, Sønderborg City Council 027 / Stephan Kleinschmidt / chairman, committee for culture and commerce, Sønderborg City Council 028 / Jørgen Mads Clausen / chairman of the board, Danfoss, Sønderborg 029 / Lasse Krull / chairman of the regional committee, The Region of South Denmark, Vejle 030 / Alfred Holm-Petersen / city director, Sønderborg City Council 031 / Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen / rector, College of Design, Kolding 032 / Bjarne Rasmussen / director, Bjarne Rasmussen Invest, Sønderborg 033 / Simon Faber / mayor, Flensburg City Council 034 / Jens Oddershede / rector, the University of South Denmark, Odense 035 / Hans Julius-Ahlmann / director, ACO.com, Rendsburg 022 / Christian Have / creative director, Have Communications, Copenhagen 001 / Else Christensen Redzepovic / director - 2017 Candidacy

026

027

028

029

030

008

010

022

009

023

024

011

025

012

013

014

031

032

033

034

015

035

016

017

020

021

018

019

PROCES

234

1 2

1 / Ideas conference on May 5th 2010 at the FDE Center Padborg. Here 150 delegates from both sides of the border took part in discussions. 2 / On February 25th 2011, the same day that the Danish Ministry of Culture and the EU held a briefing session on the European Capital of Culture in Copenhagen, SĂ¸nderborg2017 held a briefing for the national media at the offices of the Danish Border Association. 3 / On March 18th 2010 sixty 13-25-year-olds from SĂ¸nderborg Municipality attended the 2017 Youth Conference.

5 4 / One of eight groups at the Youth Conference presents its idea for how Sønderborg can be a cool place for young people. Each group painted their idea onto a canvas. When put together the canvases form the Sønderborg2017 logo. 5 / In March 2011 Sønderborg2017 was invited by the SchleswigHolstein Diet to present its candidature at an evening event in the Diet’s reception rooms in Berlin. Here, the mayor of Sønderborg, Aase Nygaard, and the manager of Sønderborg2017, Else Christensen Redžepovic, on stage.

6 / Sønderborg2017 had its own little advertisement on the saddle-cloth under Stephan Kleinschmidt at the jousting tournament in Sønderborg. The chairman of the Committee for Culture and Commerce, who is also the man behind Sønderborg2017, was among the riders.

CO-CREATORS FORTSAT Sønderborg Municipality

236

Alfred Holm-Petersen / city director Niels Thede Schmidt-Hansen / development consultant Michael Roager / development consultant Peter Mølgaard / development consultant Kristian Pallesen / director of communications Jens Sørensen / communications officer Herdis Thomsen / communications officer Kirsti Madvig Olesen / communications officer Lasse Schanz / financial officer Arne Stokbæk / financial officer Kim Toft Jørgensen / photographer

Communications Rebekka Bøgelund / Crop Communications, Sønderborg Holger Jepsen / journalist, JydskeVestkysten, Sønderborg Ulrik Pedersen / photo journalist, JydskeVestkysten, Aabenraa Hans Christian Gabelgaard / photo journalist, JydskeVestkysten, Tønder Søren Gülck / SG Foto, Grasten Lars Salomonsen / PF, BorderPress, Grasten Malene Lemann / Damm & Lemann Kommunikation, Sønderborg Rasmus Elbæk Rysgaard / programme developer, Haderslev Nadja Grizzo / cultural consultant and editor, Malmo Prof.Dr.Oliver Scheytt / cultural consultant, Essen, Germany Mattijs Maussen / cultural consultant, Prague, Czech Republic Mary McCarthy / director, National Sculpture Factory, Cork, Ireland Dr Jörg-Ingo Weber / cultural consultant, Berlin, Germany Dr Yoram Krozer / researcher, project leader, University of Twente, Amsterdam, Holland Tijana Miskovic / cultural consultant, Copenhagen Dr Sue McCauley / creative producer, Melbourne, Australia Barbara Haveland / translator, Copenhagen Ulrich Sonnenberg / translator, Frankfurt Paul Knighton / editor, Cambridge, England Jens Bach Andersen / artist, Bjert Morten Fogde Christensen / illustrator, Copenhagen

Idea jugglers Peter Dragsbo / director, Museum of Southern Jutland - Sønderborg Castle Rick Towle / artist, Sønderborg Christiane Limper / artist, Flensburg Dr Peter Griesebach / general director, Schleswig-Holstein Landes Theater & Sinfonieorchester Claus Skjold Larsen / head of the Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra Achim Englert / business manager, Phanomenta e.V, Flensburg Birgitte Boelt / educational consultant, Centre for Teaching Methods, Aabenraa Stephanie Robl Matzen / chief curator, Museum of Southern Jutland – Cultural History Aabenraa Karsten B. Dressø / principal, LOF Alssund, Sønderborg Orla Madsen / director Museum of Southern Jutland

Karsten Justesen / head of Visit Sønderborg, Sønderborg Centre for Commerce and Tourism Johannes Caspersen / artist, Flensburg Poul Valdemar Nielsen / senior consultant, Sønderborg City Council Folke Witten / actor, Flensburg Lisbeth Gram / director, besouled, Grasten Hartmut Holtz-Söderberg / musician, teacher, web consultant, Grasten Katrine Hoop / head of the Activity Centre in Flensburg Knud-Erik Therkelsen / secretary general, Danish Border Association Mareike Hölker / cultural officer with Department of Culture, Flensburg City Council Natalie Gerstle / cultural officer, North Friesland District Susanne Gram Skjønnemann / project coordinator, the Southern Jutland Cultural Agreement Anne-Mette Olsen / project manager, Region Sønderjylland-Schleswig Prof. Dr. Claus von Carnap-Bornheim / director, the Schelswig-Holstein National Museum, Castle Gottorf Frank Zarp / director of communications, the Schelswig-Holstein National Museum, Castle Gottorf

Academic Advisory Board Hans Martens / chief consultant, Institute for Border Region Research, the University of South Denmark Martin Klatt / associate professor, Institute for Border Region Research, the University of South Denmark Torben Dahl Schmidt / associate professor, Institute for Border Region Research, the University of South Denmark Thomas Ottersen / Institute for Border Region Research, the University of South Denmark

Sønderborg City Council Anita Kjøng-Rasmussen, Bjarke Valeur Rasmussen, Charlotte Riis Engelbrecht, Erik Lauritzen, Erik Lorenzen, Frank Bodholdt Jakobsen, Frode Sørensen, Gitte Uttrup, Hanne Petersen, Helge Larsen, Jan Prokopek Jensen, Jan Rytkjær Callesen, Jens Peter Thomsen, Jesper Kock, Jesper Rosanes, Jørgen Jørgensen, Jørn Lehmann Petersen, Karen Damm, Lars Dyhr Hansen, Michael Schlüter, Niels Ole Bennedsen, Ole Stisen, Peter Hansen, Peter Jørgensen, Preben Storm, Stephan Kleinschmidt, Svend Erik Petersen, Tage Petersen, Tom Holden Jensen, Tommy Prokopek Jensen, Aase Nyegaard

Regional politicians Carl Holst / regional mayor, the Region of South Denmark Lasse Krull / member of the council for the Region of South Denmark Jens Christian Gjesing / mayor, Haderslev City Council Tove Larsen / mayor, Aabenraa City Council Laurids Rudebeck / mayor, Tønder City Council Simon Faber / mayor, Flensburg City Council Bogislav-Tessen von Gerlach / district administrator, Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg Dieter Harrsen / district administrator, North Friesland District Torsten Geerdts / president, the Schleswig-Holstein Diet Peter Harry Carstensen / prime minister, Schleswig-Holstein

The Region of South Denmark Mikkel Hemmingsen / regional director Trine Korsgaard / head of department, funding & international affairs Julie Ligaard Vesterby / communications consultant

Political advisory group

238

Manfred Kühl / The Danish Minority Gary Funk / Friesische Minderheit (The Friesian Minority) Uwe Jessen / Deutsche Minderheit (The German Minority) Max Stark / chairman, committee for culture, Flensburg City Council Martin Lorenzen / Flensburg Town Council Dr. Hans-Werner Johannsen / chairman, Committee for Culture, Schleswig-Flensburg District Rita Höck / vice-chairman, Committee for Culture, Schleswig-Flensburg District Bernd Facklam / chairman, Committee for Culture, North Friesland District Hans Klein / Kreis Nordfriesland (North Friesland District) Kim Quist / chairman, Committee for Culture, Haderslev City Council Allan Emiliussen / Committee for Culture, Haderslev City Council Poul Kylling Petersen / chairman, Committee for Culture, Aabenraa City Council Christian Panbo / Committee for Culture, Aabenraa City Council Svend Erik Petersen / Committee for Culture and Commerce, Sønderborg City Council Stephan Kleinschmidt / chairman, Committee for Culture and Commerce, Sønderborg City Council Stig Bæk Andersen / chairman, Committee for Culture, Tønder City Council Johan Kristensen / Committee for Culture, Tønder City Council Dr. Matthias Schartl / Cultural Foundation, Schleswig-Flensburg District, Cultural Working Group Claudia Koch / Cultural Foundation, Schleswig-Flensburg District, Cultural Working Group Nathalie Gerstle / North Friesland District, Cultural Working Group Thomas Frahm / Department of Culture, Flensburg City Council, Cultural Working Group Andreas Ott / Aabenraa City Council, Cultural Working Party Lotte Urfe / Tønder City Council, Cultural Working Party Helle Barsøe / cultural consultant, Sønderborg City Council, Cultural Working Party Gry Vissing Jensen / Haderslev City Council, Cultural Working Party Susanne Gram Skjønnemann / project leader, the Southern Jutland Cultural Agreement Andrea Graw-Teebken / project leader, KulturDialog (Cultural Dialogue), Regional Office, Region Sønderjylland-Schleswig

Media partners JydskeVestkysten - Syddanske Medier Der Nordschleswiger Flensborg Avis Flensburger Tageblatt, Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag (sh:z)

A special thanks to The Christensen Redžepovic, Bjørn-Lüthi and Pilegaard Jepsen families

COVER Front and back: From the major skater event, Ekstreme Grenzenlos, held in Sønderborg in 2010. For four weekends, BMX riders, skateboarders and inline skaters from both sides of the border competed for the title of Street King. In Sønderborg the event included a Lake Jump – the Alssund Jump – in which BMX riders launched themselves into the waters of the Sound. Photo: Anne Kathrin Pries

front inside: The Skomagerhus (Shoemaker’s House) border crossing is the smallest border crossing in Europe and the only place where Denmark and Germany are connected by a bridge. This runs across the point where the river Kruseåen runs into Flensborg Fjord. Photo: Aabenraa Municipality

Back inside: At the mega concerts held in the grounds of Augustenborg Palace it has become the custom for floating ‘gatecrashers’ to line the banks of Augustenborg Fjord alongside the concert ground. Here, the party fleet is in. Photo: Kultur i Syd

GALLERyINDEX

(INTRODUCTION)

P 6-7 Sønderborg from the air with

P 10 The Danfoss Head Office rears

P 14 The big bike parade is a traditional

Dybbøl Hill in the foreground. In the

into the air in Nordals – the only tall

event in Broager near Sønderborg. Here:

background the Kegnæs peninsula.

building in the area. Photo: Danfoss

The ”Fringes of Denmark” team. Photo:

Photo: Dybbøl Hill Historical Centre

JydskeVestkysten

P 8 A stiff westerly breeze is just the

P 11 There are lots of pig farms in the

P 14 The volunteer fire brigade is

thing for kite surfers on the island of

Sønderborg area. A slaughterhouse with

always looking for new members. Here,

Rømø. Here, Uffe Stenrøjl. Photo: HC

a workforce of 800-900 handles 56,000

the victim of a firefighter joke.

Gabelgaard, JydskeVestkysten

pigs a week. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

Photo: JydskeVestkysten

P 8 The seal population in the Wadden

P 12 Boy at the Autumn Market, when

P 15 At the Danfoss Universe

Sea is growing. On the Danish side

animals come to town for a day.

Adventure Park near Sønderborg the

there are around 3,000 seals, on

Photo: JydskeVestkysten

hero is a real science nerd. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

the German side around 11,000. Photo:JydskeVestkysten

240

P 12 Lots of people, and especially

P 15 Children and children at heart can

P 8 On the island of Rømø cars can

families with young children, turn out to

experiment with water in one area of the

drive onto the beach without any

see frisky cattle let out into the field in

Danfoss Universe Adventure Park.

problem. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

the spring. Photo:JydskeVestkysten

Photo: JydskeVestkysten

P 13 Once a month during the summer

P 16 Since 2008 official signs

P 9 The war canoe Tilia on Nordborg

there is a fish market on Flensborg

welcoming visitors to Flensborg

Lake. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

harbourfront. Photo: BorderPress

have been bilingual. There is no corresponding signage in Danmark. Photo: BorderPress

P 13 Down by the fjords and in the P 9 From 1920 to1958 border

Southern Danish archipelago shrimps,

P 16 Since Denmark became part of

gendarmes patrolled the banks of

or ‘fjord prawns’, are a great delicacy.

the Schengen Agreement in 2001 there

Flensborg Fjord and created a 74 km

They are peeled and eaten cold on white

have been no barriers at the Danish-

path that also cut through forestland.

bread. Photo: BorderPress

German border.Photo: BorderPress

P 13 The Sønderborg area boasts over

P 16 Since 2008 official signs

P 9 A summer day on Vemmingbund

200 km of coastline which attracts a lot

welcoming visitors to Flensborg

Beach. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

of anglers. Photo: Ulrik Pedersen,

have been bilingual. There is no

JydskeVestkysten

corresponding signage in Danmark.

Photo: JydskeVestkysten

Photo: BorderPress P 14 For many Danes Germany is P 9 In spring and autumn, the marshes

associated with cheap shopping. VAT

P 17 As a result of an agreement

around Tønder and Ribe are the place to

and other duties are lower south of the

between the Danish government and

see what the Danes called ‘black sun’ –

border. Photo:BorderPress

the Danish People’s Party, in July 2011

huge flocks of starlings: Photo: Tønder Municipality

P 14 Annie’s Kiosk in Sønderhav near Flensborg Fjord is a popular stopping

border control became stricter. Photo: BorderPress

P 10 Mads Clausen was born on this

place. Here, Annie Bøgild with a hot

P 17 Over 4,000 trucks cross the

farm in 1905. For years, at the start of

dog. Photo: BorderPress.

Danish-German border every day. More

his career, he worked in the attic here.

often now with Eastern Europeans at the

Photo: Danfoss

wheel. Photo: BorderPress

P 10 Mads Clausen took a diploma

P 14 There are 18 campsites in the

P 18 Dancing in the Town Hall Square

in engineering from Odense Technical

Sønderborg area. Many of them have

in Sønderborg. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

College in 1931. He is second from the

their regular visitors – also from

right in the back row. Photo: Danfoss

Germany: Photo: JydskeVestkysten

P 18 Each summer the Aabenraa

P 23 The park surrounding

P 27 On the 9th of April the occupaton

Mountain Marathon is held in the

Augustenborg Palace has been the

of Denmark during the Second Word

hilly terrain around the town. And

venue for a number of mega concerts.

War is commemorated at Sønderborg’s

there’s a children race too. This picture

Here with Eric Clapton. Photo:

memorial to Danish soldiers. Photo:

from 2009. Photo: Karin Riggelsen

JydskeVestkysten

P 19 Winter bathers from Sønderborg’s

P 24 In the spring of 2011 rapper

P 28 An underground car park in

Viking Club - enjoying life,even with

David Ssempebwa performed Haydn’s

Sønderborg has been the haunt of a

frost on the jetty.

‘The Creation’ along with the Southern

large group of street racers.

Photo: JydskeVestkysten

Jutland Symphony Orchestra. Photo:

Photo: JydskeVestkysten

P 19 800-900 users of sheltered

Patricio Soto P 24 Eid celebrations in Sønderborg.

tickets for the ladies lunch held during

year for a concert at Festival South in

Foto: JydskeVestkysten

Sønderborg’s Town Festival. The gentleman have lunch at the jousting

Sønderborg. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

tournament. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

P 19 Keep Fit for the elderly in Sønderborg. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

P 24 In 2008 Flensburg and Gråsten got together to stage an ‘Art Kilometre’ with working galleries and stages.

P 20 Keep Fit for the elderly in Sønderborg Photo: JydskeVestkysten

Photo: Karin Baum P 25 The Danish annual meetings in Schleswig was in 2011 held for the 87th time, this time with a parade through

P 21 Nørager housing estate in Sønderborg is on the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs’ so-called ghetto list. It is

Flensburg, among other things. Photo: BorderPress P 26 The Austro-Prussian conquest of

home to many different cultures. Photo:

Als i 1864 was painted by Wilhelm

JydskeVestkysten

Camphausen,

P 21 A good game of street football Photo: JydskeVestkysten

Photo: Museum of Southern Jutland P 26 Pro-Danish borderers were forced to fight on the German side in the First World War. Here, a postcard from the

P 21 Sønderborg City Council is experimenting with organising graffiti

trenches. Photo: Museum of Southern Jutland

artists and giving them places where their talents can be given free rein. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 22 A resident of Birkelund Care Home in Kollund: JydskeVestkysten

P 27 Dybbøl Mill is Denmark’s most powerful national symbol. It was razed to the ground in both 1849 and 1864. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 27 Every year on the 18th of April the anniversary of the Battle of Dybbøl

P 22 Bosager in Sønderborg is a home for the physically and mentally handicapped. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

P 29 Every year there’s a run on

workshops gather in August each

is commemorated at Dybbøl Hill. In recent years Germany has also been represented at the ceremony. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

GALLERyINDEX

(SPREADS)

P 92 Noisy gunfire as in 1864.

P 127 “Renbjerg Brickwork by

P 193 Opening of Sønderborg Rambla.

Photo: Dybbøl Hill Historical Centre

Flensborg Fjord” (1830) by C.W.

Photo: JydskeVestkysten

Eckersberg was painted out of doors and is considered to be one of his P 92 The Prussians at Redoubt 2 after the battle on April 18th 1864. Photo: Museum of Southern Jutland

masterpieces. Eckersberg was the founder of the Danish Golden Age of painting. The well-to-do citizens of Flensborg became aware of the journeyman painter’s talent as far

P 100 Sønderborg2017 JazzAls Concert at Sønderborghus, June 2011. Photo: Patricio Soto

Teater in Gråsten and the college of drama in Flensborg collaborated on the bilingual play “The Treasure”.

back as 1803 and twelve of them made it possible for him to attend the Copenhagen Academy of Art. In 1810 Eckersberg won both the Academy’s Gold Medal and the title of professor at the Academy of Art.

242

P 202 In the spring of 2011 Det Lille

Photo: The Danish National Gallery

P 202 Møllen (The Mill) Theatre, a regional theatre in Haderslev and Southern Jutland that performs 120 times annually for children as well as adults. Here “The Collectors”. Photo: Haderslev Municipality

P 100 Guitarist at Butcherjam,

P 148 folkBALTICA brought the

Flensburg. Photo: Sven Mikolajewicz.

talented Estonian Television Girls Choir

P 203 The Royal Ballet has repeatedly

to Sønderborg in the spring of 2011.

visited Sønderborg for outdoor

Photo: Patricio Soto

performances in the summer. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality.

P 100 Elektronic Music Festival, November 2010, the Alsion, Sønderborg. Photo: Patricio Soto

P 101 Artist Claus Carstensen (born in Sønderborg in 1957) is the man behind this sculpture at one of Sønderborgs highschools, Statsskolen. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

P 148 folkBALTICA brought the talented Estonian Television Girls Choir

P 220 Gråsten Castle.

to Sønderborg in the spring of 2011.

Photo: Ulrik Pedersen,

Photo: Patricio Soto

JydskeVestkysten

P 149 Last year a gospel ensemble from Uganda paid a visit to Sønderborg.

P 220 A Sunday on Als – Concert

Photo: Centre for Culture, Sønderborg

in Augustenborg Castle Park. Photo:

Kommune.

Sønderborg Municipality

P 126 The occupants of Sønderborg’s

P 149 In recent years the Schleswig-

Zero+ House, which produceres more

Holstein Music Festival has also staged

P 221 Kunst KZ Gedenkstätte,

energy than it uses.

some concerts in Sønderborg.

Ladelund. Photo: Kreis Nordfriesland

Photo: JydskeVestkysten

Photo: Axel Nickolaus

P 126 Windmills at Bredsted in

P 192 The Southern Jutland Symphony

Southern Jutland. BorderPress

Orchestra. Photo: Patricio Soto

P 221 Husum Castle. Photo: Kreis Nordfriesland

P 126 Schoolchildren have made a

P 192 The Southern Jutland Symphony

solar dish. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

Orchestra. Photo: Patricio Soto

P 221 Gottorp Castle. Photo: Ostseefjord Schlei GmbH

P 127 Production of special bricks

P 193 Opening of Sønderborg Rambla.

at Petersen Brickwork, Nybøl Nor near

Photo: Patricio Soto

Sønderborg. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

CREDITS P 32 Simon Faber and Stephan Kleinschmidt outside the Alsion Building. Photo: Patricio Soto P 34-35 Border control at Kruså. Photo: BorderPress P 36 Siegfried Lenz, Hoffmann und Came Verlag GmbH, Copyright: Ingrid von Kruse P 38-39 Vox Pop: Photo: Kim Toft Jørgensen, Sønderborg City Council and Søren Gülck, SG Foto, Gråsten P 40-41 The Alsion, Photo: Lasse Hyldager, The Region of South Denmark P 42-44 Sønderborg Harbour, one of the stops on the Fyn Rundt wooden ships race 2011, Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 46 BMX riders from Flensburg. Photo: KulturDialog P 47 Students at the Alsion. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 49 Playground in Sønderborg. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 55 Anders Kingo. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 56 Rikke Nicolaisen. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 57 Hans Nicolaisen. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 57 Jousting procession in Sønderborg. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 57 Medieval jousting at Sønderborg Castle. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 58 A.P. Hansen. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 59 Bo Jensen. Foto: Søren Gülck, SG Foto, Gråsten P 61 Muhamed Benslimane and Hans-Erik Kiil. Photo: Patricio Soto P 62 Rick Towle. Photo: Patricio Soto P 63 Bent Jensen, Linak. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 64 Bo Jonø, Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 65 The Diamond, Fynshav. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 66 Augustenborg Slot. Photo: Museum of Southern Jutland P 67 Augustiana. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 68 NordArt 2011, Kunstwerk Carlshütte P 68 Sculpture Augustiana. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 68 Sculptures Kunstwerk Carlshütte. Photo: Jörg Wohlfromm P 69 Frank Gehry. Photo: Sønderborg Harbour Society P 70 Professor ABC. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 71 Camilla Karlsen. Photo: Patricio Soto P 72 Michael Munday and Katalin Horvath. Photo: Kim Toft Jørgensen, Sønderborg Municipality P 73 The board of the Sønderborg Drama Society. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 74 Melissa Sevelsted. Photo: Søren Gülck, SG Foto, Gråsten P 75 Erik Randel. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 76-77 Children at the Alsion. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 79 Egevej, Havnbjerg. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 83 Primary school pupils. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 83 Danish classes for foreign-language speakers. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 84 Public meeting concerning Rinkenæs School. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 85 Village on the island of Als. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 86-87 Vox Pop. Photo: Kim Toft Jørgensen, Sønderborg Municipality P 88-89 Dybbøl Reenactment. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 91 The Battle of Isted 1850. Museum of Southern Jutland P 94 Konrad Adenauer and H.C. Hansen at the signing of the CopenhagenBonn Declarations, Museum of Southern Jutland P 96 One of the annual Danish-German cultural events is the Brasswind

Academy, held every summer in Sønderborg. In 2011 the participants finished off by playing at Dybbøl Hill. Photo: Centre for Culture, Sønderborg Municipality P 96 On April 18th 2011, German soldiers joined the Dybbøl Day march through Sønderborg’s streets for the first time. Here with Dybbøl Mill in the background. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 98 Fireworks over the harbour. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 98 The Alsion. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 98 Danfoss cooling valve. Photo: Danfoss P 98 Folkehjem – literally ‘the People’s Home’- in Aabenraa 1918. Here H.P. Hanssen made his speech about winning home to Denmark. Photo: Museum of Southern Jutland P 98 Reenactment of the Battle of Als, 2011. Photo: Patricio Soto P 98 Sønderborg Castle. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 99 Hans Christian Andersen. Museums of Odense P 99 ”The Little Matchstick Girl”. Illustration by Vilhelm Pedersen. Museums of Odense P 102 Pavarotti: Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 102 Michael Moore: Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 102 Eric Clapton: Photo JydskeVestkysten P 102 Open-air stage at Mølleparken in Sønderborg Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 102 Roger Waters. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 104 Helle Barsøe. Photo: Kim Toft Jørgensen, Sønderborg Municipality P 104 The Nydam Ship. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 105 The Isted Lion, Museum of Southern Jutland P 106 Kirsti Madvig Olsen. Photo: Kim Toft Jørgensen, Sønderborg Municipality P 107 Mogens Dyre at the remembrance service at Frøslev Camp on the 4th of May. Photo: BorderPress P 107 Mogens Dyre, Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 109 Interpreting history, Kristian Jørgensen. Photo: Søren Gülck, SG Foto, Gråsten P 111 Katrine Hoop, Photo: BorderPress P 113 Hans Heinrich Jürgensen. Photo: Søren Gülck, SG Foto, Gråsten P 114 Southern Jutland cake and coffee spread P 115 Inge Adriansen. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 117 Mads Sandemann. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 119 Bitten Clausen. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 120-121 The Alsion. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 122 Frank Gehry. Photo: Sønderborg Harbour Society P 123 Solar collectors, Broager Fjernvarme. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 124 The Danish army’s NCO school, Sønderborg. Photo: Museum of Southern Jutland P 124 The plan for the harbour. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 124 Ewers Pakhus on the Sønderborg harbourfront. Building is about to start. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 125 Future City Game. Photo: Sønderborg2017 P 128 NordArt Festival at Kunstwerk Carlshütte in Rensburg. Photo: Jörg Wohlfromm

244

P 128 Sculpture, Augustiana. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 128 From inside the Alsion. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 128 Danfoss Universe. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 132 St Columba Museum, Cologne. Photo: Petersen Brick P 133 Christian A. Petersen, Petersen Brick. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 134 Leif Maibom. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 135 Laurits Th. Larsen. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 137 Skærtoft Mill. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 138 Lars Christensen. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 139 Sheriffo Danjo. Photo: Kim Toft Jørgensen, Sønderborg Municipality P 141 Axel Boisen. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 142 Merete Værge. Photo: Kim Toft Jørgensen, Sønderborg Municipality P 143 Johanna Jacobsen and Safaa Abdol Hamid. Photo: Sønderborg2017 P 144 Sønderbronx Boyz. Photo: Patricio Soto P 145 Dorthe Ulstrup. Photo: Søren Gülck, SG Foto, Gråsten P 146 Ellen Trane Nørby. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 147 In April 2011 Sønderborg was nominated as the first European City of the Year by the Danish European Movement. Left to right: Mayor of Flensborg, Simon Faber; Schleswig-Holstein Minister for Education and Culture, Dr. Ekkehard Klug; mayor of Sønderborg, Aase Nyegaard; chairman of Danfoss, Jørgen Mads Clausen and national chairman of the European Movement, Erik Boel. Photo: Patrico Soto P 150-151 Vox Pop. Photo: Kim Toft Jørgensen, Sønderborg Municipality P 152-153 Kunstraum Fischträger Sylt. Photo: Kreis Nordfriesland P 160 Nolde Museum. Photo: Nolde Stiftung Seebüll P 161 Emil Nolde, Self-portrait. Photo: Nolde Stiftung Seebüll P 163 2017 workshop. Photo: Sønderborg2017 P 164-167 Photo: Maritime Art Project P 168 Violinist with the Southern Jutland Symphony Orchestra. Photo: Sønderborg Municipality P 170 Asta Nielsen. Photo:The Danish Film Institute / Picture and Poster Archive P 170-171 Sønderborg Castle. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 174 Life Boats P 175 Museum of the Future P 178 Local drama in Rudbøl. Photo: BorderPress P 182 Model of Sønderborg harbour plan. Photo: Sønderborg Harbour Society P 182 Chinatown of Tomorrow. Sketch: Jürgen Mayer P 184 Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt Photo: CPH:LITT P 185-186 Photo: Chicago Park District P 189 Sønderborg2017 held a one day workshop with the idea jugglers at Nygård House, the old forester’s lodge at Nørreskoven forest on the east coast of Als. The lodge is now a cultural centre run by an association of citizens.. Photo: JydskeVestkysten

P 190-191 Aerial photograph: Dybbøl Hill Historical Centre P 195 Artist Ingvar Cronhammar had a hand in the arranging of the new First World War exhibition at Sønderborg Castle. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 197 Bjørn Østergaard. Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 198 Søren Kierkegaard. Illustration: Søren Kierkegaard Kulturproduktion P 199 Queen Dorothea’s Chapel, Sønderborg Castle. Photo: Museum of Southern Jutland P 205 Sønderborg2017 has held a number of workshops. Photo: Sønderborg2017 P 206 Sønderborg2017 brings together idea jugglers from both sides of the border, along with a simultaneous interpreter to aid communication. Photo: Patricio Soto P 207 Teenagers playing the 2017 game. Photo: Sønderborg2017 P 223 Flags flying outside the Alsion. Photo: Patricio Soto P 224-225 Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 226 Peter Dragsbo: Photo: JydskeVestkysten P 229 Cartoon: Jens Bach Andersen P 232 1. Ideas conference on May 5th 2010 at the FDE Center Padborg. Here 150 delegates from both sides of the border took part in discussions. Photo: Sønderborg 2017 P 232 2. On February 25th 2011, the same day that the Danish Ministry of Culture and the EU held a briefing session on the European Capital of Culture in Copenhagen, Sønderborg2017 held a briefing for the national media at the offices of the Danish Border Association. Photo: Per Gudmann P 232 3. On March 18th 2010 sixty 13-25-year-olds from Sønderborg District attended the 2017 Youth Conference. Photo: Sønderborg2017 P 233 4. In March 2011 Sønderborg2017 was invited by the SchleswigHolstein Diet to present its candidature at an evening event in the Diet’s reception rooms in Berlin. Here, the mayor of Sønderborg, Aase Nygaard, and the manager of Sønderborg 2017, Else Christensen Redžepovic, on stage. Photo: Jesper Balleby P 233 5. In March 2011 Sønderborg2017 was invited by the SchleswigHolstein Diet to present its candidature at an evening event in the Diet’s reception rooms in Berlin. Here, the mayor of Sønderborg, Aase Nygaard, and the manager of Sønderborg2017, Else Christensen Redžepovic, on stage. Photo: Jesper Balleby P 233 6. Sønderborg 2017 had its own little advertisement on the saddlecloth under Stephan Kleinschmidt at the jousting tournament in Sønderborg. The chairman of the Committee for Culture and Commerce, who is also the man behind Sønderborg 2017, was among the riders. Photo: Sønderborg 2017

IMPRINT SØNDERBORG2017.EU Towards a countryside metropolis Editor-in-chief: Else Christensen Redzepovic Head of editorial: Henriette Pilegaard Editorial staff: Rasmus Navntoft / Mikkel Elbech / Gitte Bjørn-Lüthi / Kristian Pallesen / Helle Barsøe Art direction and graphic design: Mike Tylak Picture editor: Henriette Pilegaard Illustrations: Jens Bach Andersen (s 229) / Morten Fogde Christensen (s 50-52) Front and back covers: Anne-Kathrin Pries Translators: Barbara Haveland / Ulrich Sonnenberg / Paul Knighton Proofreading: Rasmus Navntoft / Mikkel Elbech / Henriette Pilegaard / Else Christensen Redzepovic Publisher: Sønderborg2017 E-mail: 2017@sonderborg.dk Website: www.sonderborg2017.eu

Printed by: Als Offset Augustenborg Cover: 250 gsm MultiOffset Inside: 115 gsm MultiOffset Typeset in: Bauer Bodoni / Helvetica Print run: 1,500

541- 456 Printed matter

Partners and sponsors:

Bright Green Business

THE MOVEM

ABOUT IT

S2017

DOING SOM