In this episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, host Kay Xander Mellish explores the Danish legendary figure Holger Danske. He traces Holger’s origins from an 8th‑century Danish knight serving Charlemagne, through his transformation in medieval epic poetry and Old Norse translations, to the modern name Holger Danske. Mellish explains the legend of the sleeping hero who will awaken when Denmark is in danger, noting its adoption by the WWII resistance group named Holger Danske. The episode surveys Holger’s pervasive presence in contemporary Danish culture – from moving companies, beer, aquavit, tobacco, a bar, and even the national football shirt, to the popularity of the name for newborn boys and the tennis star Holger Rune. A substantial portion is devoted to the statue of Holger Danske in the basement of Kronborg Castle, describing its setting, the Hans Christian Andersen story that placed the hero there, the evolution from a 1907 plaster model to a concrete replacement, and the fate of the original bronze version. Mellish concludes by promoting his new GPS audio tour of Helsingør, which guides listeners through Kronborg Castle and the town’s attractions.
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Hello and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kay Xander Mellish. Many countries have a Some countries have a fictional character who represents them— Uncle Sam for the USA, Marianne in France, Mother India. Others have a legendary figure who was real at one point but is now shrouded in myth, like King Arthur in England. For Denmark, Holger Danske is both. He was probably real, although he didn't live in Denmark. He was a Danish knight living in France in the 8th century, serving Charlemagne, and he appears in several of the epic poems of the time as Ogge the Dane. When those poems were translated into Old Norse, he became Oddgeir Danski, which gradually morphed into Holger Danske. He has been a hero for centuries. And he is a sleeping hero. The legend is when Denmark is in trouble, Holger Danske will rise from his slumber and come to its defense. This is why during World War II, when Denmark was occupied by the Nazis, one of the largest resistance groups called itself Holger Danske. If you're not Danish, you may have experienced Holger Danske in the form of consumer products. There is a Holger Danske moving company with trucks all over Denmark, a Holger Danske beer, Holger Danske Aquavit liquor, Holger Danske tobacco. There's a Holger Danske bar, and Holger Danske has appeared on the Danish national football shirt. And very famously, there's a statue of Holger Danske in the basement of Kronborg Castle, often known as Hamlet's Castle, in Helsingør, Denmark. I go by the castle in my new audio tour of Helsingør. I'll tell you more about that later. Anyway, Kronborg Castle is huge, and it has a huge basement where they used to hide troops so they could spring out and surprise the enemy. You can visit the basement if you go to the castle. It is cold, dimly lit, and kind of maze-like. There's water running down the walls and a big sign warning you to beware of bats. The floor is made up of huge stones called potato paving that have been worn by centuries of foot traffic, but are still pretty difficult to walk on. And in the middle of it is a giant statue of Holger Danske. It was Hans Christian Andersen who decided that Holger did his sleeping in the basement of Kronborg Castle. According to the Hans Christian Andersen story, Holger's beard actually grew into the marble table as he slept while waiting to save Denmark. Apparently, an angel would visit him every Christmas Eve and tell him he could continue sleeping because Denmark was doing okay. Hans Christian Andersen's story wasn't the only fictionalization of the Holger Danske legend. There was an opera written about him in the 1700s when, Interestingly, he had an Arabic girlfriend, Razia, who was the daughter of the Sultan of Baghdad. That opera was performed repeatedly during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. It became a symbol of national identity and patriotism. And even today, the legend of Holger Danske remains popular. In addition to all the consumer products, Holger is a very popular name for little Danish boys. According to Denmark's official statistics agency, 214 babies were named Holger last year. So you may hear it called out on a Danish playground. Holger! 21-year-old Holger Rune is the big Danish tennis hopeful of the moment. Holger Danske is cool. I should warn you, though, that the statue in the basement of Kronborg Castle isn't a particularly exciting work of art. It's made from concrete, replacing a 1907 plaster version that disintegrated in the wet basement. The plaster version was the model for a fancier bronze version that used to sit outside a local hotel. But it was the plaster version that became the tourist attraction. If you visit, you'll notice that its concrete replacement is very dramatically lit, and it's fun to go down there and see it. But in artistic terms, it's not really Michelangelo. Meanwhile, the original bronze version was sold at auction in 2013 to a group of investors in Skjern, which is a town in Jutland of not quite 8,000 people. It's about a 20-minute drive from Linköping or an hour's drive from Esbjerg. I have not been there myself, but from what I can see online, Holger Danske is in a parking lot. Near a ladies' clothing shop and a hardware store. Let's face it, he's outside a strip mall in the provinces. But he's still Holger Danske, and I feel confident that he will still come to save Denmark whenever we need him. And that's the How to Live in Denmark podcast for this week. I have a new audio tour out of Helsingør, Denmark. It's a GPS tour, So after you download the tour, you just put your phone in your pocket and I guide you around to all the local delights, including the ramparts of Kronborg Castle, and tell you funny stories as you go. It's an outdoor tour that takes about 2 hours, but you can stop and have a coffee or go inside the castle or one of the museums if you like. So you can certainly make a day trip out of it. Download the VoiceMap app or go to voicemap.com. You can also see some photos from the tour on our How to Live in DK Instagram account. See you next time.
