"OH Danmark" in Danish

Rolf Krause

Copenhagen Main Station

I arrived at Copenhagen Main Station in early Mach, 2009. The time is around 6 PM. The train ride was just an appendix to a return trip that started in Indianapolis, USA, and now ends in my motherland, Denmark. My brother is there to welcome me. Ah, at least one familiar face and loved one.

I haven't been at the Main Station since 1989. The first impression is that it's a piece of Manhattan, Chicago or Los Angeles. The ethnic mix of travelers and bystanders is quite unexpected for Copenhagen. I tell my brother that the main station looks like a piece of China, as there are many Orientals hanging around. My brother laughs and says that in the last fifteen years or so there has been a constant influx of people from around the world and it isn't just the main station that looks like that. I hear a person, that looks like a Pakistanian or Indian, speak to another in perfect Danish. Obviously, he has lived here for many years or was born here. No need to pick up the local language through education or tutoring to speak to the “natives.” My Danish seems to be amazingly workable even after all this years.

Outside the Main Station. One of the
first things that struck me was the new ethnic mix.

A new generation and a new language. Much of the
conversation in public places is done via cell phone.

A coarser language seems to be the rule today,
even on radio and TV. One has to show,
"I am of the peoples."

Internet Danish is spoken here

"Muslims Ahead!" From Copenhagen N

Muslim Immigrants

African Immigrants

East European Immigrants

Prices on food: Almost double of USA's

Price Shock? Everything is terribly expensive!

The law

When I left, the country was a peaceful little land where the crime rate was very, very low. I proudly told my friends overseas that shootings in the streets were unheard of and there had only been one instance where a police man had been shot. The perpetrator was called “The Police Murderer,” and that incident was around 1960. My friends in USA would listen to this in disbelief in a country where all cops wore bullet proof vests, and casualties in the corps around the country were on the news every week – if not every day. Coming back, the peace between the police and gangs and criminal elements had long been over.

Some of the first news in the media were about gang wars among rivaling drug gangs. Even an innocent bystander had been killed. You hear about bank robberies and other hard crime in a rate that shattered the idyllic picture I had painted of Denmark overseas. Another incident that was covered in mid March was a police action where a psychotic military veteran attacked the police with a sword. The police had come to his home to take him to a psychiatric hospital upon the request of the veteran's family. In the heat of the incident the police shot the former soldier in self defense.

Arrest of narco dealer.  Hard and violent
crime has risen disturbingly in the last 20 years

Hell's Angels, Denmark.
Part of the police's problem

Sanne Salomonsen. The cause
closest to her heart is today the
prevention of strokes and heart disease

Svend Auken and Niels Helvig. Today, the
young rebels are not that young anymore.
Svend Auken, sadly, died in the Summer of 2009.

Prime Minister H. C. Hansen, 1956:
There shall only be one hour's TV
programming per day. TV shall be
informative, commercial free and
friendly to to the government

In 1956, when broadcasting of TV was first firmly established, the then prime minister, H.C. Hansen, stated that there should only be one hour of programming a day. TV and radio was closely supervised by the parliament. It should be informative, commercial free, and friendly to the government.  There was only one channel. With a little luck one could pick up Swedish TV programs as well.

A big success was the transmission from the indoors bycycle racing, the six day's races in Forum. There was only one camera available which turned round and round. The Danish TV and Radio had only one sports reporter who covered all sports. The beloved Gunnar "Now" Hansen covered also the bycycle races in great style.

When I left Denmark, two channels had been established and there were many hours of broadcast per day. TV had just started sending commercials, among others for a chain store with bed ware. The owner soon became a popular and famous person.

Today there is TV broadcasting around the clock. There are many good news and talk shows on the two official channels, DR1 and DR2. But there is also an awful lot of American series. Having lived 20 years in the USA, it appears to me that the series are of such an old date that they long ago ceased to be broadcast in the US. At one time, in USA, I had over 200 channels. We often used the evenings to watch TV. To have to watch it all in a belated 10th rerun is not very interesting to me. Old sit coms and crime shows from the 1980s and 1990s are not my cup of tea. I have only taken to the debate- and news programs and maybe some soccer now and then. The American series I have too much of already.

Six Days Race in Forum. With
only one camera, and black and white pictures,
the programs were very primitive

"Big Mother," under constant supervision and revision

"Big Mother" Society

Danes have, in my lifetime, always proudly supported their social safety net. You can get public help and handouts in just about any situation of need. The politicians have for decades been advocates for the poor, the old, the unemployed, the disabled, the single mothers, and the helpless children. This support comes from both the right and the left side of the political spectrum. Like it or not, this is how the society is designed. You have to pay very high taxes but “Big Mother,” as the welfare state sometimes is called, is looking after you. It is not quite “Big Brother is watching you,” as described in Orwell's novel “1984,” but it is sometimes close. All citizens are registered by a personal ID number (CPR: central personal register.) With the high tech and Internet revolution, this register is a “public secret.” Not only government offices use it when you show up in the door; also banks, libraries and commercial companies have access to at least an entry level of this register instantly. They can instantly confirm your name and address and with a little hacking, they have access to more sensitive information. Who knows what?

The Big Mother society does change the interaction among people in one significant way. It is quite an exception that people go out of their way to help each other in any serious manner. It is always “the responsibility of the government” to step in and help people in need. The political lobby groups always press on to get more benefits for the buck and “help to worst situated people and groups in society.” They still press the button, over and over, just like they used to, that any need or inequality is against the Danish model and that the government has to step in.

This is all fine when you are down on your luck. But, like it or not, it also has some other consequences on relationships among the citizens as any non-optimum situation soon becomes “the responsibility of the government.” You don't speak with your neighbors; you barely greet each other when you meet outside the front door. To ask neighbors for favors, such as you are out of sugar, need an extra hand, etc., is considered invasion of their privacy. This is very different from most other cultures and countries – though it seems to be the culture of Scandinavia and Northern Europe. In USA and most other countries I have visited, there is a curiosity, concern, interest and a desire to help, which in Scandinavia have been replaced by government services and phone numbers to call on if you are in need or feel lonely.

In all fairness, a noticable trait of the Danish society is the high degree of confidence we have in one another. You expect authorities, be it local or statewide government, including police, courts, etc. to do what they are supposed to do without a trace of corruption or special treatment, good or bad, of some. There is also a high degree of confidence in commercial life, as there is when one is in public areas. People behave well and politely -- or they mind their own business without bothering others.

"Big Brother" leads easily to an invalidation of neighborship

All want a piece, regardless of background

There is usually order and harmony in public
places and arenas

The hitchhiker's name was Bill Clinton. 
But he was thrown out of the hospital
as soon as his Medicare no longer
covered his treatment.

He had been in Miami to investigate if he could move there in his continued retirement. While he had been waiting at a bus stop, he had been robbed and mugged by bullies. They had taken his scarce cash. He had been hit by a baseball bat. He was brought to the local hospital and treated for his injuries. As a senior citizen, he had Medicare, an elementary health insurance. After two days under care, he was thrown out of the hospital without a cent in his pocket. He had gotten the care the insurance covered and that was it.

He was over 700 miles from home and had to hitchhike to Tennessee. We drove for two days and at my destination, I gave him money for food and bus fare so he could get home to Knoxville.

His name was William Clinton; the friends called him "Bill." He had the same name as the sitting president. But that didn't help him much in a country where the dollar is King -- and therefore even over the president in office.

The new Opera on the waterfront is today
one of countless modern buildings in the old
Copenhagen Harbor district.

the cityscape of
copenhagen

The cityscape of Copenhagen had in the 20 years been renovated, updated and reshaped in many ways. The most significant changes were around the old Copenhagen Harbor, the very cradle of this over 800 years old city. The name “Copenhagen” means “the harbor of the merchants.” This old, exotic and cosmopolitic harbor has now lost its function as a center of shipping and receiving goods from many far away countries. This function has, for a large part, been relocated to giant container harbors, such as Rotterdam, Bremen, and others, from where the containers are transported by truck across Europe. There is still a dock where merchant ships can load and unload containers in Copenhagen Harbor. It is so effective so each ship only spend a few hours at dock and thus you only see a few merchant ships at the time. What you see of ship traffic in 2009 is passenger ships, sightseeing boats and some yachts. The huge harbor has instead become an area of recreation and sightseeing.
 

The beautiful waterfront, that mainly consisted of old warehouses and trading companies, has been torn down. Instead, monumental government buildings, theaters, and expensive apartment complexes have been built. In places there were new big hotels and corporate headquarters instead of worn down apartment complexes and industrial sites. When I inspected the greater coastline to the sea (the sound, Oresund), now again after 20 years, I would see giant windmills built in the water. 20% of the country's electricity consumption is now provided by wind craft. I would find new polished marinas with expensive yachts; and I would see the new giant bridge that connects Copenhagen to Sweden and allows swift car and train traffic between the countries. It has transformed the Danish-Swedish region (Copenhagen-Malmo) to one big metropolis across the border.
 

The storefronts in the parts of Copenhagen where I had lived or knew well, had just about all changed. New supermarket chains had gotten a big piece of the food market and so on. Chain stores, such as “Seven-Eleven,” Mac Donald's, and many other Danish chains, now dominated. Changes had also swept through the banking world due to takeovers and mergers. The few storefronts that hadn't changed accounted for some sentimental moments. I recognized an old wine store and several restaurants and hotels. I also recognized Magasin du Nord, an apartment store, that looked just like it used to on its location on a major square of Copenhagen. The story behind the old landmark building was, however, that it had changed owners many times. Due to the financial crisis, it had of late passed hands from an Icelandic speculator, to an Icelandic bank, to the State of Iceland that had to bail out the bank. The department store's general manager's comments to the media was, however, that as far as he was concerned it was “business as usual” on the location at Kongens Nytorv (the square.)
 

Even with so many changes to the cityscape, the basic map of Copenhagen hadn't changed much. The number of inhabitants in Denmark has increased slightly, I think about 5% in the last 20 years. The streets were where they used to be and still wore the same names. My mental map just needed a light dusting off and I was back in the rat race of getting from point A to B by the most optimum route. No need for computer maps or car pilot devices there. One big improvement that had taken years and years of inconvenient construction work had been in use for five years or so. That was the new subway or Metro which is a great addition to public transportation.

Another creative addition to trafic (since 1980s) is the use of the Christania bycycles, adopted from the Hippie culture. They are popular with parents with small chidren. These types of bycycles have become a frequent sight in the streets of Copenhagen. You see a mix of high tech and low tech. You will see career women on their way to work, who transport their kids while speaking in their cell phones.

Øresund Bridge and tunnel. Since the 1930s
a political hot potato. Now it's finally built

Magasin du Nord. The well-known department
store looks like itself. It has, however, changed
hands many times. Today it's owned by the
State of Iceland.

Metro station at street level

The Metro uses remote controlled,
driverless trains

Busy mother on Christiania bicycle. Such bicycles
are a common sight. It's a good example of a "new"
low tech invention -- innovated by the Hippie culture

Walking Street in downtown Copenhagen.
Several international chains have opened stores here

Windmills outside Copenhagen Harbor. Today,
windmills like these provide 20% of all electricity in Denmark

(This text was first brought as an article in The Magazine, International Viewpoints, IVy.)

Queen Margrethe II

The Queen wirh her son, Crownprince
 Frederik, and her grandson, Christian