Taking Advantage of a Break

Brian had a week off from teaching. We decided to explore our home away from home. We bought a pair of Copenhagen Cards. The cards provide entry to 83 attractions and the public transportation
to get to them.

Brochures to sites in and around Copenhagen

We started at the Museum of Copenhagen. It was founded in 1901 but has moved around a lot. This location just opened in 2020. The building was once the Overformynderiet (The Public Trustee’s Office) responsible for the welfare of children and missing persons. It was built in 1894 and is beautiful inside. We did not take a lot of pictures but we learned a lot.

Copenhagen Museum

This is the coat room. Almost every place we visit has a selection of ways to store your stuff. There are lockers with keys and others with a panel to set your own code. You can just hang up your coat if that suits you.

And there is always some play and/or learning space for kids. There are kids of all ages on fieldtrips all over the city every school day.

Scandinavia had a tug of war over who was in charge until they ultimately sorted out into the countries we know today. In the beginning Vikings lived along the coasts to fish for survival. They broadened their circles to pillage and absorb more from the surrounding cultures. They figured out how to farm and establish communities. In the 1300s the Kalmar Union came into being comprised of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the surrounding lands.

The original capital of Denmark was Roskilde which was a center of Viking activity and about 19 miles west of Copenhagen. Copenhagen was a fishing village. But in 1416, Eric of Pomerania who was ruler of the Kalmar Union moved his seat to Copenhagen Castle.

It was fortified. It had walls and moats and gates. It had ramparts. If you wanted to enter the city you had to come through a gate.

The key to one of the gates is huge, say 2 feet long.
They weren’t kidding about the keeper of keys.
Who’s there?

Copenhagen had a problem with fire. (They were not alone.) Buildings were close together. Sparks flew and it was difficult to get firemen close enough to douse what was burning. So it spread. This led to some big fires. They widened their streets and rebuilt their water system throughout the city. In the mid 1800s they took down the walls and opened the city. The moats are now canals. The ramparts are now parks.

The more we learn about this city, the more we admire it.

In Denmark and Sweden they employ the ‘welfare state’. This building came about to support children. It’s purpose was to safe guard their welfare.

In the center panel a woman holds an infant. The infant and the little girl in front are her daughters. The younger did not survive. The woman made the window.

If you are like Brian and I, your first response to the phrase ‘welfare state’ was negative. We could not be more wrong. Everyone pays around 50% in taxes. BUT everyone gets the same support for education from daycare to higher education. Everyone gets the same subsidized health care. It does not matter if you are a pauper or a millionaire.

If you lose your job, they will help you to find another including retraining if necessary. Taxes pay for civilization that is efficient and sophisticated. Did I say how much we are impressed?