Constitution Day is celebrated in Denmark on 5 June. The day honours the Danish Constitution, as both the first constitution of 1849, signed by King Frederik the VII, and the current constitution of 1953 were established on this day. The day has added even more significance as women were given the right to vote on 5 June 1915. Denmark is one of only a handful of countries in the world to not have an official national day, but Constitution Day is sometimes considered the equivalent of such a day. It is also widely considered to be a day for celebrating Danish democracy.
Despite the fact that it has never been an official national holiday, Constitution Day was a half-day off work from 1891 until 1975. Since then, collective labour agreements have usually given workers a half-day or the whole day off on Constitution Day. Stores with an annual turnover of at most 34.9 million kroner can stay open on Constitution Day, but all other stores must keep closed.
The day is widely celebrated throughout Denmark with church congregations, associations and political organisations meeting for what are essentially "secular services". These services include the raising of the Dannebrog (the Danish flag), a speech by a local politician or celebrity and collective singing (Danish: fællessang).
Did you know?
- Denmark appointed the world’s first female minister. As Minister of Education, Nina Bang became the first female minister in an internationally recognised government back in 1924.
- In Denmark, same-sex registered partnerships became legal in 1989. In 2012, the Danish parliament legalised same-sex marriage, granting equal rights for all marriages.
- Handball was invented in Denmark in 1897
- Denmark is the 130th smallest country in the world. However, if you count Greenland, which is an autonomous territory within Denmark, then it becomes the 12th largest country in the world.
Celebrate the Constitution Day by practising your interpreting skills with the Speech Repository, which offers you 74 speeches in Danish on various topics and levels of difficulty. Don’t lose any more time!
Happy practice,
Your Speech Repository Team