Odense is the third largest city in Denmark and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2023, the city proper had a population of 182,387 while Odense Municipality had a population of 207,762, making it the fourth largest municipality in Denmark. Eurostat and OECD have used a definition for the Metropolitan area of Odense, which includes all municipalities in the Province of Funen, with a total population of 504,066 as of 1 July 2022
At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December 1939. On 9 April 1940, Germany occupied Denmark in Operation Weserübung. The Danish government and king functioned in a relatively normal manner until 29 August 1943, when Germany placed Denmark under direct military occupation, which lasted until the Allied victory on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish institutions continued to function relatively normally until 1945. Both the Danish government and king remained in the country in an uneasy relationship between a democratic and a totalitarian system until 1943 when the Danish government stepped down in protest against German demands that included instituting the death penalty for sabotage.
The Danish resistance movements were an underground insurgency to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the Nazi occupation authority allowed the democratic government to stay in power, the resistance movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale than in some other countries.
Aalborg or Ålborg is Denmark's fourth largest urban settlement with a population of 119,862 in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598. As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalborg had a population of 221,082, making it the third most populous in the country after the municipalities of Copenhagen (capital) and Aarhus. Eurostat and OECD have used a definition for the metropolitan area of Aalborg, which includes all municipalities in the province of North Jutland, with a total population of 594,323 as of 1 July 2022.
Seefliegerhorst Aalborg was a German seaplane base at Aalborg during the occupation of Denmark 1940 to 1945
The German invasion of Denmark, was the German attack on Denmark on 9 April 1940, during the Second World War. The attack was a prelude to the invasion of Norway.
The Churchill Club was a group of eight teenage schoolboys from Aalborg Cathedral School in the north of Jutland who performed acts of sabotage against the Germans during the occupation of Denmark in the Second World War.
The Ranks and insignia of Royal Danish Army follows the NATO system of ranks and insignia, as does the rest of the Danish Defence. The ranks are based around German and French military terms.
Henrik Tagesen Reventlow, from Funen, was supporter of King Eric and leader of peasant army of 25000 during peasant revolt in Denmark, at the time of reign of King Christopher III of Denmark.
Operation Weserübung was Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign.
Jørgen Kaas was a Danish colonel, lord of the fiefdom Lister in Norway, and owner of the Hastrup and Østergaard estates in Denmark. A member of the younger Kaas family, one of Denmark's preeminent families of ancient high nobility, he is notable as a war hero during the March across the Belts when he led the defense of Fyn against the Swedes and fell in battle. King Charles X Gustav of Sweden accompanied his body on foot in honour of his bravery. He was given the fief of Lister by King Christian IV on 30 December 1648, after he had sold his estate Østergaard to the King's son Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve. He never resided in Norway, and the fief was administered by the fiefholder of Nedenes.
There are several museums in Aalborg, Denmark. These include a museum of modern art, a historical museum and a maritime museum. Together with the city's theatre, cultural centre and music interests, they constitute an important aspect of the municipality's recent focus on knowledge and culture.
Jan Persson worked as freelance photographer since 1962 for Danish newspapers and magazines in and around Copenhagen. Early on he specialized on documenting the jazz scene, later also the visiting beat and rock musicians who visited Copenhagen during the sixties and the seventies. His works have been documented in a series of books and exhibitions and his pictures are used on more than 1000 album and CD covers.
Knud Arne Jürgensen is a Danish music-, opera-, ballet- and theater historian, dramaturg, curator of exhibitions, senior researcher, critic, dr. phil.
The L-groups was a resistance group tasked with assassination of Danish collaborators and German forces occupying Denmark during the Second World War. The precursor to the group was established in 1940, but it was most active from 1944 to the end of the war. The group carried out at least 18 assassination operations and killed between 20 and 30 people. In 1945 the group was hard hit by arrests and killings of its members and further suffered a very high death-rate in the years immediately after the war with suicides and accidents killing a number of members. The group had strong ties to the Danish police, with 5 of its members being police officers.
The Munke Mølle is the oldest still functioning company in Denmark, being founded in 1135 as a water mill on the Odense River in Odense city. The mill has been a purveyor to 38 kings and 2 queens, and today produces bread and cake mixes.
Jutta Regitse Pilegaard Graae (1906–1997) was a Danish bank employee who became a member of the Danish resistance during the German occupation of Denmark in World War II. After first working as a contact for the resistance worker Ebbe Munck in Stockholm, she became so deeply involved in illegal activities that she had to move to Stockholm herself in September 1943. In 1944, she moved to London where from January 1945 she joined the Special Operations Executive. After the war, she continued to work for Danish intelligence, becoming chief archivist for the Danish Defence Intelligence Service in 1956 until her retirement in 1960.
The Western Regional Command was the overall command of all Royal Danish Army units in Jutland and on Funen. It was split into four military regions, and was responsible for the regional defence. In 1990, the Regional Commands were disbanded and control was collected at the newly created Army Operational Command.
Sofie Hesselholdt and Vibeke Mejlvang are a collaborative duo of visual artists who live and work in Copenhagen. They started collaborating in late 1999 and work with performance art and site-specific installations in public spaces addressing social and political topics such as National Identity and Eurocentrism.
