CPH Post 29 May - June 11 2020 by The Copenhagen Post

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LOCAL Who needs the Canaries, when you can go to Parkipelago! 2 BUSINESS FEATURE

The 15-minute rule What does the coronavirus mean for the role cities play in our lives?

THIS SUMMER’S BLOCKBUSTERS

Making your mind up Reborn nation daring to believe Coronavirus Crisis might be over CULTURE How the capital’s skyline is shaping up as fashionable knitwear

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Major heroics Recalling the Danish swashbuckler who won the Victoria Cross in WWII

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HEY MIGHT look like they’re listening, but they’re distracted, expecting to see, out of the corner of their eye, evidence that the coronavirus is making a comeback. But whisper it: it appears to be slowly disappearing. Over the last seven days, there have been at least three days revealing no new fatalities. The death toll is stalling while the number of new infections, hospitalised patients and those on ventilators is in freefall. Wavering a bit STATENS Serum Institut (SSI) doesn’t believe we’re out of the woods, though. On May 12, it

cited a prediction from the Norwegian Public Health Institute that a second wave will arrive in October. But then just one day later, SSI division head Kåre Mølbak said a second wave was “very unlikely”. More vulnerable THE CURRENT reproduction rate in Denmark is 0.6, which means that every infected person on average passes the virus onto 0.6 people. It might be different for people with a non-western background, though. Despite only making up 8 percent of the population, they have accounted for 18 percent of all cases, compared to Western immigrants and their descendants (5 & 4) and ethnic Danes (86 & 78). (NW)

4-5

Metro nightmare scenario

Denmark in charge

EXPERTS warn the Copenhagen Metro could be taken out of action for up to two years should a storm flood strike the subway's control centre from the south. The consultancy firm COWI and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are among those warning that the Vestamager control room is extremely vulnerable to excess water.

DENMARK’S military presence in Iraq is set to expand from the end of 2020 as NATO has chosen Danish soldiers to take over responsibility for their training mission there. Some 285 Danish soldiers will participate in the mission in Baghdad and, among other things, they will provide security for transport to and from Baghdad’s international airport.

Artificial heart first

Amager to get a troll

DOCTORS at Rigshospitalet have become the first to transplant an artificial Carmat heart into a patient in Denmark. Denmark is just the third country in the world to undertake such a transplant after the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan. The doctors behind the effort hailed the milestone as a paradigm shift.

TROLL-HUNTERS could have another giant wooden statue to hunt out in the capital - this time in Amager. Artist Thomas Dambo, the creator of the five huge statues lurking in the western suburbs, is raising funds by selling signed posters for 600 kroner a pop. Thousands have embarked on extended walks to find the trolls in recent years.

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29 May - 11 June 2020

Probably the best burgers in the world

ONLINE THIS WEEK A CITY Hall majority is in favour of introducing legislation that will make it much harder for housing associations to build balconies overlooking streets. It is argued that having a random number is not a good look and that balconies can often cause conflict among residents. Balconies overlooking courtyards are more preferred.

In the pink zone COPENHAGEN Municipality is marking out areas vulnerable to being over-populated, such as Strøget and Nyhavn, in pink. In related news, a fall in foot traffic has resulted in more pavement repairs in Amagertorv, and a slowdown in construction has resulted in some designated sites being converted into temporary vegetable gardens – for example, in Ørestad Syd.

War on jet-skis FOR THE second summer running, it won’t be possible for boats to travel beyond Slusen in Sydhavn, thus barring them from Copenhagen Harbour. Only small boats and canoes are permitted to pass. The measures are primarily in place to stop jet-ski operators from entering the waters. In 2017, they were responsible for the deaths of two US students.

Noma reinvents itself as a fast food joint in response to the Coronavirus Crisis BEN HAMILTON

HE BANK holiday weekend saw large crowds queuing to sample Noma’s new burger and wine menu at the Refshaleøen location it moved to in early 2018. For just 125 kroner (150 to eat in), the delectable offer (cheese or veggie burgers; 20kr cookies for dessert) was many people’s first ever chance to sample the world famous restaurant’s cooking. Reasonably quick AND THE queues were not too long. CPH POST learned that turning up an hour before opening was enough to ensure a table within 15 minutes of the queue starting to move. It is also noted that coming in a group of at least four peo-

Discover a ‘super-continent’ of public parks in … Copenhagen Harbour NATHAN WALMER

CHRISTIANIA reopened on May 16 after being closed to guests for nine weeks. The opening was hushed up amid fears that large crowds might gather. The last time such an opening occurred, 5,000 people turned up.

Editorial offices: International House, Gyldenløvesgade 11, 1600 Copenhagen Denmark

Online tunnel meeting THE VEJDIREKTORATET road authority recently held an online public meeting to discuss plans for a 1.4 km tunnel passing from Nordhavnsvej on Østerbro to Kattegatvej in Nordhavn. Members of the public have until June 5 to lodge questions.

Mishap at airport A meaty interloper in a veggie paradise

ple will guarantee you a table in the outdoor restaurant. Smaller groups, meanwhile, dine picnic style on benches. Chicken to come? IT IS EXPECTED that Noma will continue with its burger concept until late June. There has also been talk of it trying out a fried chicken menu. The restaurant is open Thursdays to Sundays between 13:00 and 21:00, although it sold out by the late afternoon on its first

four days of opening. Geranium goes veggy IN RELATED news, another burger joint, the Cocks and Cows chain, has launched a streetfood concept – an ‘on-the-go’ focus, it explained, which is a logical response to a “changed gastronomic reality”. And Geranium, the city’s only restaurant with three Michelin stars, is launching ‘Angelika’, a vegetarian lunch concept, on June 4. Bookings are available for a table Thursday-Saturday from 12:00 to 16:00.

Welcome to the ‘Parkipelago’, island-hoppers!

OVE OVER Pangaea. Danish studio Fokstrot and Australian architect Marshall Blecher are teaming up, with financial backing from the Danish Arts Foundation and Havnekulturpuljen, to develop a new versatile ‘super-continent’ of public parks that can be broken apart into what they call a ‘parkipelago’. The Copenhagen Islands project first launched at sea in 2018

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ELLA NAVARRO

Balcony restrictions

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with the introduction of CPH-Ø1 – a 20 sqm wooden platform with a linden tree at its centre for stability. And it will soon be accompanied by “many more”, according to the project’s official website. Islands of wonder THE MOVABLE islands will serve as public spaces for different activities – “swim zones, floating saunas, floating gardens, floating mussel farms and a floating sail-in café” – and will be accessible by only personal boats or kayaks. The islands are dispersed to under-utilised areas of the Co-

penhagen Harbour waterfront during the summer and then conjoined as a super-continent in the winter months for special events and festivals. Climate focus THE ISLANDS, which are expected to be completed by the spring of 2021, will be hand-crafted entirely from recycled materials using traditional Danish boat design techniques. They are also intended to provoke discourse on rising sea levels, rapid urban development and the overall function of public spaces in the city.

AN ENORMOUS cargo plane approaching Copenhagen Airport made a sudden decision on May 18 to not land after its pilots realised the runway was undergoing renovation work. Due to the current low levels of traffic, the airport is renovating the only runway capable of receiving large aircraft, and it sent out the necessary missives to confirm the change.

Good public response DONATIONS have quickly flowed into Copenhagen Zoo and The Blue Planet aquarium following the confirmation that neither will be able to open until June 8. As of May 13, the zoo had received 3,395,000 kroner via a fundraiser on Facebook, and the aquarium 1.7 million. The Coronavirus Crisis has reportedly left the zoo 50 million kroner in the red. However, both have now been told they can open.

Documenting the crisis COPENHAGEN Museum is collecting paraphernalia relating to the Coronavirus Crisis as a means of documenting the period – for example warning signs and photos, providing they are high resolution.

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Copenhageners can't get enough of queuing for their favourite goodies

coronavirus and its distancing rule – this is about hype and the fear they will sell out. Get used to it: queuing is part of our daily lives. As a matter of fact, the queuing theory, also known as the mathematical study of waiting lines, was invented about a hundred years ago by Danish engineer AK Erlang, so no wonder it comes so naturally to the Danes!

Just like Paris ARE QUEUES becoming the new norm in Copenhagen? After all, Parisians will always tell you to follow the queue because that’s where you’ll find the good stuff. And it really appears to be catching on! You can’t solely blame it on the

Requires creativity AFTER all, the time we spend waiting is all about perception, and sometimes it requires creativity. When elevators started operating, people would complain about the long wait, and that’s why they introduced mirrors as distractions. And businesses in Copenhagen face a similar challenge. My Donut Copenhagen, for example, made a bold move to close

ELLA NAVARRO

HEY SAY good things are worth the wait. And we’ve certainly observed a fair amount of waiting around the city this spring, with people queuing incessantly at their favourite foodie spots.

midway through its first fortnight to strategise on how best to deal with the unexpected queuing. Noma’s Molly Malone THE LONGEST line is currently at Noma, where the genius extends far beyond the food, as even the queuing is an experience. From the who’s who of staff members greeting guests to the head chef ’s wife offering drinks from a wheelbarrow, the 75-minute wait just flew by! So don’t kid yourself, as these lines are going to stick around for a while. You need to build up some patience, bring some distractions and join the waiting game. These are our top picks for the summer because what they sell is finger-licking, devoured down to the last crumb and, yes, completely queue-worthy! MY DONUT COPENHAGEN Frederikssundsvej 43, Cph NV; open Mon-Sun 15:00-21:00; @mydonutcopenhagen This new donut joint had been the talk of the town for a month, so we had to pop by and see it with our own eyes. At 14:55 the queue was very long already, going back to the sidestreet, with people respecting distance and standing on the new stickers they’d placed on the floor. My friends, who live in the neighbourhood, tried to avoid the queue and arrive near closing time with no luck. They always sell out, so we didn’t

HART BAGERI Gammel Kongevej 109, Frederiksberg; open Mon-Sun 08:00-17:00; @hartbageri On the other side of town, there’s Hart Bageri, which has been making us queue since British baker extraordinaire Richard Hart opened its doors two years ago after an invite from Noma’s head chef René Redzepi. With expertise like that in charge, nobody minds queuing when it comes to the best pastries in town. Forget every pastry you’ve ever tried, because once you go to Hart your heart belongs to them forever.

Let’s start with their take on the Danish cinnamon roll. At first sight (witness the picture), you might not think much of it, but you are in for paradise. Topped with lemon glaze this roll melts in your mouth with crunchy bits of cinnamon caramel – our absolute favourite. Then there’s the cardamom bun made with the same dough as their croissant and dipped in browned Danish butter, and their latest hit: the double-baked dream cake croissant with the coconut caramel filling and toasted flake exterior – it’s out of this world, and you

certainly don’t want to share. Whatever they bring is always a hit. They are constantly reinventing themselves and finding new inspirations. During quarantine they offered pizza kits with a stepby-step guide to cooking them at home; they’ve teamed up with other restaurants or producers to bring us specialties such as grilled sandwiches with kimchi and unique pølsehorns; and they have donuts on Tuesdays. They are open every day of the week and bake everything fresh from the early morning. Pop by and enjoy a taste of paradise.

ALL PHOTOS: ELLA NAVARRO UNLESS STATED

Pastries, burgers, donuts, eclairs and ice cream to die for, if the incessant waiting doesn’t polish you off first

Just like we used to queue at the temple of Juno

want to risk it. We saw groups taking turns at the queue, while the rest of the gang sat on a concrete bench on the parallel street. A few places in front of us, a man rushed to move his car, which was parked in a no-parking zone, after he saw the police pass by. Of course, first of all he made sure his fellow queuers could save his spot. Part of the fun is observing the passers-by who don’t understand what’s going on and curiously observe us queue-goers. Since the beloved Donut Shop closed in 2018 there haven’t been many places specially dedicated to do-

nuts until now. Copenhageners certainly have been looking forward to the opening of My Donut Copenhagen in Nordvest. And we have to say it’s a knockout! Once we had our first bite we completely forgot about all the queueing. Their delectable donuts come topped with store-bought candies and chocolates, from crunchy Ferreros to Hakuna, M&Ms, Kinder Bueno, Oreo, toffees ... you name it, they’ve got it. Make sure to get there on time, check their daily menu on Instagram, and queue because the wait is worth it.

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29 May - 11 June 2020

been packed – you could say that after an inauspicious launch in 2015, when they started out small, they have fully arrived. They now have four stores – in Nørrebro, Vesterbro, Østerbro and Frederiksberg – and all of them are always crowded, in a good way, because they are mega delicious. Who needs real ice cream? Just kidding, but you don’t need to be vegan to try it, although you might get converted. Their flavours are brilliantly creative (as well as the

names), from the traditional ones (which you can also buy in Meny supermarkets) to tasty flavours such as Hazy Nuts, the ‘Sneaky Beazy’ peanut butter offering, the ‘Heartbeats’ beetroot delight, ‘Oh sweet lemon’, ‘Coconut bounty’ and more. They also have vegan chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches, sundaes and occasional vegan cakes, and they recently added toppings like vegan guf and caramel sauce. Take it home in a cup or a cone – what’s not to like?

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QUEEN'S DELIGHT Grønnegade 37, Cph K; open Wed-Fri 11:00-18:00, Sat 1220:00, Sun 12:00-18:00 or until sold out; @queensdelight.dk This French delicatessen is newly opened, and it is the only shop dedicated to eclairs in Copenhagen. A young Romanian couple from Bucharest with a passion for sweets and especially eclairs decided to quit their jobs in IT and move to the Danish capital to open up their dream shop. Rasia read every book about eclairs, praccustomers during the lockdown – possibly because most other shops were shut, and undoubtedly because we just can’t get enough of their pastries. Queuing for the loaf is one of those heavenly pleasures in life. You get it warm right from the oven and you barely wait 15 minutes. Their croissant is definitely the very best in town: caramelised, crunchy, buttery, gooey inside – everything you want. Other mouthwatering

tised her craft and studied with the famous French pastry chef Joakim Prat – to the point we now have an expert in our midst, whose French delicacies we are lucky to enjoy around the block. While Rasia studied, Sebastián built the shop. Slowly they gained a reputation among the locals, who started recommending them, and these days they have a regular clientele who can’t get enough of their eclairs. The eclairs are made fresh every day early in the morning – passers-by can testify that they never

sell second-day eclairs, which is actually their motto. Opposed to the traditional eclairs that tend to be made with a moister dough, Queen's Delight has its own take on the pastry, which is more crunchy. Add creative flavours such as crunchy hazelnuts, salted caramel and tiramisu, and we’re talking about eclair perfection! During the lockdown they were open for takeaway and sold out on most days! So get there early or make your order online – you don’t want to miss out.

only ended up waiting 15 minutes once it opened. We were ensured a table already when we were in the queue, so that was a relief. We wanted to get there early, as we had heard on previous days that they had sold out three hours before their official 21:00 closing time. You’re strongly advised, therefore, to not see this as a dinner plan! So rewind: 15 minutes after they opened the doors we were sitting on our bench facing the lake and BIG’s outstanding masterpiece CopenHill. We made it to Noma! It was already a dream come true. And then our order arrived to make it even more memorable. It was, and it must be said in capital letters, THE BEST BURGER we ever had. Well-seasoned with pickled

mayo, red onions, melted cheese and potato-based buns from Gasoline Grill, all toasty and buttery. Every mouthful was divine. We paired it with a glass of orange wine while we savoured natural surroundings saturated in herbs and growing vegetables. For dessert we had the Basque cookies with raisins and elderflower. They were crunchy on the outside and gooey in the middle – an amazing biscuit with a final mouthful reminiscent of a mince pie. The whole experience from beginning to end was fantastic and totally recommended. Just remember you will be queuing to enter Noma, a hitherto exclusive Willy Wonka-like universe of heavenly cuisine, now just an hour of queuing away.

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JUNO THE BAKERY Århusgade 48, Cph Ø; open Wed-Sat 07:30-18:00, Sun 08:00-15:00; @juno_the_bakery Bakeries like Juno make you love living in the city. These guys have been popping loaves of mouth-watering sourdough bread and pastries throughout the quarantine. In the mornings Juno always has a queue of regular Øster-bros and gals, but they’ve certainly acquired a lot more

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NICECREAM Enghave Plads 10, Elmegade 30, Nordre Frihavnsgade 7 & Falkoner Allé 44; open Mon-Fri 13:0020:00; for changing times and offers check: @nicecreamcopenhagen This 100 percent vegan ice cream shop was closed for five weeks from March 18 due to the lockdown, and it’s no exaggeration to say they were sorely missed – particularly during the warm spell that dominated in April. Since reopening, they have

choices include the hazelnut cream puff, the popular cardamom bun (completely different to Hart’s but more like a Swedish fika), and the pistachio and rose croissant. Juno is always introducing new items and special editions, so make sure you follow them on Instagram to see what's going on. Although queuing is guaranteed in the mornings, they tend to be well stocked and only risk selling out in the afternoon. NOMA Refshalevej 96, Cph S; open ThuSun 13:00-21:00 or until sold out, only available until late June; @nomacph Last, but not least, we have Noma’s wine bar and takeaway burger joint, which opened last weekend for a limited time and took the queues to a whole new level. Who wouldn’t queue for Noma and René Redzepi? It is, for many, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try cuisine of this calibre. We arrived at 12 on Saturday, thinking we might queue for at least two hours. Maybe because it wasn’t the nicest of days, or because it was a long weekend and Danes were gone to their summerhouses, the queue was relatively small and we

NATIONAL

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ONLINE THIS WEEK

The sequel nobody saw coming

ELLA NAVARRO

Gardening mishaps

29 May - 11 June 2020

THERE are almost 9,000 gardening accidents reported annually, of which 10 percent need hospital treatment, according to a YouGov survey for Alka Forsikring. Men account for two-thirds of the injuries, primarily due to their inclination for heavy lifting tasks. In related news, the amount of organic farmland in Denmark has doubled from 150,000 to 301,000 hectares in 12 years. And the government has set a new goal to double again.

State reveals more spending FOLLOWING its climate pledge, the government has earmarked billions of kroner to housing and education. An extra 30 billion kroner will be spent on public housing renovations, while 6.1 billion kroner will be spent on education, with a large share going to companies that provide internships. However, the Blue Bloc questions whether enough is being done to help businesses.

Ex army chief guilty MAJOR-GENERAL Hans-Christian Mathiesen, the former chief of staff of the Danish Army, has been handed a two-month suspended sentence for an abuse of power in which he used his position to advance his colleague's military career. Mathiesen has appealed against the verdict.

Fewer au pairs JUST 222 au pairs received a residence permit during the first four months of the year compared to 307 last year, according to A4 Working Life.

New recycling measures EVERYONE will soon be required to sort their waste into ten different types in a bid to cut the amount of plastic incinerated by 80 percent by 2030. The ten sub-divisions are bio, paper, cardboard, metal, glass, plastic, textiles, food cartons, residual waste and hazardous waste. In related news, 142,000 children are registered to take part in the annual waste collection efforts.

Two seconds more

Biggest drinkers in EU DANISH teens consume the most alcohol in Europe in their age group, according to a WHO report. Some 82 percent of 15-year-olds in Denmark have tried alcohol, 65 percent have done so within the past month, and 42 percent of them have been intoxicated at least twice – all double the EU average rate. Conversely, perhaps, they are among the best at practising safe sex.

ONLINE THIS WEEK

'Blue Velvet' screened during a Lynchian sunset on Tuesday night

Well, maybe Cinemateket, but they’ve seen more movies than most

They’re busies, after all ELSEWHERE, new health guidelines to accommodate business travellers coming to and from Denmark have been issued by the

government, which would appear to remain opposed to Swedes entering Denmark (see page 7). A number of the country’s specialist coronavirus intensive care wards have closed due to a lack of patients, including the one at Aalborg University Hospital. But the wards will be on standby should cases spiral again. Five experts from different scientific backgrounds will gain access to internal government papers to evaluate the management of the crisis. The investigation will take about six months. According to a new Wilke study for A4, nearly three out of four Danes would prefer to do their job at their workplace. The number of overtime hours for police officers around Denmark has spiked. A total of 1,127,021 overtime hours were clocked up in April 2020 – up by more than 100,000 from January. And it is estimated that there are up to 1,600 Danish sailors among the estimated 150,000 currently stranded at sea.

Menthol sales banned

Charity run events cancelled

Holidaying at home

A 2016 EU DIRECTIVE banning the sale of menthol tobacco products, aimed at curbing what is many young people’s initial smoking choice, came into force on May 20. One in five Danish smokers sometimes choose them. While smoking them is still allowed, stores selling them can now be fined.

THIS YEAR’S DHL Relay Race and Royal Run have been cancelled. The former’s organiser, Sparta Athletics & Race, faces a loss of 30 million kroner, while refunds for the latter are available until September 8. In related news, over 85 percent of the Roskilde Festival ticket holders opted to switch their tickets to next year.

WITH 80 percent of Danes determined to spend their summer holiday within Denmark, according to a Voxmeter poll, the likes of VisitNordvest Jutland, Wonderful Copenhagen and VisitFyn are already fiercely seeking customers. In related news, the government has a 725 million kroner aid package for the travel industry.

NATHAN WALMER

RIDAY will see the curtain come down on the last of the Cinemateket outdoor movies in Nordhavn, again resigning the drive-in to the bygone era it was resurrected from. They’ve had a good run and perhaps they weren’t selling out in minutes anymore, but in the same way silent movies gave way to the talkies, the drive-in can’t really compete with the multiplexes. Phase 2, Part 3 ... SINCE Monday, as part of a surprising third part of Phase 2 of the government’s reopening of Denmark, cinemas along with museums, theatres, art galleries, cinemas, aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens and themeparks have all been permitted to open immediately, provided they adhere to the social distancing guidelines.

In fact, some of the themeparks were caught by surprise. Tivoli, scheduled to open on June 8, the first day of Phase 3, probably won’t open before then, as it needs time to prepare for the necessary health risk assessment. Additionally, public research institutes, colleges, language centres, while both DR and TV2 can all open, and trains and buses are permitted to transport more passengers – around 60-70 percent of their capacity. A week earlier, the second part of Phase 2 went smoothly as the nation’s restaurants and bars opened again. With nightclubs, fitness centres, swimming pools and indoor centres unlikely to open until Phase 4 in August, it remains unclear what will happen, if anything, when Phase 3 is ushered in on June 8.

ROAD SAFETY organisation Rådet for Sikker Trafik has launched a campaign, ‘Use two seconds more’, urging road-users to take more care at junctions. Around 70 percent of all accidents involving cyclists take place at junctions. Meanwhile, another campaign, 'Safe on a bicycle – all life', encouraged elderly cyclists to choose a bike without a centre bar to avoid accidents.

Hitler the bike thief IN THE aftermath of the 75th anniversary of Liberation Day in Denmark on May 8, reports emerged of a relatively unknown episode during the German Occupation when Adolf Hitler ordered the confiscation of all bicycles in 1944. Following talks with administrator Werner Best, however, he revised the order to include just new and for sale bikes.

Sex abuse reports dip THERE were 60 percent fewer reports of people sexually abusing children in March and April, compared to the first two months of the year, according to Rigspolitiet. However, most reports are submitted by workers at daycare institutions and schools, which were mostly shut. In related news, 50 percent of people reporting rapes say their experience with the police is a negative one.

Blue Bloc in turmoil THE BLUE Bloc only has a 40.3 percent share of the nation's votes, leaving it well adrift of the Red Bloc’s 58.3 percent. Venstre has seen its share fall from 23.4 to 20.4 percent.

29 May - 11 June 2020

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Sweden sore about border stance FLICKR / KRISTIAN MOLLENBORG

MEP condemns arrests

INTERNATIONAL

ITALIAN MEP Fulvio Martusciello has condemned the February detention of three members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz in Ringsted in southern Zealand. They are accused of spying on behalf of an unnamed Saudi security agency. They will remain in custody until at least June 11, according to Roskilde Court.

ONLINE THIS WEEK Terma accused RADAR and missile defense systems sold by Danish defence and aerospace manufacturer Terma to the UAE have contributed to the carrying out of war crimes in the conflict in Yemen, reports TV2 and DanWatch. The Danish Business Authority is launching an investigation into Terma’s sale of military equipment to the UAE.

More for Mali

Richest man in Scotland

THE FOREIGN Ministry has decided to extend its contribution of Danish transport aircraft and personnel to the UN mission in Mali until mid-July 2020. In related news, a number of Danish organisations are involved in a sustainable food partnership in Kenya and Ethiopia that aims to ensure clean water supplies and viable protein solutions.

ANDERS Holch Povlsen, the CEO and owner of Bestseller, has been crowned the richest person in Scotland according to a new list compiled by the Sunday Times. Povlsen vaulted into first place with a fortune of £4.73 billion, surpassing the Glenn Gordon family. With 89,000 hectares of real estate, Povlsen is Scotland’s largest private landowner.

Frugal Four say no

Thanks from Croatia

A FRENCH-GERMAN proposal for an EU bond, which will raise 3.725 trillion kroner to kickstart a European economy hampered by the Coronavirus Crisis, will not be supported by Denmark. As part of the ‘Frugal Four’ (with the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden), the Danish government is against the ‘debt-sharing’ proposal.

DENMARK has set aside nearly 50 million kroner for UNICEF’s global humanitarian response plan for the COVID-19 pandemic – 2.4 million of which has been allocated to support children and families in Croatia impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. UNICEF’s representative in Croatia, Regina Castillo, has thanked Denmark for its contribution.

Talks with Indian PM PM METTE Frederiksen and PM Narendra Modi of India spoke by telephone on May 15 to discuss the Coronavirus Crisis and the possibility of building a strategic green partnership between Denmark and India. In addition, they hope to increase overall health co-operation between the two countries.

High-level Baltic meeting A HIGH-LEVEL representative from the EU and all foreign ministers from the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) held an online meeting on May 19. Topics on the agenda included climate change and environmental issues, tackling cross-border organised crime, youth participation in politics, and co-operation in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

When 'The Bridge' opened 20 years ago, the countries couldn't be closer. Now it's like 1520 all over again

Media awash with speculation that Denmark will open its borders to Germans and Norwegians, but not to its northern neighbours NATHAN WALMER

ITH A CORONAVIRUS death rate of 396 per million people, Sweden has some of the highest figures in the world. In contrast, the global leader for fatalities, the US, is only at 300. Many have been quick to point the finger at Sweden’s lax attitude to the virus. It has had no lockdown and its children have continued going to school. So it is perhaps understandable that its neighbours Denmark, Norway and Germany, where

the infection rates are in freefall following far heavier restrictions, have been hesitant about opening their borders to the country. Discrimination claim AS FAR as Sweden politicians are concerned, this is grossly unfair. After all, a quick check of the death rates reveals it is only ranked number eight in Europe. Sweden’s minister of the Nordic Region, Anna Hallberg, asserts that the discrimination against Sweden “is not acceptable”, reports News Øresund. Hallberg argues that the Swedish region of Scania is comparable to Zealand in its coronavirus infection rates, contending that the Øresund region should be treated as a common region rather than comparing

Stockholm and Copenhagen.

Frontex contribution

Likely by June 1 PHILIP Sandberg, the mayor of Lund, has penned an open letter to Danish PM Mette Frederiksen voicing frustration over the prospect of a prolonged border closure between the two countries. Sandberg is especially concerned that the common labour market and economic growth of both regions are suffering. Frederiksen, meanwhile, has admitted in a televised debate that she is not vehemently opposed to reopening Denmark’s borders once again to everyone. An announcement concerning the borders is expected before June 1, with the German interior minister, Horst Seehofer, reportedly keen to comply.

THE DANISH government is contributing additional equipment to Frontex, the EU Border and Coast Guard Agency to support the migration situation in Greece. This will complement its previous commitment for 2020 of patrol boats, personnel and surveillance aircraft – among other assets.

Climate aid agreed THE GOVERNMENT has agreed to set aside 150 million kroner to allocate toward climate adaptation projects and green initiatives in selected poor countries in Africa, including Mali and Uganda, and in Indonesia. It will also help Danish NGOs to develop new green innovations in areas of the world that stand to suffer the most from climate change.

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DANISH CO2 emissions totalled 67.3 million tonnes in 2018 – up 4 percent on the 63.5 million tonnes registered in 2014, reports Danmarks Statistik. The main culprits are transport (most notably shipping), construction, waste treatment, agriculture, renovation, mining and quarrying, and the glass and concrete industry. Energy production emissions have fallen.

Microplastics everywhere RESEARCHERS from the department of biology in the Southern University of Denmark, in collaboration with two universities in China, have found microplastics present in a wide range of foods, including honey, milk, beer and seafood. It is believed the microplastics are mostly added to the product during production, packaging and transport.

Brain’s steering wheel RESEARCHERS at the University of Copenhagen have made a step further in understanding which nerve cells are responsible for our ability to walk. A new study in mice reveals a group of neurons in the brain that send signals to the spinal cord, functioning as a ‘steering wheel’ that controls whether the mouse turns right or left.

Thanks to Facebook A NEW RESEARCH project undertaken by the Department of Sociology at the University of Copenhagen indicates a growing trend for green communities in Denmark throughout the last decade. Researchers have located more than 250 green grassroot communities in cities and urban areas, mostly spurred on by Facebook groups since 2008.

Creating a canyon DANISH and US scientists can explain how the world’s longest canyon was created in northern Greenland. It was most likely carved out by 2.5 km thick ice. The canyon was first discovered in 2013. At around 1,000 km in length, it is twice the length of the Grand Canyon.

Come one, come all! Coronavirus tests galore Denmark is in mass testing mode, but an app in mid-June may prove more important in tracking the infection CHRISTIAN WENANDE

S PART of Denmark’s aim to increase the testing of its general population for the coronavirus, all adults now have an opportunity to book a time. Since last week, everyone over the age of 18 can book a COVID-19 test using their Nem-ID logins at coronaprover.dk. The test, which doesn't measure COVID-19 antibodies, is administered in the white field tents recently erected across the country as part of the new Test Centre Denmark. The overall capacity of the test centres is 42,000 a day. “It is critical that there are no hidden pockets of contagion that can increase the infection rate again. Every infection chain is one too many and could potentially lead to more,” said the health minister, Magnus Heunicke. “So if there is the slightest indication that you might have been exposed to COVID-19, you should let yourself be tested.” Useless to experts ANY ADULT not showing symptoms can book a time, while people showing symptoms are urged to contact their own general practitioners to be referred to a test at a hospital. Initially, the test was only available for adults in the 18-25 age group, but that expanded to include everyone later last week. So far, over 25,000 people have taken advantage of the offer. But while the mass testing might provide people with some relief, it won’t provide much useful information to those tracking the pandemic in Denmark because of its lack of antibody results. “It might serve the desire of

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‘Mini-brain’ developed SCIENTISTS at the University of Copenhagen have managed to mimic the brain of a foetus aged four to seven weeks – both in appearance and activity. The ‘mini-brain’, which was grown by placing human brain tissue into small incubators, will enable researchers to observe the brain’s development with a view to developing treatments for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Green energy exporters No, a positive result is not good news

the individual, which is nice, but it’s not anything that we who monitor infection rates in society can use for anything,” Jens Lundgren, a professor in infection medicine at Rigshospitalet, told TV2 News. App approaching HOWEVER, infection rate monitoring will likely get a boost soon following a broad political majority backing plans for the release of the Smitte|stop app, which will enable users to be better informed about the spread of the coronavirus within the community. Should you contract the coronavirus, the app enables you to easily inform people you have been in close contact with, and likewise you will be informed if a close contact contracts the coronavirus. The approval of Parliament was necessary as the app uses new technology developed by Google and Apple to access private information contained on users’ phones. It is due to be launched in mid-June. Days of zero deaths THE RECENT increase in testing capacity in Denmark has meant that over 467,000 people in Denmark were tested for the coronavirus as of May 26. That’s roughly 8 percent of the nation. As of May 26, there have been 11,428 confirmed cases, resulting in the deaths of 563 people, according to the State Serum Institute.

Some 112 people were hospitalised on that day, with 23 in intensive care (14 on respirators) – the lowest figure since mid-March. When the situation peaked on April 1, some 535 people were hospitalised and 146 were in intensive care. In fact, over the past ten days or so, there have been a number of days when Denmark didn’t experience a single coronavirus-related fatality. A scanner darkly MEANWHILE, new research from the University of Copenhagen has revealed that an ultrasound scan of the heart can predict whether coronavirus patients face a mild or serious bout of the illness. The project showed that patients without a heart issue and with low infection practically had no risk of ending up in a serious coronavirus struggle. “We’ve seen that upwards of 80 percent of those hospitalised had a heart issue,” Tor Biering Sørensen, the head of the project, told TV2 News. “We are amazed that the heart has such importance for the progress of the patients, as our study shows.” Sørensen contends that the discovery will be of great consequence once some form of medication has been developed for the coronavirus. Danish doctors casting doubt that COVID-19 is a respiratory disease is also deemed to be groundbreaking.

BORNHOLM will export green electricity by 2030 as part of a new government climate plan that also involves a man-made island built in the North Sea, which will have a potential capacity of 10 GW. Initially the two islands will together produce 4 GW – enough to fulfil the nation’s annual household consumption.

Biomass action THE GOVERNMENT intends to impose regulatory requirements on imported biomass to ensure that it is produced sustainably. HOFOR recently came under fire for importing wood chips produced in the Amazon basin to use at its biomass plant in Amager, even though it said it could prove that they were made sustainably.

Cancer breakthrough A NEW UNIVERSITY of Copenhagen study has identified a protein that plays a key role in human cell division and could help scientists design cancer-killing drugs. While normal cells have a limited number of cell divisions, cancer cells are uncontrollable in this aspect. However, the RTEL1 protein can intervene and control the cell division process.

Duck in ascendancy THANKS to a long-standing project initiated in the 1960s and 70s by the Danish Ornithological Society and several municipalities around Denmark, the number of breeding pairs of red-breasted mergansers (in Danish: skallesluger) has risen to around 150 – up from around 20 in the early 1920s.

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Huge fine for forward

9 Follow Fido! It beats being chased by dogs! SPORT

CELTA Vigo forward Pione Sisto has been fined a club record of just under 450,000 kroner (60,000 euros) for violating coronavirus restrictions by driving 3,000 km home to Denmark from Spain. The Danish international departed on March 27 and he reportedly refused to train with the club upon his return to Spain on May 6.

Five subs rule THE SUPERLIGA will permit each team to use five substitutes instead of the usual three when it returns on May 28, providing they only stop the game a maximum of three times to make them. The rule change will apply for the remainder of the 2019/20 season.

Match-fixing tip-off NORTH Jutland Police has received a tip-off of possible match-fixing in connection with a Superliga match between AaB and OB in the autumn of 2019. AaB chief executive Thomas Bælum has confirmed the club is fully co-operating with the inquiry. Nobody has been charged.

No list without the Lord NICKLAS Bendtner’s spell on loan at Juventus has been ranked the seventh worst in history by ESPN. During the 2012/13 season, the then Arsenal injury-plagued forward made eleven appearances across all tournaments, notching up two league starts, zero goals and one arrest for drink driving. Ricardo Alvarez (Inter to Sunderland, 2014-15) topped the list.

"If you dare try attaching a sleigh, then I'm off .... Where am I going to go? The Isle of Dogs sounds nice"

What Hugo Drax or Ramsay Bolton would make of ‘Canicross’ is anyone’s guess

competitors, as cross-country running with dogs is marking its territory in Denmark, with several clubs taking root.

ORMALLY dogs chase men through the woods – or women. One of James Bond’s conquests met such a fate in 'Moonraker', while for Ramsay

Bolton in 'Game of Thrones', it was his second favourite hobby after tormenting eunuchs. But now humans are chasing dogs through our forests, or at least that’s how it might appear. Look closely and you’ll notice that they are actually attached to the dog via a lead from the midriff. And in the future we can expect to see far more ‘Canicross’

Endorsed by vets VETERINARY company Virbac is behind the drive, as it believes Canicross is beneficial to both dogs and owners. The activity is being used as

behavioural training for the dog, as it must pass through wooded areas and other obstacles at the direction of its owner. A University of Copenhagen study recently reported that every fifth dog in Denmark is overweight and that there is a strong correlation between a dog’s weight and its owner’s weight.

The shirt is dynamite

NHL career over?

Huge deal for Astralis

Heart-felt matters

THE ICONIC Danish 1986 World Cup home jersey is one of the world’d most valuable collectible football shirts, according to a Casumo study based on Classic Football Shirts data. A shirt would net you 3,340 kroner, making it the seventh most valuable in the world. Barcelona’s 1991-92 away strip and the Netherlands’ Euro 1988 winning shirts tie for first overall.

MIKKEL Bødker, 30, has signed a two-year contract with Swiss outfit HC Lugano, marking his departure from the NHL, where he played for the San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes and most recently the Ottawa Senators, where last season he suffered multiple injuries. Bødker returned to Denmark in late March due to the Coronavirus Crisis.

DANISH eSports team Astralis Group has landed a three-year sponsorship deal worth between 30 and 50 million kroner with clothing chain Hummel. Jakob Lund Kristensen, a co-founder of the world’s leading 'Counter Strike: Global Offense' team, joked that it was not long ago the team only had sponsorship deals for 10 mouse pads and a few headsets.

CASPER Folsach has opened up more about the heart condition that ended his promising career in the summer of 2019. The 2016 Olympic bronze medallist has not raced since MRI scans revealed scar tissue on his heart. He currently works as a technical consultant for the national team, although he tells DR he remains hopeful he can return to racing should his condition improve.

NATHAN WALMER

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Capital boasts world-beating job prospects

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Countess leads counter BANG & Olufsen is raising 400 million kroner through a guaranteed share issue to offset Coronavirus Crisis-related losses. Shareholder approval will be sought at an EGM on June 3 – a first chance to meet Countess Alexandra, its new director of client programs. The former princess is expected to attract new customers and develop customer programs across marketing and sales.

AS SAS returns to the skies, it has introduced new rules to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. All of its aircraft will be regularly cleaned and disinfected, no food will be served, there will be no pillows, blankets, trays or magazines in seat pockets, hand luggage will be restricted to one item per passenger, and air quality will be a priority.

House prices falling

Georg on last legs GEORG Jensen has made a loss of 356 million kroner over the last four years, reports BT, including a 48 million deficit in 2019. Its future therefore looks particularly uncertain given the onset of the Coronavirus Crisis, as Francesco Pesci, its CEO, tells Børsen.no that it will go bust if revenue falls by more than 33 percent this year.

"Yes please, Copenhagen! If only we could move there"

Only Helsinki has a more robust economy in light of the Coronavirus Crisis, according to FutureLearn rankings

the world went into lockdown it morphed into a slightly different evaluation.

OPENHAGEN ranks as the second best city in the world to find a job, according to a study by FutureLearn, a UK-based online learning platform built on social pedagogy. The study primarily assesses cities' opportunities for employment, infrastructure and quality of life, as well as the economic impact of their governments' response to the Coronavirus Crisis. The study began well before the coronavirus pandemic, but as

Robust economy THE STUDY assessed four main parameters – Economics, Government Policies, Quality of Life and Gender Equalities – and Copenhagen performed well in all four of them. Most notably, it achieved maximum scores for workers’ rights and women’s legislation and freedom, and it scored over 90/100 for government effectiveness, immigration rates and openness, healthcare, the gender wage gap, and women in leadership roles. In Europe, only Helsinki has a more robust economy, according to the study.

Three Nordics in top four SINGAPORE topped the rankings, and Helsinki, Oslo and Dubai completed the top five, followed by Gothenburg, Malmö, San Francisco, Munich and Geneva. Both Germany and the USA had five cities in the top 25, and Sweden and Switzerland three. No cities in Africa, India or China made the top 100. The highest-ranked city in South America was Santiago at number 100. Other notable rankings included Los Angeles (15), New York (17), Stockholm (18), Berlin (22), Amsterdam (27), Dublin (32), London (34), Paris (68), Barcelona (91), Milan (93), Madrid (94) and Rome (97).

It’s all gone pear-shaped

DSB resigned to losses

Airport hit hard

New head at ISS

SNACK brand KiMs has been denied exclusive rights to produce square-shaped crisps by the Maritime and Commercial Court. KiMs applied to have its 'Snack chips' registered as a three-dimensional trademark in 2014. However an objection materialised in 2015.

FOLLOWING a first quarter loss of 199 million kroner, rail operator DSB expects to lose 1 billion kroner in 2020. Amid speculation it intends to reduce its annual costs by 130 million kroner, it has secured cash for the rest of the year through banking facilities.

COPENHAGEN Airport has announced a first quarter 70 percent fall in profits from 258.4 to 79.4 million kroner. Revenue declined by 21 percent to 764.3 million kroner as the number of weekly travellers fell from 83,000 to 1,600 by the end of March.

JACOB Aarup-Andersen, 42, has been appointed the CEO of ISS. He will formally replace Jeff Gravenhorst, who is stepping down after a decade at the helm, on September 1. Recently, the FSA rejected Aarup-Andersen’s appointment as CEO of Danske Bank.

Maersk’s steady ship DANISH shipping giant Maersk has reported a marginal increase in revenue along with a profit of almost 1.44 billion kroner for the first quarter of the year. A year earlier it declared a loss of 4.5 billion kroner. However, it expects a 20-25 percent drop in freight in the second quarter due to the Coronavirus Crisis.

Hotels hit hard ACCORDING to Erhervplus, border closures resulted in a major drop in hotel and restaurant sales in March, with revenue plunging by 53 percent from 5.6 million kroner in February to 2.7 million kroner. Dansk Erhverv promises April will be worse.

New SAS rules

BEN HAMILTON

AS OF MAY 1, apartment prices had fallen by 0.8 percent in March and April, according to Boligsiden.dk, with house prices slipping by 0.1 percent. But given that spring normally sees a rise, the figures could be calculated to be the equivalent of 1.2 and 1.9 percent falls respectively. As of April, there were 33,700 houses for sale – nine percent fewer than 12 months earlier.

Cheery at Crown SLAUGHTERHOUSE firm Danish Crown has reported an interim increase of 46 percent in pork sales, as overall sales advanced 18 percent to 32 billion kroner compared to the same six-month period in 2018-19. However, Danish Crown is not as optimistic about its second half due to the slump in the food service industry caused by the Coronavirus Crisis.

Travel rescue package THE GOVERNMENT will go ahead with a rescue package for travel companies despite it being rejected by the European Commission, reports Erhvervplus.dk. The rescue package enables travel companies to issue vouchers instead of cash refunds – a move that conflicts with EU law on passenger rights.

Money for links THE ROAD Directorate has confirmed it will spend 260 million kroner on maintaining 18 bridges and tunnels, of which 140 million kroner will be spent this year, according to Erhvervplus.

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THE VALLEY OF LIFE As the chairman of the Medicon Valley Alliance – the gold-labelled Danish-Swedish life science cluster organisation – Søren will address current trends and challenges in the sector.

vaccine, while Rigshospitalet is leading a group of 16 hospitals exploring a potential treatment for covid-19-related lung damage. In the private sector, Copenhagen-based Immunitrack is working to develop a peptide-based vaccine, Lund-based companies such as Red Glead Discovery are experimenting with different types of vaccines, and Amniotics is working to develop a lung stem cell against covid-19. These are just some of the promising initiatives in the region.

Awash with initiatives A TEAM of 15 leading scientists from the University of Copenhagen are working to develop a

It’s a team effort RIGHT now, it is crucially important that we rally to increase scientific and medical insight to increase the chance of discovering a cure. In the long run it is not important to mankind exactly who eventually wins the race, or what specific medication or combination of treatments will be effective in patients suffering from severe covid-19. What is important in the long run is that we acknowledge the contribution of both industry, public research and the

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HAT WE did in the past prepared us for now. Let us now prepare for the future. Game-changer THAT SARS-COV-2, or the coronavirus, has changed our lives in so many ways is maybe obvious to most. So is the fact that mankind needs a vaccine to prevent the virus from spreading, along with medication to treat those infected and suffering from

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Danish Capital in 2019

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covid-19. Across the globe the best minds from nearly all sectors – academia, hospitals, industry etc – are working hard to crack the corona riddle, and every day new data and insight bring us one step closer to a hopeful breakthrough. Leading pharmaceutical companies and the world´s most renowned research labs have joined forces to accelerate the development of several vaccine candidates. And while the covid-19 has significantly changed the way we work and collaborate, we see an unprecedented level of collaboration across the triple helix of hospitals, academia and industry in the Danish-Swedish Medicon Valley life science cluster, aiming to address all aspects of drug development, from research tools to manufacturing. Let me mention a couple of specific examples at a risk of serving injustice to all initiatives not explicitly mentioned.

One brain can make the difference, but it's the cluster around it that counts

hospital sector in developing the life-saving medicines and treatments for many acute and chronic diseases. It was these contributions that during the last century helped create the high life expectancy and quality of life that we have come to take for granted. Collaboration is crucial IT IS ALSO important that we acknowledge that the continued investment in public research and the hospital sector, as well as a strong collaboration across the public and private sectors,

is needed to be able to address healthcare challenges in the future. Furthermore, the last couple of months have demonstrated the importance of being able to collaborate across national borders to effectively utilise expertise and resources and secure a qualified response to future healthcare challenges. This just so happens to also be the founding idea of the Medicon Valley cluster. Hopefully, visionary politicians will keep that in mind when they decide how to invest.

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Is it over and out?

The giant experiment WE ARE now recovering from a giant experiment in changed behaviour. The austerity legislation regarding handshakes and covering our faces has been brutally demasked as a joke redefining irony for our modern age. Many companies were able to maintain productivity thanks to their staff working from home – a pat on the back for another successful nationwide IT implementation – and it has given us time to reflect on the un-necessary number of air miles clocked up by businessmen attending meetings they can participate in online. In the absence of the fitness centres, many of us have returned to more natural ways of exercis-

Straight Up

ing. Home cooking has also come back in fashion, as families with children rediscovered the pleasure of living a simple life. Now, during the reopening of society, we are seeing the lasting effects. Nobody needs to be reminded to wash their hands again, and alcohol is no longer only for drinking. We do not touch one another and especially not strangers. They get an elbow at best and we all sneeze on our sleeves. Reopening our eyes ALL THIS is only the beginning, as we are in for serious changes. We can expect less air travel at a higher cost. We will see more virtual meetings, more home workplaces and less public transport. We will see more social distancing and fewer people catching colds or flu. We will invest in the national health service, research and nursing homes. We will accept climate control legislation to an extent that was unthinkable four months ago. We will increasingly do our shopping over the internet – a death knell for high streets already full of vacant leases. We will realise that the EU is not a monster but a brutal necessity if we want to preserve the welfare community. And we will have to find ways to support a developing world struggling to cope with the coronavirus. Finally, we have seen strong men like Trump and Putin become helpless as they feel their power slipping through their fingers and science overtaking their fake news. And that’s probably the most important change: we are finally opening our eyes to differentiate between facts and politics. (ES)

Zach Khadudu is a Kenyan by birth and a journalist by choice. He is a commentator and an activist with a passion for refugee and human rights. He may share a heritage with a certain US president, but his heart lies elsewhere – in the written and spoken word.

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E HAVE recently been celebrating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and the liberation from the German Occupation – a reminder that our parents or grandparents could have told us a thing or two about what it was like to be locked up with closed borders and limits on our comings and goings. The coronavirus brought the very worst limitations on our personal freedoms. It was unexpected and we were likewise unprepared – not just for the lockdown, but the scariness of the situation in Italy. However, a few months later and we are now opening society again with most of us still alive. In reality there seems to have been no more deaths than what we would usually expect from diseases and traffic. In the meantime, ‘pandemic’ has become a household word.

ZACH KHADUDU

Perhaps we won't miss them, but their absence will be felt

HE TWO month-long lockdown in Denmark and across other countries has taken a toll on most of us, with many remarking how the Covid-19 crisis is an equal opportunity oppressor. Nations big and small have been hit. Monarchs and commoners, the mighty and the proletariat, the bourgeois and working class – people of all races, classes, religions and political affiliations have been in one way or another affected. But while this dreaded virus has been a common denominator for humanity, the fact is some have been more affected than others. Word. Locked out IT IS AT this time of year when scores of migrants – mainly from Africa, Asia and the Middle East who live in Spain and Italy – make their way up to northern Europe in search of manual jobs. A good deal come to Co-

penhagen and work as bottle collectors during the summer. The vibrant Danish summer and the many festivals – including Roskilde, Smukfest and the Distortion street party – offer an opportunity for them to make some money. This year all that is gone. Locked borders, restricted movement and flight cancellations have robbed them of their livelihood. It is no-one’s fault, yet the misery of this particular group cannot be ignored. Off the radar ANOTHER group who have been even harder hit are the so-called ‘undocumented’ immigrants. These are the people living under the radar. They are mainly rejected asylum-seekers who stay here out of fear for their lives should they be deported. They end up falling off the radar of the authorities and living as undocumented. They are now even more

vulnerable. They often rely on collecting bottles for survival – literally. In normal times eking a livelihood is particularly hard for them. The lockdown has made it even more precarious. With no work and no social welfare net, most are suffering in silence out of our sight. Granted, most governments are trying their best to combat the devastating virus. Particular commendations must go to our very able prime minister, Mette Frederiksen (shout-outs are also due to Jacinda Arden, Angela Merkel and Sanna Marin). These leaders have handled the Covid-19 crisis with grace and grit. The same can’t be said of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Jair Bolsonaro. Invisible to our eyes THE SUFFERING and death has been devastating. Yet, in a strange way, the virus has been pivotal in reminding us of our common humanity. Yet still our ‘common humanity’ needs to extend even to those least among us. Those who are invisible in our eyes. While nobody is to blame for the havoc caused by the virus, the perennial mishandling of people labelled ‘undocumented immigrants’ is to be placed solely at our feet as citizens, and our political class. Unlike the ravage caused by the virus, the disproportionate suffering of people living ‘underground’ is avoidable. Until now we as a people have chosen to ignore it. To rephrase George Orwell: while all animals have been equal in this crisis, some animals have been more equal than others.

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MRUTYUANJAI MISHRA

Crazier than Christmas

Mishra’s Mishmash

VIVIENNE MCKEE

As a regular contributor to the Times of India, the country’s largest newspaper, Mishra is often soughtafter by Danish media and academia to provide expertise on Asian-related matters, human rights issues and democratisation. He has spent half his life in India and the other half in Denmark and Sweden.

Closer than Stockholm THE PRINCIPAL of a school in Malmö summarised the apparent indifference regularly reported by the media by succinctly saying: "Samma sak", which means two sides of the same story. He was extremely calm and collected, listening attentively and politely to my bafflement at how the Swedish and the Danish approaches to the crisis have been entirely different. I mentioned to him the two different immigration policies, and their different approaches to addressing multiculturalism, but he stuck to his point: "Look, we are sitting in Malmö, which was part of Denmark till 1658. We feel we are closer to the Danes than to Stockholm. We love Denmark, and I hope my students can soon visit the country again." The administrative head of a gymnasium in Lund went as far as applauding Denmark’s immigration policy, which has enabled it to keep things under control. "I work in the Swedish gym-

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HAVE LIVED in both Sweden and Denmark. And sadly, over the past decade or so, I have observed how their political leaderships have unwittingly allowed their countries to drift apart, while their respective media do not seem to take much interest in affairs across the border. However, on a very recent visit to Sweden following the eruption of the Coronavirus Crisis, I had the opportunity to converse with many Swedes, and it would appear optimism is growing at a grassroots level. After all, just 28 km apart, Malmö and Copenhagen share a lot of history.

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Englishman in Nyhavn JACK GARDNER Some old school rallying around the Scania flag

nasium system, and I observe that many students who come as refugees to Sweden do not disclose their correct age,” she revealed. “Adults end up attending my school with teenagers, and this creates challenges. I see why Danish scepticism is rational. I have a background in economics, and hence being rational and having both of your feet on the ground matters to me." “We love the Danes” ON MY WAY back to Denmark, at Malmö’s main railway station, I met the Swedish manager of a small Swedish takeaway place called Lilla Husman, which literally means little traditional food. This name harmonises with the prevalent 'janteloven' in Denmark, which stipulates that you should never say you are better, big or clever. "We love the Danes,” the manager told me. “We have been brothers for the longest time in history. We were once part of Denmark." This nicely sums up the optimistic stance of Swedes living in the Scania region, which for centuries has seen its borders regularly shifting. Right now, as I write this article,

the borders are closed. Controls have been tightened by both Denmark and Sweden. Every train arriving in Sweden from Denmark is halted, after which the passengers are thoroughly checked for valid passports and identity papers before the train is allowed to proceed further. Returning to Denmark is a tougher experience, though. The police at Copenhagen Airport check if you have the necessary 'anerkendelsesværdigt formål' to enter Denmark from Sweden Malmö – an appropriate reason to leave and return to Denmark. Frugal fraternity AFTER a short visit to Sweden, my understanding of Sweden has solidified. Their attitude to Denmark is that of an elder brother always ready to forgive, who knows that sometimes the younger brother can throw tantrums. Better times lie ahead! As the economic crisis deepens, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria have decided to form a team, ‘The Frugal Four’, to avoid the French and German plan to drain money from their pockets. The Swedes and the Danes are finally coming together!

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KIRSTEN LOUISE PEDERSEN

A Dane Abroad Born and raised in Denmark and a resident of New Zealand for over 14 years, Kirsten has lived a pretty nomadic life since her early 20s. A physiotherapist, yoga teacher and keen home cook, she is passionate about food, good living and natural health. Follow her on Instagram @mskirstenlouise

LBERT Einstein once remarked: “Adversity introduces a man to himself.”

Hourly hardships LAST WEEK yet another interview with a person lamenting the negative effects of lockdown during the coronavirus outbreak aired on Danish media. The fear of loneliness, feeling the restriction of personal freedoms, the fear of unemployment, depression, disappointments at cancelled holidays, and cancelled school trips have all been recurrent themes. One woman even felt that her maternity leave may as well be refunded as she wasn’t able to enjoy many of the activities that go along with being on maternity leave in Denmark. After following the discussions relating to the Coronavirus Crisis, both home and abroad, I feel that it is time to have a talk about perspective in this country. At the risk of sounding harsh, I find that the victimhood narrative, which has dominated the Danish media for the past few months, simply highlights just how privileged we are here in Denmark. The reactions of many Danes suggest that we may be somewhat poorly equipped when it comes to personal coping skills. On a daily basis we hear stories of people struggling to cope – and also of mental health problems being on the rise since the onset of the crisis. I find it thought-provoking that so many people seem to have so much trouble coping in the face of these challenges in a country that, after all, enjoys such good conditions compared to other countries. Perspective please ASIDE from rebellious Sweden, Denmark has had some

of the least extreme lockdown regulations. Deaths and a rise in unemployment were always going to be natural consequences of a pandemic of this calibre. Not even safe little Denmark is immune to a pandemic. Despite this, Denmark has experienced a relatively low level of impact on the individual. Some may find this a harsh comparison, but here goes anyway. We are not at war. No-one is dying in droves. And despite some interpretations, our freedom is not actually being particularly compromised. Being deported to Auschwitz against your will would be robbing you of your freedom. Being asked to practise common sense while carrying out most of your daily activities, with a very small chance of getting sick or dying, is on the other hand not a terrible restriction of freedom. I do feel myself cringe slightly when I ponder how my late grandmother would react to seeing how people have responded to this crisis. She lived through the Second World War, and apart from having German soldiers rock up at the front door of her family’s farmhouse and subsequently occupying half of it for the remainder of the war, food was scarce, travel was impossible, and you actually risked getting shot if you were out after hours. In today’s Denmark we enjoy extremely safe conditions on so many parameters. We have almost a zero percent chance of being hit by a natural disaster, we have no wildlife that can kill you (a stag deer is as wild as it gets), corruption is low-scale, crime is low, infrastructure is strong, the economy is strong (unless SKAT continues to give it all away), and hospital and GP visits are free. Should you lose your job, government schemes

ensure that at least you get some money, as opposed to none at all. These factors make us a very safe country. On a daily basis we are shielded from otherwise natural risks that millions of other people on the planet are faced with every day. Has this inflated sense of safety made us complacent about the risks that actually lurk out there in the rest of the real world? Has it made us lose perspective on how lucky we are in spite of the recent situation? The subject of death THE FACT that we plan so much for our pensions in Denmark is a good indicator that most of us actually live until the age of retirement – and often way beyond. Living until an old age has long been an expectation in Denmark. We have come to view a long life almost as a right – and not the privilege that it really is. We talk about death as if it is always a disaster. It is not. You can easily live a long and miserable life. And you can live a shorter and meaningful life. Sometimes death is even a liberator. But in all cases, we must be able to admit to ourselves that even if conditions aren’t ideal, death can never be unnatural. Our expectations about life, on the other hand, can be. My own father died in an accident when he was only 48. For whatever reason, his time was up. His death was not unnatural. Accidents unfortunately do happen in life. It only appeared unnatural to us because, after all, it is relatively rare that people die young in this country. The people who have lost their lives as a result of the coronavirus have so far mostly been elderly and/or sick people with several

You might be lonely but it's better than evil company

pre-existing comorbidities. In these instances life was not a risk-free affair before the coronavirus, and I feel that we have forgotten this, as we insist on saving every life possible – seemingly at whatever cost. The comfort trap I THINK we enjoy a kind of comfort, convenience and safety in this country that is almost second to none – and very rare on a global level. And some might say that this welfare cocktail creates a risk of detachment from the challenges of real life. Because real life has never been completely safe, nor very convenient or particularly comfortable at all times. Existing daily in this constructed bubble of safety and comfort, I think, has somewhat desensitised us to real life outside of the duckpond. We forget – we may not even know – how raw life sometimes is. Living in a place like Denmark we are shielded from most of life’s rawness, and I feel the need to point out that many of the things we complain about here are absolute luxuries somewhere else. Blind worshipping of comfort without understanding the catch, which is reduced coping skills, can be detrimental as we fail to learn how to cope in the face of adversity. And that is, in my view, a slippery slope that leads to passivity and excessive dependence. I really hope that this crisis is showing us that we seriously need to start changing that. People need to learn to cope with challenges within themselves before running off to the nearest shrink. Nothing wrong with shrinks, but they shouldn’t be the first port of call.

In Denmark safety and security are being delivered to us on a silver platter in the form of geographical luck and decades of democratic legislation and infrastructure work. A safe society with few challenges may seem like a great idea on the face of it, but we appear to be blind to the helplessness that goes handin-hand with constant comfort. Discernment THE MEDIA carry a significant responsibility regarding how news and stories are being portrayed and broadcast to the masses. However, as a person’s attention is becoming a most prized commodity these days, it is of utmost importance that we learn the art of discernment and critical thinking. We are being bombarded with a torrent of information on a daily basis and, as nothing is going to magically appear that will somehow shield us from this phenomenon anytime soon, it is now up to the individual to learn how to navigate the ever-increasing flow of information. Modern socialist societies do not tend to have a culture of encouraging individual coping skills and resilience. But these are basic life skills necessary for everyone – even in safe societies – and these skills need to be trained and prioritised in order to be useful when disaster strikes. Such as a coronavirus pandemic. Times are changing and, despite living in one of the best welfare states on the planet, it makes sense for each of us to start taking greater responsibility for our own life experience. We could start by improving our sense of perspective, developing our coping skills and becoming more familiar with that thing called gratitude.

OPINION

29 May - 11 June 2020

RICHARD STEED

Tricky Dicky English by nature, Danish at heart, still in Copenhagen after 12 years … and still not fluent in Danish!

AM A FOREIGNER, have lived in Copenhagen for 12 years, and can barely speak a word of Danish – yet all my friends bar one are Danes. But it turns out from talking to other foreigners living here that I may be one of only an exclusive few who are successful enough to infiltrate and crack the Danish friend code. Luton boy lucks out WHY DO so many foreigners find it difficult to make Danish friends? Have I just been incredibly lucky and somehow found affection amongst the Danes? After all, up until Brexit being English meant I was in the premier league of Denmark’s favourite foreigners! I remember when I first arrived in 2008 finding it weird but strangely flattering that myself, a white male from suburban Luton with average English features, was considered exotic. Luckily, times have changed and today exotic is a little more interesting than my pasty white face. It is sad to think that so many foreigners living here in

Copenhagen will never have the experience of being invited to spend time with the Danes in their summerhouses or, let alone, be invited for a cup of coffee in a Danish household in this city. Could it just be down to a foreigner’s entry point into the city? Many come here to work at international companies and so have little chance to mingle with homegrown Danes. Or maybe it is simply the fact that Denmark is a nation of introverts and even Danes find it hard to find new friends. Of course, it could also be the language barrier, meaning that not speaking Danish is the problem. Even though most Danes love to practise their English, they are only willing to do this until their brains start to hurt. They will invariably switch back to Danish, so unless you can keep up, this friendship will be going nowhere. But if this was the case, I would have no Danish friends. Trust issues “IT IS AN intriguing question,” says Thomas, a born and bred Copenhagener. “Trust among people in Denmark is high, but sometimes it seems like Danes have enough satisfaction in the friends they already have. They

consider starting new relationships a risky business, as they could pose a threat to the stability and safety they already enjoy in their lives.” Bianca from Italy has been here for five years and has repeatedly tried to make friendship connections with the Danes. “Throughout my first couple of years here, I was devastated that I had no Danish friends as I do consider myself a social person. Today I still have zero Danish friends, but now I have no expectations,” she says. “Of course, the language is a huge barrier and, although I speak English fluently, I can never express myself 100 percent like I do in Italian. Especially when making jokes, as I believe humour to be important building blocks when forming any new friendship. I also think there is a big cultural gap between northern and southern Europe: the way we dress, the way we look, the tone of our voice, even our facial expressions,” she adds. Petar from Bulgaria has lived here eight years and agrees that making friends as an adult is mostly about finding common interests and sharing mindsets: “I think that it takes a long time for Danes to warm up to

you and find a good reason to allow you into their circle. As far as I know they form strong friendships early on, even from their kindergarten days, and so it’s less likely for them to do so later in life.” “At university here, we had plenty of locals around, but somehow they kept to themselves. With some I managed to get closer, but there always seemed to be a barrier that stopped them from allowing a new friend into their closed circle,” he adds. Depends on the Dane METTE – born and bred in Roskilde, who until recently was living in New Zealand – thinks it takes a certain type of Dane to have non-Danish friends. “I think Danes like to have international friends, but at a distance so they can impress their friends. It takes a particular type of Dane to have close foreign friends, and it’s normally those who have lived abroad.” “I would feel I would be missing something if I only had Danish friends,” says Thorsten, who is originally from Herning in Jutland. “Where else do you learn and experience new things? When I returned from living in Japan, I found Denmark quite tribal, so I really wanted foreign friends to gain a broader view on life.” The simple truth is that as foreigners we are always going to find it hard to make friends with the locals, as wherever we are in the world tribes normally

stick with their own kind. Our choices will always be limited, yet I think subconsciously I have always been strategic when choosing my Danish friends. Have they lived abroad, do they have an international mindset, and are they comfortable spending a whole evening speaking in English? So, we also need to be selective and realistic about who can potentially be our Danish friends. Within intimate range BRIAN from Scotland has lived in this city for nearly 30 years now. He is finally fluent in Danish, but overall he thinks the way to find Danish friends is by joining a group or association. “There isn’t the same social gathering structure here, like in the UK where you can go down to the pub for a pint,” he points out. “Yet the Danes do have groups for everything, and these activities normally include social events and julefrokosts. Anything that gets you into their intimate range is good, so you become ‘us’ rather than ‘them’.” I asked my oldest Danish friend Jørgen why he thought I had been successful in finding Danish friends? “Because you challenge the Danes, you are an extrovert, you’re honest and don’t mind confrontation, you know how to flatter and take the piss out of them – and most importantly you make them laugh,” he smirked.

16 BUSINESS FEATURE THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

29 May - 11 June 2020

With the coronavirus accelerating anticipated trends, our cities will stop existing as you’ve known them. Welcome to magic at your doorstep in just a quarter of an hour ELLA NAVARRO

ACK IN the 1960s, Andy Warhol commented that “everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”, and ever since it’s become an iconic timespan. Maybe that’s why urban planners and governments talk about the idea of 15-minute cities for the future, where everything we need will be within our reach. But when the future is now, are world leaders finally going to start implementing the long overdue change that the pandemic has shown our cities desperately need? The 21st century is increasingly becoming a time of global urbanisation. More people are moving to live in the cities, and more cities being re-urbanised. Cities are filled with excitement, new people, more job opportunities, culture and entertainment. There’s a charm to switching from the small town to the anonymity of the big city, where things are always happening and dreams really can come true. However, for two months of lockdown citizens couldn’t access all the things they wanted from their city and this made them question its attractiveness. “Museums are closed or only allow a limited number of visitors, concerts and other large-scale events have been cancelled, and whether the opening of cafés and restaurants in Germany or Denmark is sustainable over the next months remains to be seen. Thus much of what attracts people to live in or visit cities can currently not be experienced and enjoyed,” contended social scientist Merlin Schaeffer from the University of Copenhagen. For many, the reasons why they moved to a tiny flat to be in the buzz of the town seem trivial, and in some big cities like New York people are even considering moving out. Even in Copenhagen, results from a study by DTU

reveal how during the lockdown people chose to flee from populated areas across Denmark, making the number of occupants decrease in the urban hubs. Will we return to normal? URBAN planner James Thoem, the head of Copenhagenize Design Co, explained: “The post-pandemic urban life will very well look and feel different, but the city as a phenomenon will not stop existing.” “One of the defining characteristics of a city is its sheer resilience. We've seen that over the last century as wars, nuclear threat, natural disasters, acts of terror, and car-centric planning have tested the strength of cities and urban life. But cities have maintained relevancy and attractiveness.” However, cities have been under a lot of pressure and this was brought to light during the pandemic, pointing out there is indeed a need for change. “Cities have had an incredible boom the last 20 years, but I think that might change direction,” says Jeff Risom, the chief innovation officer at Gehl Architects. “They have been under too much pressure due to a lack of affordability and concerns regarding huge income disparities and inclusion. We need to use this opportunity to right some of the wrongs that cities were undergoing because they were almost overheating.” Humans are easy adapters THE FUTURE is uncertain and can’t be predicted. Warhol was probably lucky, or a very wise analyst of the trends, to see what was coming, and the same is true at the Copenhagen Institute of Future Studies. They regard outof-control phenomena such as the pandemic as “a wild card” that will induce an acceleration of change that was already expected. So our new normal may not come entirely as a shock, it will just creep in. “The post-corona times will obviously bring changes, but since we are habitual beings we expect that people will return to what was ‘normal’ prior to corona in as

many ways as possible,” explained futurist Michaela Cinkova, an advisor at the institute. In fact, the DTU study revealed that “with the reopenings, people are already streaming back into the cities, especially Copenhagen,” revealed Schaeffer. Another study led by Risom analysed changing Copenhagen behaviours during the lockdown, concluding that crises demonstrate the power of human behaviour and our ability to quickly adapt. “If you change your behaviour for 21 days it usually sticks. I think people being outside more and thinking of outdoor space as vital to their health will be us for the foreseeable future, as well as permanent changes in commuting patterns,” contended Risom. Megatrends already here URBAN life has survived previous pandemics, and Schaeffer does not see why the coronavirus should be any different. “Urban research has identified a strong and very systematic trend towards re-urbanisation out of the suburbs over the last decades. I would be surprised if the corona pandemic would reverse that re-urbanisation trend – the [1711] plague and [1853] cholera [outbreak] didn’t reverse it either,” he said. Cinkova agrees that urbanisation will remain a mega-trend for the next 10-15 years, but will be accompanied by a micro-trend known as back-to-basics that has been more relevant than ever during the lockdown. “People will be seeking a more authentic, simple life, in which the quality consists mostly of experiences in nature and from a digital detox,” she said. She identifies three megatrends that were already on the way, but have been accelerating due to the outbreak: ‘focus on health’, which will be buoyed by improved hygiene and new ways of greetings; ‘technology development’ in which AI has reduced unnecessary doctor visits in favour of ‘telemedicine or telehealth’; and the ‘green trend’ that has seen governments investing far more in climate-friendly options.

PIXABAY

In the future, everyone will be in a radius of 15 minutes from happiness

City centres need to complement there encircling districts more

“Cities around the world are quickly realising both the practicality of cycling and the relative ease of building suitable infrastructure. The challenge now will be to 'plant that flag' and maintain sufficient space for safe cycling as we transition to the next phase of urban living,” predicted Thoem. Some cities have already started these initiatives. Amsterdam has implemented Doughnut Economics with the goal of achieving a greener lifestyle and providing solutions to fight climate change. Montreal has built 112 km of safe lanes for pedestrians and bicycles throughout the city. While Montevideo has closed its coastline route during the weekends and turned it into a space for exercise. A more thoughtful future IF ANYTHING, we learned during the pandemic that priorities are shifting and citizens are looking constantly for purposeful experiences in like-minded communities. “We are living in times of accelerated technological change – a shift in our values from material things to meaningful experiences and quality time with our loved ones – and we pay higher attention to our health, movement and balanced lifestyle. But perhaps most importantly, we are adapting to new ways of living,” observed Cinkova. The city is realising it is possible to do business in the home. As urban designer William Mitchell – the Warhol of urban design predictions – wrote in his book E-topia: “The 21st century will still need agoras – maybe more than ever. But these will not always be physical places.” “This crisis has accelerat-

ed digitalisation and pushed us quickly into a more digital work environment where we can work everywhere. That’s an event that cannot be reversed,” added Cinkova. 15-minute cities OVER THE last 100 years cities have been principally planned for business, retail, industry and entertainment – all separated from the residential areas. But now it looks like we are going in a completely different direction as metropolises become more about neighbourhoods and proximity. “My hope is that this [the pandemic] helps to level the playing field a little bit, so that we focus more on the neighbourhoods,” said Risom. Many cities, including Melbourne and Paris, are already talking about increasing the quality of life by introducing the so-called 15-minute cities. This concept of a 15-minute city puts humans at the centre of activities, where all their basic needs – living, working, supplying, caring, learning and enjoying – are fulfilled within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. It is proximity that will make people more happy and more keen to build relationships and support their community. “Copenhagen-sized cities have more of an advantage, it's megacities that need to break down and work on being more livable and accessible in terms of affordability," contended Risom. “What we really need to rethink is city centres because they need to offer something different – as a complement to the neighbourhood.”

INTERVIEW

29 May - 11 June 2020

Rebuilding the close-knit hoods of Copenhagen one stitch at a time ANNA MARYAM SMITH

OPENHAGEN Building Blocks, a series of DYI knitting patterns depicting colourful houses in the Danish capital, have taken the world by storm. Block by block WITH 16,800 Instagram followers, and several articles already written about his work, their 35-year-old Australian creator, Jacob Hezner (@ boy_knits_world on Instagram), is justly proud that his patterns are

What got you into knitting and crafting? It’s hard to say what got me into craft. My mum taught me to knit, but I’ve always enjoyed designing and making things. When I was young, an aunt used to send me books each birthday – one on origami, another on tying knots – and I remember I would often look at these for inspiration. What inspired you to create the Copenhagen Building Blocks pattern? Copenhagen Building Blocks was really a way of capturing the beauty of Copenhagen’s buildings. There’s not really anything like them in Australia, and they’re such a huge part of what makes Copenhagen so beautifully livable. I used to take myself on walks around different parts of the city to photograph buildings for reference. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to spend time doing it. What was the process of coming up with the pattern like?

being reproduced by so many. Each of the ‘blocks’ are constructed separately and later sewn together to form whatever the knitter desires. The different blocks represent facades in various areas of Copenhagen, including the city centre, Nørrebro, Østerbro, Frederiksberg and Hellerup. For some time now Hezner has simply knitted what has inspired him on his travels, and Copenhagen Building Blocks is the result of his time living in Frederiksberg from 2017 to 2018, during which time he worked as a substitute English teacher at a few international schools.

Therapeutic threads IT IS AT times hard to appreciate what is around you – especially in the busy world in which we live. Through his patterns, Hezner is giving us an opportunity to focus and reflect on the beauty of our home city by allowing us to spend hours recreating it by hand. In a time of immense chaos, stress, tension and fear, taking time to just appreciate the world around us (and maybe take up a new hobby!) can be therapeutic. Taking a deep breath and being grateful for the small things around us can provide us with a great sense of peace. Finding common ground in the beauty of art speaks to the

It took a while to get the dimensions right for the designs. I wanted to create a basic pattern that people could adapt by substituting different features, and this meant a lot of testing. Fortunately, I had a big blanket planned and my own blocks didn’t all need to be perfect examples of the patterns, so I used a number of these as opportunities to experiment with features I liked. I also learned a lot about the names of architectural features by reading about the parts I was photographing.

designs. That process of design, interpretation and reinterpretation is fascinating. People often use patterns to produce surprising and beautiful new designs.

Why do you think Copenhagen Building Blocks was so well received? I’m not sure what people like so much about the Building Blocks pattern. I suppose knitting patterns don’t tend to feature buildings very often, so that is a novelty. The patterns are also modular, so you can make as many or as few as you like, and one block can be made with leftover amounts of yarn. This often appeals to knitters with large stashes of leftover yarn. So it’s safe to say they’ve been your most successful knitting venture? Definitely. I also wrote a pattern book for an Australian yarn brand many years ago, which was good fun. It’s such a pleasure to see other people make my

Had you anticipated its success? I didn’t anticipate the success of the pattern at all. It has sort of come in a few waves. People have been really lovely about it, and I’m so pleased others see in it what I see in the city. What has been your favourite place to visit thus far? Copenhagen is easily one of my favourite places in the world. I’m sure that’s partly to do with how I spent my time there, but Denmark is also a great example of how a country can be organised for everyone’s benefit. There’s a strong sense of friendliness in Copenhagen, like everyone knows how to balance their life and treat other people well. I also love Tokyo, but that’s really more as a tourist. What’s been your favourite creation thus far? My favourite things I’ve made are a rabbit called Nüni, a koala called Estelle who runs her own miniature florist, and the Building Blocks. For those who are creatively inclined, or like a challenge, you can purchase the knit pattern from Hezner’s Ravelry.com page.

ALL PHOTOS: JACOB HEZNER

The creator of the DIY knitting series Copenhagen Building Blocks has quite a yarn to spin

How to make an Australian quilt

commonality between us all. We recently caught up with Hezner, who has since his travels

in Europe returned to his native Australia, to find out more about his work and future plans.

18 HISTORY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

29 May - 11 June 2020

VE Day on May 8 was as good a day as any to recall how Major Anders Lassen, the only non-Commonwealth or British recipient of the Victoria Cross during WWII, was a Dane RICHARD PURSEHOUSE AND BEN CUNLIFFE

N A STORE Bededag bank holiday marred by the coronavirus quarantine, few Danes would have given the May 8 celebrations of the 75th anniversary of VE Day much thought – particularly in a country that spent most of World War II under their own kind of lockdown. But they should be rightly proud, for ranging the blue Mediterranean during the enemy occupation of many of its lonely islands was a young Dane whose exploits became legendary. Such was Major Anders Lassen’s impact that he became the only non-British or Commonwealth recipient of the Victoria Cross druing the war. Modest and charming, this true descendant of the Vikings of old had a vivid personality. Night after night, he would lead his men of the Special Boat Section (later the Special Boat Service) in silent, daring raids – news of which could not be released until the war was over. He sailed in a small Greek caique (traditional fishing boat), hiding behind the rocks in daytime, preparing to strike when the shadows lengthened across the waters. Overseas during Occupation BORN IN 1920, Landers Frederik Emil Victor Lassen lived a privileged life in Nyhavn, but also an adventurous one. Holidays from Herlufsholm, Denmark's foremost boarding school, were spent shooting on his father's estate with his younger brother Franz. They made their own bows and arrows and became so expert with them that they could kill a bird in flight. In the games they described innocuously as ‘Snakes and Arrows’, the weapons were no playthings: the arrows would

pass right through a stag and penetrate a tree beyond! At the age of 17, Anders decided to see the world and he joined the Danish Merchant Navy. A year later the war began, and by the spring the Germans had occupied Denmark while the young Dane was away. He joined the British Army and volunteered as a Royal Marine commando, just like his brother Franz who would rise to the rank of captain. Their father would also fight on the side of the Allies as a captain in the Royal Navy. Within a month or two of being commissioned, he was awarded the Military Cross "for carrying out special duties with complete disregard for his own safety". The citation for his actions in Operation Postmaster referred to his "sound judgment and quick decision" when, with all hell let loose around him, he carried on with his job with skill and ingenuity and regained his ship without mishap. Lassen was an obvious choice for the Special Boat Section formed to carry out raids in the Aegean. Before long, a stream of stories of his incredible adventures were being recounted. Killing Germans in Greece IN JULY 1943, he landed on Crete to destroy German aircraft. Accompanied by a gunner, he created a diversion on one side of Kastelli airfield, passing three groups of sentries and answering them in German, claiming he had dropped his rifle. When a fourth sentry had to be shot, the alarm was raised. The raiders were forced to withdraw under a hail of heavy machine-gun and rifle fire. Back they came, however, half an hour later. This time, they were forced into the centre of the airstrip under the glare of the searchlights. However, they somehow managed to dodge the trap and escape to the mountains where they hid for several days before getting away from the island. The diversion plan succeeded, and many aircraft and tonnes of petrol were destroyed at Kastelli airfield. Lassen received a bar on

his Military Cross. Barely three months later, the Dane earned a second bar on Simi, one of the Dodecanese Islands. Arriving on a small boat just ahead of the German forces, he sent a corporal to find out from the local people if the water was deep enough for the base ship to come alongside. When the peasants argued among themselves, the impatient Lassen jumped off the quayside in full kit. "All right," he shouted. "Signal her in. It's deep enough." Lassen's force was 20-strong and equipped with a variety of weapons including an old German 20 mm gun. The Germans – a hundred of them – came in caiques (sailing ships), and there was no time to build defences. Although crippled by a badly burned leg and internal trouble, Lassen stalked and killed three Germans at close-range. Throughout the battle he was an inspiration to his men and the few Italian ‘co-operators’ who joined in the fight. The Germans were finally driven from the island at a loss of 16 men killed, 35 wounded and seven taken prisoner. The Allied losses amounted to just one man killed and one wounded. Next day, German stukas dive-bombed Simi. Lassen, deeply troubled that the peasants were suffering, was genuinely happy when an order to withdraw came two days later. He remained worried about the islanders, though, and when a big German force did occupy Simi, he made risky night trips taking food parcels to the people. Rough, ready, respected SUCH ACTS of kindness by the supposed cold and callous marauder earned the undying respect of his own men and the affection of the civilian population. Men would follow him anywhere. He had escaped from so many tight corners that they began to think of him as indestructible. Lassen's raids on the Aegean islands continued. The enemy never knew where to expect the next lightning swoop. Just before

BRITISH MOD AND MARIA HOLM

The war hero with a medal tally that even Peter Schmeichel would envy

His binoculars and his bust

the Germans landed at Samos, Lassen evacuated hundreds of Greek civilians to the mainland. Unfortunately, the enemy arrived before the operation could be completed. The quick-thinking Dane ordered ropes to be tied together and supported at intervals by boats. Along this lifeline to the mainland many more natives escaped. Lassen had little time to worry about his comfort or personal appearance. Mostly, he wore a shabby greatcoat, knitted scarf and thick studded boots. The rosettes for his MC ribbon were cut from a cigarette tin. "Rough and ready. But according to regulations, I am properly dressed," was his wry comment. Food never worried him. He lived off the land or feasted on shellfish prised from the rocks. A man of few words, it is alleged a post-operation report by Lassen was one of the most succinct ever written: “Landed. Eliminated Germans. Fucked off.” Slain in heroic fashion LASSEN'S last and most gallant action came during the final stages of the war in Italy, when commandos were given the task of dislodging the Germans from the northern shore of Lake Comacchio in Operation Roast. Lassen was ordered to take a small patrol across the lake and attack the town to cause confusion and to simulate a major landing. The tiny force set off in canoes. Soon after it landed, the brave men in the patrol had to run a gauntlet of heavy fire. On and on they fought until their

ammunition was nearly spent. Lassen approached to within a few yards of a German blockhouse and called on the defenders to surrender. But a burst of fire from the left struck him down. The dying major told his men to withdraw. They wanted to take him with them, but he ordered them: "Save your own lives, and get out quickly." The highest honour MAJOR Lassen is buried in the Argenta Gap Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Ferrera, Italy beside those who fell with him. When his award was announced on 8 September 1945 there was a discussion in the British War Office about whether it should stand as he was Danish, although two days later the decision was upheld. A War Office official remarked: “As Major Lassen held a commission in the British Army the [Victoria] Cross has been granted.” His family, including his parents Emil and Suzanne (who published his biography ‘Sømand og Soldat’ in 1949) and sister (later Countess Bente Bernstorff-Gyldensteen) received the VC and MC and bars from King George VI at Buckingham Palace in December 1945. These medals along with his King Christian X Memorial Medal and the Greek War Cross are on display at the Frihedsmuseet (Museum of Danish Resistance) in Copenhagen. Fittingly there is also a memorial bust dedicated to him in the park christened in honour of his ‘boss’, Churchillparken.

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LOCAL

Green light for district known as Vesterbro’s little brother

Euros and Tour de France: can Denmark host them both? 2

SCIENCE

Testing times

Tests, trials, tribulations

Researchers’ key role in quicker coronavirus tests

STUDENT DAZE

18-19

We’ll fight it on the beaches! NATHAN WALMER

Being fat is hard enough outside a crisis

8 EVENTS

Joining in at home No shortage of classes, art, concerts and fun to enjoy

21 PRINT VERSION ISSN: ONLINE VERSION ISSN:

percent, and public transport stations a 60 percent decline.

OPINION

2446-0184 2446-0192

fun in the

OU CAN blame it on the sunshine, but certainly not a good time. The nation's public parks and beaches have seen a 35 percent increase in activity since mid-February. Like the song said, we just can't control our feet! Reduced activity THE FINDING is part of a global report just released by Google revealing the movements of people in 131 countries. It also found that activity in general in Denmark has decreased by 37 percent, with supermarkets and workplaces experiencing dips of 22 and 28

Return starts here BUT ALL that could change after Easter, as PM Mette Frederiksen on Monday confirmed that daycare and schools would start welcoming back children aged 1-12 (up to the fifth grade) from April 15. However, the borders and most shops will remain closed until May 10 and gatherings will be limited to ten people. The public sector will continue working from home, and Frederiksen has urged the private sector to do likewise. The plans are still dependent on no huge upsurge in the death toll (currently at 218) or infection rate (5,386) over Easter.

Property tables turned

Finally some recoveries!

ARE HOUSE-HUNTERS in charge for a change? With interest in Airbnb rentals grinding to a halt due to the lockdown, increasing numbers of landlords are seeking long-term tenants. Housing platform Boligportal has reported a 35 percent increase in available properties since the start of the lockdown. There might even be some room for bargaining!

FOR A LONG time, Denmark only had one registered case of somebody recovering from the coronavirus. But Statens Serum Institut was just biding its time. Last week, 894 of the confirmed infections between February 24 and March 14 were declared virus-free – a recovery rate of 97 percent, as 20 died and three remain in hospital.

The girl’s done good

225-hour rule suspended

DANES have responded well to how PM Mette Frederiksen is handling the coronavirus crisis. Her party Socialdemokratiet has shot up 4.7 percent in the national polls to 31.5, according to Voxmeter. It’s the party’s highest rating since October 2006. Some 85.2 percent back the government’s handling of the crisis, with only 4 percent disapproving.

THERE is a broad agreement in Parliament to suspend the ‘225-hour rule’, which requires unemployment benefit claimants to work at least 225 hours a year in order to receive full cash benefits, retroactively from March 9 until June 9. The rule has been made virtually impossible to satisfy given the severe economic impact of the coronavirus.

Released on April 9, we caught up with the expats and foreign students coping with lockdown and recalled the various other pandemics that have closed down our capital

TAKE YOUR

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DANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH VOL 23 ISSUE 07 (ONLINE ONLY)

The long and winding road to full immunisation

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TRAPPED ON THEIR TRAVELS Does hypochondria equal health Amid all the gloom and doom of the Coronavirus Crisis, there is a glaring positive

OPINION

E’RE ALL jogging more than ever – hell, even our columnist Adrian 17 Mackinder (see page 16) has joined the sweatpant brigade. SPECIAL FOCUS And with most of the country’s restaurants shut, far more of They're only foreigners us are eating home-cooked meals. Penniless overseas students face We’re washing our hands crippling SU and housing costs more than ever, to the extent that our hygiene is better than ever. 20-21 Seriously ... when was the last PRINT VERSION ISSN: 2446-0184 time anyone had a cold? Or a ONLINE VERSION ISSN: 2446-0192 case of food poisoning? Curse the coronavirus all you like, but it’s climate-friendly

Ongoing study

during the Coronavirus Crisis. They are currently conducting a survey to find out how our diets have changed. The same survey will be repeated in September to compare what changes the coronavirus brought on. Another research team, meanwhile, is assessing whether the Danes’ increased focus on hand hygiene will lead to fewer food-transmitted disease cases. Still dying BUT WE’RE still dying, as the latest figures confirm that 434 have been killed by the Coronavirus. Just 14 of these were under the age of 60, with a further 48 in their 60s, 125 in their 70s, 162 in their 80s and 85 over the age of 90. Gender-wise, 185 of the victims were women, and 249 men. (BH)

4-5

Using less electricity

Birch season returns

ELECTRICITY consumption fell by 7 percent between March 2 and April 5 due to the coronavirus restrictions, according to Energinet. While household consumption rose by 2 percent, as many had to stay home, hotels and restaurants (down 38 percent), education (-39) and culture and leisure (-45) all saw heavy falls.

THE BIRCH pollen season kicked off in earnest at the start of the Easter holiday. Many new arrivals to Denmark experiencing the respiratory symptoms for the first time contacted the health services out of fear they might have the coronavirus. In related news, Denmark is on course for one of its sunniest and driest Aprils ever.

Mortality rate the same

World beaters

SINCE the first coronavirus-related death in Denmark on March 14, a total of 4,794 Danes have died. That’s roughly the same amount of people who died over the same period last year and the year before, according to Danmarks Statistik. Over the same period in 2019, 4,498 Danes died, while 5,131 died in 2018.

INTEREST in home-grown pornography is fl ourishing in Denmark during the lockdown. The Pornhub Model Program, a site where individuals upload their own videos, saw revenue generated from Danish reviewers soar by 53 percent between February and March – the biggest increase in the world.

Released on April A30, we caught RESEARCH team at DTU isup in with two readers perilously stranded in Asia, asked the no doubt that most of us are radmen of Copenhagen what they have been missing, and questioned why the hardships of ically changing our lifestyle habits the capital’s foreign students have been swept under the carpet.

FEATURE

With the capital’s Anglo pubs expected to open next week, you might expect the landlords to be overjoyed. No, amid heavy restrictions, they’re apprehensive 22-23

What women miss: from filling their diaries to chilling with friends, the coronavirus quarantine has been a testing time, but it has been one of self-discovery

20-21

CPHPOST.DK 14 - 28 May 2020

LOCAL All change at the stations! Some plans are best laid down

SCIENCE

Back of the tech! Cheers boffins! Science does Released on May 14, we investigated why the coronavirus might mean last orders for some pubs, asked the capital’s women what they’ve most missed during lockdown, and soccer a solid

SMOKING IN ARREARS

profiled two activists who won’t rest until our streets are clear of cigarette butts

4-5

To access our three online issues, simply visit the cphpost.dk homepage and click on ‘Editions’

It's bad news for hippies

Roman era wall found

Terror attack averted

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have un-

A TERROR attack was averted

EVENTS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

29 May - 11 June 2020

Comedy and Margaritas May 30, 20:00; Bar 1420, Griffenfeldsgade 20, Cph N; 75kr, billeto.dk Toast it with laughter as Bar 1420 is back with their popular comedy show. Consider topics such as love and life in Denmark. Frosty Margaritas are on offer along with other refreshing cocktails and drinks. This place is great for networking as well. Meet fellow expats and connect! Amid the coronavirus restrictions, the bar is committed to following all of the government’s health and safety guidelines as they welcome back their guests. (NG)

Online Toastmasters meet June 9, 18:00; via zoom; free adm, toastmasters.dk Copenhagen Toastmasters club organises such events to help people shed their fear of public speaking and gain insight into leadership qualities. Find out what it means to be spontaneous while speaking to an audience, and take on the challenge of having to talk instantly about table topics in a debate or on a public speaking platform. The club trains speakers of all levels from beginners, who can start off with the basics, to advanced speakers who would like to brush up and enhance their public speaking skills and leadership potential. (NG)

Wine tasting for beginners June 2, 19:30; Lavendelstræde 13, Cph K; 145-175kr, Mobile Pay 9162 8861 Isn’t it time you learnt a bit more about wine! The Not Your Usual - Wine Bar is offering this fantastic opportunity for beginners to indulge in an interesting and ‘educational’ wine tasting evening. As you sip the different varieties and taste them, you learn to identify the difference in quality and production, and something about their origins too. The wine tasting events are held on Tuesdays, often with different themes, using grapes and wine from all over the world. (NG)

Shodo calligraphy art lessons May 30, June 2, 6 & 9, various times; Badstuestræde 13, Cph K; 2,000kr for 4 sessions; hello@ asobolab.net A different form of art is on offer at the Tinkuy-Sprirituelt fitness centre, where one can learn about the fascinating art of calligraphy from Japan. Instructor Chiaki invites you to wonderful sessions of formal and expressive calligraphy art. There are different levels (1-3) for you to practise calligraphy using Sumi e ink. A maximum of 5 people are permitted per lesson. It is advised to book a spot in advance. (NG)

Globe Pub Quiz June 4, 19:30; The Globe, Nørregade 43, Cph K; 30kr The Globe winners get 1,000 kroner. There will be a maximum of 20 teams and registration is required. (VG)

Low - Fi: Mendoza June 11, 19:30; tickets@lowficoncerts Low- Fi continues to amaze music lovers with their soulful and intense musical arrangements featuring artists from all over the world. Kicking off their summer concert line-up is the talented electro pop/ hip-hop artist Mendoza. The concert, which is BYOB&S, is being held in a private parking lot strictly adhering to the COVID-19 health and safety guidelines. (NG)

Randi Pontoppidan in concert May 30, 16:00; Dhaliavej 63, Rødovre; 200kr, Mobpay 61673355 Amid the restrictions, acclaimed singer Dalia Faitelson is arranging garden concerts at which there is only room for ten guests, hence the steep asking price. This time her guest is Randi (nominated for a Steppeulven award) who likes to experiment with music in various forms such as jazz, electro-acoustic and more. Advance booking is required. (NG)

Howl’s Moving Castle and Ramen Event June 11, 16:30-21:00; Beboerhuset AKB, Lundtoftegade 41B, Cph N; pay-as-you-feel Watch ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and enjoy a bowl of vegan ramen with mushrooms and vegetables! The event is first come first served and limited to the first 100 people. The event relies upon donations (the meal has no set price), and all of the funds collected will be donated to charities that help refugees worldwide. (AMS)

Drive-in last chance May 28 & 29, 21:30; Nordsøvej 11, Nordhavn; 295-1,180kr, dfi. dk The temporary drive-in cinema in Nordhavn, which kicked off on May 2, will continue until Friday, its organisers Cinemateket and Meyers have confirmed. Movie-goers can see ‘Some like it hot’ on Thursday and Danish film ‘Dronningen’ on Friday. The price includes a three course menu and a soft drink. Don’t forget to book in advance. (VG)

Webinar on gender-based violence June 4, 18:00-19:00; zoom.us; free adm, registration required The Danish Institute for International Studies is inviting everyone to discuss the various forms of gender-based violence. What does it mean gender-based violence? Is it only physical? These are some of the questions to be answered Professor Cecilia Menjívar. The seminar will be held online in English. Visit the official Facebook page of DIIS to find the link. (VG)

Pop-up plant-based burgers May 29, 17:00-19:30; Skindergade 3A, Cph K; burger menu 150kr Enjoy some delicious vegan or vegetarian plant-based burgers, at this new pop-up. Everything served is homemade, including their basil mayonnaise, green goddess sauce, ketchup, pickles, and lemonade. The location is above Bar Vin. Purchase a burger, potatoes and slaw for 150 kroner, and a lemonade for 15. (AMS)

Louisiana open again Mon-Sat, 09:00-23:00, Sun 09:00-18:00; Gl Strandvej 13, Humlebæk; 115-130kr, klubkort. louisiana.dk The open again museum has expanded its opening hours – until 11 o’clock on some evenings – to accomodate four exhibitions: the work of Per Kirkeby, Ann Veronica Janssens, Nancy Spero, and the radical and Tetsumi Kudo. Remember to book a time slot. (VG)

Smil Belinda June 10, 20:00-21:00; Korsgade 12, Cph N; 105-175kr, teaterbilletter.dk More relevant than ever, the international showcase of Delia Trice‘s is a performance of hits from the 1960s and 70s with a sublime message about the dream of a common Europe. There is a limited number of tickets to secure distance between people in the audience. (VG)

Vocal Tribute to Montmartre June 1, 21:00-23:00; livestream on Facebook; donation-based Four well known Danish jazz vocalists, Cæcilie Norby, Sinne Eeg, Søren Sko and Bobo Morenomeet, are coming together for a livestream to support Jazzhus Montmartre’s survival ahead of its summer return. The concert will be livestreamed from the official Facebook page of Jazzhus Montmartre. (VG)

Kunsthal Charlottenborg return May 29-Aug 9; open TueFri 12:00-20:00, Sat-Sun 11:00-17:00; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Nyhavn 2, Cph K; 90kr Kunsthal Charlottenborg is reopening its doors on Friday welcoming everyone to a live performance in the courtyard by the artist Hannah Anbert and the New York-based group of artists’ exhibition ‘What Do People Do All Day’. (VG)

Summer Concert with the Vesterbro Gospel Choir June 4, 19:30; Eliaskirken Vesterbrogade 49, Cph V; free adm, no registration needed Experience a musical performance by the wonderful Vesterbro Gospel Choir and their band at Eliaskirken. Get there when the doors open at 19:00, as there’s no assigned seating. (AMS)

Bring Your Dog Saturdays ongoing, ends June 27; 14:2018:00; 1420 Bar, Griffenfeldsgade 20, free adm Want to go on a doggy date? Come to the Bring Your Dog Saturdays at Bar 1420! Treats and water are provided, so all you need to bring is your dog. The bar has 300 bottles, 24 taps, and lots of other traditional Belgian beer to enjoy. (AMS)

Dance with Alky Plus daily until June 21, 15:00-18:00; Green field next to Hal C, Arsenalvej 6, Cph K, 100kr The instructor Alky, a professional dancer and choreographer, is the director of a dance group in Guinea. This is a great chance to learn something new, get some exercise and meet some new people! (AMS)

Grand opening party: People Like Us bar May 29, 16:00-21:00; PLU Beer Bar, Jagtvej 135, Cph N; free adm The microbrewery People Like Us is opening its doors with a grand party that coincides with the album release of Copenhagen’s noise-rock group Ring Them Bells. If you buy some vinyl, you will get a cold beer for free and time with the band. (VG)

Walking Copenhagen ongoing, ends Aug 1; livestream Facebook; free adm Follow Walking Copenhagen’s curated walks through the city live on Facebook. It has invited 100 artists living in the city to create 100 walks over 100 days as a performative diary. Each artist walks for 12 hours and starts at home. Every hour he/she gives a “sign of life” via live-streaming. (VG)

Docken drive-in bio May 29-31, 20:00; Docken, Færgehavnsvej 35, Nordhavn; 200kr, cityconcerts.dk Now that the Cinemateket one is closing, experience the drive-in cinema at Docken in Nordhavn in a raw industrial framework. Don’t miss this weekend’s screenings of Rocketman, Bohemian Rapsody and Grease. (VG)

ON STAGES

29 May - 11 June 2020

English-language theatre groups more connected to their audience than ever

heatre stages are where actors belong: where their feelings are released in the most creative ways possible, challenging audiences to immerse themselves into the plot of each play. People sit next to one another and share emotions – sometimes moments of joy, excitement, sadness or fear, often leaving the place with tears in their eyes. Can-can cancelled SHUTTERED for months, the country’s theatres are permitted to open according to the latest government guidelines – a surprise as many thought they would have to wait until June 8. But what does reopening mean? Antithetical to the meaning of live arts, social distancing restrictions will apply on stage as well, striking at the heart of their purpose, with performances no longer resembling anything like before. Actors will have to keep a two-metre distance if they are singing or dancing and just a metre from one another while acting. If any physical contact is necessary, it must be as brief as possible. “We definitely can’t imagine what romantic scenes would look like – or musicals,” contends Vivienne McKee, the founder of the London Toast Theatre. Beleaguered financially after productions were either cancelled or postponed, some of the English-language theatres have found alternative ways to remain active during the lockdown, while others have waited patiently for the coronavirus outbreak to subside. With the green light, they are free to open and shed the financial and emotional weight that has impacted the industry. Audience visits hit hard THE HOUSE of International Theatre was forced to cancel two guest productions: a local one

and one from Italy. “As soon as the flights for the Italian production were confirmed, three days later everything changed,” recalled Jana Pulkrabek, the international artistic director of HIT. On top of that, May was supposed to be quite a busy month for the theatre as a new production was planned, while the mini-festival ‘HIT goes on stage’ was due to take place during the CPH STAGE festival presenting five different plays, including guest productions from London, Israel and Australia. Even before the pandemic took hold, audiences were disappearing in fear of infection. “The lockdown came mid-production for us,” remembers Sue Hansen-Styles, the co-founder of Why Not Theatre Company. “Ticket sales ground to a halt and, on top of that, people who had booked tickets were choosing to stay away from the theatre. It made each performance quite stressful not knowing how many audience members there would be. I had performed ten shows of my monologue ‘Dance with Me’ at Teatret ved Sorte Hest when the theatre had to close down very suddenly, even though there were still ten more to go.” ‘The Visit’, based on the true story surrounding HC Andersen’s overlong stay with Charles Dickens in 1857 by That Theatre Company at Krudttønden, was also caught mid-production. While others, such as the Copenhagen Theatre Circle’s production of two Chekhov one-act plays, ‘The Proposal’ and ‘The Wedding’, as well as its annual Fringe Festival, were caught in the rehearsal stage, according to chair Andrew Whalley. Elsewhere, some were lucky as the crisis hit exactly at the point when their productions had just ended, as was the case with London Toast Theatre’s now world-famous Crazy Christmas Cabaret, which ended in mid-January.

Support from the stalls WITH NONE of the theatre companies eligible to receive state aid, the future has understandably looked uncertain at times – particularly when the ban on performing was enforced. So it was comforting when disappointed audiences showed their support by not requesting refunds. “I was very happy with the response of our audience,” recalled Ian Burns, the artistic director of That Theatre Company. “I wrote to each person individually and offered them refunds on their tickets. Only 150 wanted their money back – the rest either donated their ticket money to the company or will use their tickets for future productions. Have to say that this response warmed the cockles of my heart and that I received many emails of support and encouragement regarding the quality of our work.” HIT and Why Not Theatre also reported similar levels of support. In the meantime, they found alternative ways to remain active. Online streaming became a must for artistic performances, as many cultural productions easily adapted virtual ways to promote their work. CPH Stage, for instance, transformed parts of its industry program for virtual formats, promoting Danish performing arts through the virtual international days, including an online seminar about sustainability, according to the festival’s director Morgen Krogh. The CTC and HIT both hosted play readings. In the case of HIT, it included several courses of its HIT Lab, including a read-through of ‘Night of the Living’ by Dan Lankford – with the author joining in live from the US. Why Not Theatre, meanwhile, opened a SoundCloud channel and invited actors from previous productions to record selected excerpts from plays they

THAT THEATRE FACEBOOK PAGE

VALMIRA GJONI

We’re hopeful ‘The Visit’ can resume again soon

had been involved in. The audio link was shared on social media as Why Not Voices. And Vivienne McKee, who annually performs her solo comedy show ‘Killing the Danes’, recently performed in the Teatret ved Sorte Hest carpark to an audience of mostly men seated two metres apart. “Luckily, it did not rain but these were not the best conditions for comedy,” she joked. Looking ahead DESPITE the continued uncertainty regarding social distancing, most of the theatre groups have confirmed future performances. HIT is welcoming back thought-provoking pop concert Smil Belinda (June 10, 20:0021:00; Korsgade 12, Cph N; 105-175kr, teaterbilletter.dk). It is also preparing to present two events at CPH Pride, even though the parade and large events have been cancelled: I Am (Love)d (Aug 17) and Pride Monologues (Aug 18) – a series of staged readings from contemporary LGBT theatre monologues, in which artists reflect on what makes us who we are, to an audience of only ten people at a time. As for That Company Theatre, it is returning to the stage with a world premiere of Extremophiles (Oct 21-Nov 21, 19:30; Krudttønden, Serridslevvej 2, Cph Ø; 40-195kr, teaterbilletter. dk) in the autumn. Irish play-

wright Fergal O’Byrne’s play set in a research base in the frozen vastness of Antarctica sees human moral absolutes challenged when survival is at stake. And in the meanwhile That Theatre is hoping to take ‘The Visit’ on tour across Denmark. CPH Stage is continuing embracing corona-safe platforms, and it is currently offering an online talk about the digitalisation of performing arts in the future with artist Matt Adams from Blast Theory, which is renowned for its multidisciplinary approach to using new technologies in theatre, games and visual art (June 3, 11:00; cphstage.dk; free adm). The CTC is preparing for its October production of The Effect and for the January pantomime Camelot. It is currently holding rehearsals online for both of them. Why Not Theatre also has a world premiere coming up. Written by Tanja Mastilo, who has already written three critically acclaimed plays for the group, The Cheyenne are Leaving stars Nathan Meister and Joe Young. Tickets are already on sale (Nov 13-Dec 5, Mon-Fri 20:00, Saturday 17:00; Teatret ved Sorte Hest, Vesterbrogade 150, Cph V; 40-205kr, teaterbilletter.dk). And finally, the Crazy Christmas Cabaret this year presents Tell Me About It, which will “hopefully” take place between November and January if the restrictions on larger audiences are lifted.

22 The perils of trying to make a Danish film in English ON SCREENS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

BEN HAMILTON

OU KNOW a film’s bad when you spend half of it trying to write a headline for your forthcoming piece. But in the case of The Kindness of Strangers (32 on Metacritic; June 4), which I saw at a screening in late June 2018 when it was still untitled, this wasn’t for a review. Instead, wrapped up in my own self-importance, I had given myself the mission of saving what was a deeply flawed film and well below the standard of Lone Scherfig’s other work. Because for some reason she has contrived to make an English-language film that is utterly Danish. Something rotten in Big Apple IN THE lobby of Empire Bio afterwards, my journalistic training clicked into overdrive. I reasoned that I was there to give my opinion, and I felt the questionnaire was trying to railroad me into providing irrelevant information, thus watering down the critique that I so badly wanted to give the film. Pointless feedback forms are a very Danish trait I remember discovering as a teacher of English as a foreign language. Instead I breezed through it quickly and evasively, determined to give them just two pieces of wisdom, which I felt could have saved the film from the mauling it eventually got when it was first aired in early 2019. First off, one of the very first scenes was an absolute howler and had to be cut. No sensible movie watcher would be able to endure such drivel. The problem, though, was that it was Nicolaj Kopernikus’ biggest scene. Cut it and you’re pretty much removing the Danish actor from the movie. For a film set during a particularly harsh New York winter, Scherfig cast an awful lot of Danes – Esben Smed, who has since moved on to brighter

29 May - 11 June 2020

pastures, was another strange choice. I started to envisage a very different film to the one being shown. With a mostly quality cast whose collateral has only grown since it was made (Zoe Kazan, Andrea Riseborough), it had the potential if it fully understood what its central message was. Thus began my journey to give the film a name, and after 30 to 40 minutes of dedicated headline writing, it finally came to me: ‘Love freezes over’! To be honest, for 30 minutes waiting for that film to end I was kind of excited: what if I get to name a feature film, however bad it might be! So when the eventual title was confirmed almost six months later, I felt the same kind of pity I feel when You know you’re in trouble when Lykke-Per is trying to be the bad guy I see Danish-written titles, slogans and jargon (Lars von Trier’s Fires Everywhere (70; Ama- Bloods (June 13 on Netflix), the music industry in the same scripts for example) in English. zon Prime), which like Normal which could very well be an early way Late Night shamelessly did Calling it The Kindness of People focuses on the interaction contender for this year’s Razzies. talkshows. Strangers tells you everything you between two small-town fam- Buzzing with perhaps too much Also on television, The need to know: the strands of the ilies situated on either side of optimism after BlacKkKlansman Order (June 19 on Netflix) is film might as well be unrelated the proverbial railway tracks. ended a very long barren spell, a shameful Harry Potter ripto one another. Extraordinary character motiva- Lee’s film looks like a black off for young adults (in other tions regularly catch us off-guard version of Tropic Thunder, but words, 12-year-olds might watch Sophomores deliver in spades to serve up some compelling without the intentional laughs. it), Trackers (June 6 on HBO POTENTIALLY The Kindness television. Eurovision Song Contest: Nordic) takes us deep into the of Strangers had quite a broad Both series are a remind- The Story of the Fire Saga (June world of South African blood market in its sights – if it hadn’t er that melodrama needn’t be 27 on Netflix) sees Will Ferrell diamonds, but possibly at the been so poorly pinned togeth- dull, and Proxima (75; June 18 lampoon the perennial favourite expense of plausibility, and Perer. In contrast, two new highly at cinemas) is also rooted in a with the help of a strong cast ry Mason (June 22 on HBO recommended series doing the family dynamic despite its cen- that includes Rachel McAd- Nordic) has been resurrected rounds take a more trusted tral character’s preparations for ams, Demi Lovato and Pierce as a vehicle for Matthew Rhys route by faintly echoing the a lengthy mission in space. For Brosnan. Eagle-eyed viewers now The Americans has come to Eva Green it’s a chance to flick of the 2018 Eurovision finals, an end. Oscar-winning Parasite. Normal People (84; first the finger at all her doubters, and now teary-eyed following its Completing the television eight episodes available on she pretty much nails it. cancellation, might have spotted line-ups we have 13 Reasons And we also like the look of Ferrell backstage at the event. Why (S3; June 6), Marcella dr.dk) is a simple tale about an new HBO Nordic drama series And it now transpires he was (S3; June 15), Mr Iglesias (S2; enduring friends-with-benefits relationship, with sex scenes so I may destroy you (June 8) and interviewing contestants with June 18) and The Politician (S2; good they are doing a roaring documentary six-parter I’ll be the intention of destroying them June 20) on Netflix; Doom Patrade on Pornhub. Irish writer gone in the dark (June 19). To- in this film. trol (S2; June 26) and The Chi Sally Rooney has fashioned a gether they sound like taglines Completing the new film re- (S3; June 22) on HBO Nordic; story that is relatable to every- for future Batman instalments, leases in June are the silly looking and comedy specials for Jo Koy one, or at least the 96 percent but they are far more disturbing The Last Days of American (Netflix on June 13), George of us who aren’t sociopaths – we than that. Crime (June 5 on Netflix), the Lopez (Netflix on June 30) and identify with both main characawful looking Candyman (at Yvonne Orji (HBO Nordic on ters as they weave through their Looks bloody awful cinemas, June 25) – if we nev- June 7). lives, taking the rough with the FROM SAFE bets to risky wa- er say his name again, will he It’s a reminder that comedians smooth. gers fraught with peril. kindly just disappear – and the often depend on the kindness of US author Celeste Ng has At 154 minutes long, we’re borderline litigious-looking The strangers, but when you’re an also enjoyed breakout success advising a cautionary approach High Note, which applies The inaminate on the screen, nobody with her second novel, Little to Spike Lee’s latest, Da 5 Devil wears Prada formula to feels obliged to root for you.

ENGLISH JOB DENMARK Recruitment Announcements Part of The Welcome Group LABORATORY TECHNICIAN FOR NEW GMO LAB, DTU SKYLAB

Do you have what it takes to run a small GMO lab and the urge to help the students and startups to develop their projects? Location: Deadline: Contact:

Kgs. Lyngby 8 June 2020 Kristine Garde, Team Manager, +45 51 71 77 76

DEVICE PROJECT COORDINATOR IN STEM CELL R&D, NOVO NORDISK You will need a solid understanding of medical device aspects of drug development within the pharmaceutical industry and a background in engineering. Location: Deadline: Contact:

Måløv 14 June 2020 Amy Drummond, aydd@novonordisk.com

SENIOR TECHNICAL PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER, PROGRAMMER TOOLS, UNITY TECHNOLOGIES

Your job is to spearhead combined efforts across the tech product marketing team. You will roll out the marketing plan guided by our customer and competitive insights. Location: Deadline: Contact:

Copenhagen When filled careers.unity.com/

To advertise your vacancy here and reach 60,000+ readers weekly, contact: info@englishjobdenmark.dk or call 6070 2298. For more information about what we can offer: https://englishjobdenmark.dk/

ENGLISH JOB DENMARK

SALES MANAGER, MAERSK TANKERS

As our first salesperson, you will take a leading role to sculpt growth through customer acquisitions.

Location: Copenhagen Deadline: When filled Contact: Mette Urhammer, mette.urhammer@maersktankers.com

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER, COWI

Your primary tasks will be to manage and execute projects either as part of our Owners Engineer Team or as part of our clients’ organizations. Location: Deadline: Contact:

Copenhagen 21 June 2020 Tore Lucht, Head of Section, Wind Energy and Renewables, +45 41 76 02 51

SENIOR SOFTWARE TEST ENGINEER, PHILLIPS MEDISIZE A/S

Do you want to be part of developing safe and reliable medical devices, helping patients to better treatment? Location: Deadline: Contact:

Copenhagen When filled Lone Munk, Manager, Technology and Development, +45 60 38 71 84

PROJECT ASSISTANT, RED BARNET

Do you have experience in working in the NGO sector on team coordination and administrative support? Are you passionate about working for children’s rights? Location: Deadline: Contact:

Copenhagen 9 June 2020 Leslie Snider, Director of Global Collaborative for Child & Family at les@redbarnet.dk

STUDENT ASSISTANT - GROUP LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE, SIMCORP

Do you want to assist the legal, compliance and procurement team with contract management and help ensure compliance in a Danish based global IT company? Location: Deadline: Contact:

Copenhagen 8 June 2020 Michael Paterson, MLPN@SIMCORP.COM

TECHNICAL COPYWRITER, GATEHOUSE GROUP

Your key tasks are writing compelling content for our website, landing pages, blogs, articles, white papers, posts on SoMe, product sheets, and other sales materials. Location: Deadline: Contact:

Nørresundby When filled Ulrik Rasmussen, CCO +45 70 20 19 10

PERSONAL ASSISTANT, ØRSTED

You’ll be responsible for supporting the Head of Strategy & Business Development and the Head of Corporate Development & M&A in their management, communication, projects and planning activities. Location: Deadline: Contact:

Gentofte 7 June 2020 orsted.com/en/careers

LIVE Q&A SESSION WITH A RECRUITER

Join us on Facebook in the recruitment group English Job Denmark every Thursday at 12:00 noon, where an experienced recruiter will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about gaining employment in Denmark. To take part, simply join English Job Denmark & be ready with your questions. Contact us for more information: info@the-welcomegroup.com

Working together with internationals and companies to better understand the needs of one another. The Welcome Group has created this page and provides additional services, including an online community supporting employment for internationals on Facebook.

Danish will look fantastic on your lips

Kiss bad language learning goodbye We have been teaching foreigners the beautiful language of Danish for more than 40 years. So, if you are looking for high-quality learning, outstanding teachers and fast progression, Studieskolen is the place to go. Right in the center of Copenhagen. Choose from a variety of classes at Studieskolen.dk Check out how we look on SoMe