Blokhusmuseet, Rebild National Park 03 ies

Rebild National Park (Danish: ''Rebild Bakker'') is a protected area located in

Rebild municipality Rebild municipality is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in North Jutland Region in Denmark. It covers an area of 628 km² and a total population of 28,753 (2008). On 1 January 2007 Rebild municipality was created as the result of ''Kom ...

Region Nordjylland The North Jutland Region ( da, Region Nordjylland), or in some official sources, the North Denmark Region, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform, which abolished the tra ...

in Denmark. The park comprises a hilly

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

south of the small town of Rebild, situated in the geographic region of the

Himmerland Himmerland is a peninsula in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. It is delimited to the north and the west by the Limfjord, to the east by the Kattegat, and to the south by the Mariager Fjord. The largest city is Aalborg; smaller towns include Hobro, A ...

on the peninsula of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. The forest of

Rold Skov Rold Skov (Rold Forest) is a forest in Himmerland, Denmark. At 8,000 ha, it is the second largest forest in the country, after the Silkeborg Forests.

surrounds the hills on three sides, but the heathland is to be protected in its natural state. The

Rebild Festival The Rebild Festival ( Danish: ''Rebildfesten''), or Rebild Celebrations, is an annual celebration of the American Independence Day in Denmark. At the same time, it serves as a homecoming for Danish-Americans. It takes place in the Rebild National ...

is held in the national park every 4 July. Rebild National Park is not included in the Danish National Park laws of 2007, but the heath is still to be protected and it can use the name National Park nonetheless. The park is one of two original national parks in Denmark, the other one being 'National Park Dybbøl Skanser' from 1924, now called 'Historiecenter

Dybbøl Dybbøl is a small town with a population of 2,339 (1 January 2022)heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

s of Rebild Hills (Danish: ''Rebild Bakker'') was previously owned and used by the local peasants as

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

s for their cattle, but it was bought up in the year 1911 and presented as a gift to the state of Denmark, to be administered on certain conditions (stipulations). The founder of the Rebild National Park was Dr.

Max Henius Max Henius (June 16, 1859 – November 15, 1935) was a Danish-American biochemist who specialized in the fermentation processes. Max Henius co-founded the American Academy of Brewing in Chicago. Background Henius was born in Aalborg, Denmark ...

, a

Danish-American Danish Americans ( da, Dansk-amerikanere) are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent. History The first Dane known to have arriv ...

who emigrated to the United States in 1881 and settled in Chicago. In 1911, almost of the hilly countryside were bought with funds raised by Danish Americans. One of the Chicago-based Danish Americans included Jens Peder Poulsen Fuglsang, born in Virring Denmark in 1871. In 1912, Max Henius (accompanied by Fuglsang, whose name in Danish means "birdsong") presented the deed to the land to his Majesty King

Christian X Christian X ( da, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was List of Danish monarchs, King of Denmark from 1912 to his death in 1947, and the only List of rulers of Iceland, King of Iceland as ...

as a permanent memorial to Danish Americans. Sadly, Fuglsang died at sea aboard the ocean liner SS ''Oscar II'' on his return trip to America in August 1912. Later the Danish government added to the land, that now features a beautiful natural park. The first Rebild Festival took place in 1912, when King

spoke to a crowd of 10,000. The day has been celebrated every year since then, with the exception of the periods during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. American sculptor

Georg J. Lober Georg John Lober (November 7, 1891 – December 14, 1961) was an American sculptor best known for his 1959 statue of composer George M. Cohan situated in Times Square, a 1949 sculpture of statesman Thomas Paine in Morristown, New Jersey, and a ...

created an emblem for the Danish National Park in Rebild in 1912 and also made a bronze relief of U.S. president

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

located in Rebild Park. In 1925,

Mindeparken Mindeparken (The Memorial Park) is a memorial park and recreational area in the south of Aarhus City, next to Marselisborg Palace. History The Park itself, was inaugurated in 1925 by king Christian X and originally designed to accommodate lar ...

was inaugurated in the city of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

by King

and it was planned to celebrate the Danish-American gatherings as well as visiting Danish citizens living abroad there. As the Rebild Festival gained momentum, Mindeparken was dropped and used for other purposes.

Stipulations

The park was given to the Danish state, as a present with three conditions: *That the area should remain in a natural state *That it would be open to the public *That Danish-Americans could celebrate American holidays at the park.

Current activities

Rebild National Park is the site of what is commonly believed to be the largest annual 4th of July celebration held outside the United States. Since 1912, The Rebild National Park Society Inc., a Danish-American friendship organization, has held a 4 July weekend festival that serves as a homecoming for Danish-Americans. This has helped make Rebild Park one of Denmark's major tourist attractions. The Rebild Festival traditionally features the hoisting of the U.S. and Danish flags while the two countries' national anthems echo in the surrounding hills. The annual

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

celebration was the subject of the television documentary ''Rebildfest 1990'', which featured actor

Richard Chamberlain George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934) is an American actor and singer, who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show ''Dr. Kildare'' (1961–1966). He subsequently appeared in several TV mini-series, such as ''Shōg ...

.''Rebildfest 1990'' (IMDb.com, Inc)
/ref> Rebild National Park also houses an annual

Christmas market A Christmas market, also known as ''Christkindlmarkt'' (literally: ''Christ Child Market'', but the term "Christkind" usually refers to an angel-like "spirit of Christmas" rather than literally the Christ Child), ''Christkindlesmarkt'', ''Chris ...

Advent Sunday Advent Sunday, also called the First Sunday of Advent or First Advent Sunday, among the Western Christian Churches, is the first day of the liturgical year and the start of the season of Advent. On the First Sunday of Advent, Christians start ligh ...

with around 5,000 visitors.

References

Other Sources

Rebild Bakker Himmerland
Danish Nature Agency.

Naturturist Nordjylland
VisitRebild

Stipulations

Current activities

References

Other Sources

External links