“Auf ewig ungeteilt” - Ein Erinnerungsort zwischen Dänemark und Deutschland

Pierre Nora's concept of “les lieux de mémoire” is applied to the Danish argument “up ewig ongedeelt”, i.e. the ban to separate the duchies of Sleswig and Holstein from each other. The root of this rule is a tale of king Christian I. who became Duke of Sleswig and Count of Holstein in 1460, when he promised the cohesion of both provinces. With the arising of nationalism in Denmark the argument was re-vitalized and used by politicians to support their claim to incorporate whole Sleswig and even Holstein with its German-speaking inhabitants into Denmark. Now, in times of integration and “Euro-regions”, the argument is no longer a strong or virulent one, but it still works as a “realm of memory” which certainly brings almost all parts and facts of their former border struggle into a Dane's mind