The Timeline
6000 BC
Evidence showing that Copenhagen existed as a
settlement has been found.
750- 1050
Over a period of 300 years the Vikings set sails
to cross the oceans and conquer the world. In
those days Copenhagen was an important and strategic
harbour to these seafarers.
1154
King Valdemar l, also called Valdemar the Great,
was crowned king of Denmark. He expanded his kingdom
and laid the foundations to what was to become
the Danish Empire.
1160
Archbishop Absalon also known as one of the great
statesmen of these days became an adviser to King
Valdemar and Copenhagen was handed over to him
by the king..
1219
According to the legend, Dannebrogen, the Danish
flag fell from the sky during a battle between
Denmark and Estonia. The sign from above is said
to have given the King Valdemar ll his victory.
1376
Margrethe l, the most powerful women in Europe,
was crowned queen of Denmark. In 1380 Norway became
part of her kingdom and 1389 the Swedish crown
became hers.
1412
King Erik of Pomerania, appointed by Margrethe
l, inherits the throne.
1517
Following the penetration of the Lutheran Church
in Germany in 1517, the Danish population began
to turn against the Catholic Church.
1526
The Danish church split from Rome. Lutheranism
became the country's official religion and remains
so to this day.
1711
Following a plague in 1711, two fires ravaged
Copenhagen in 1728 and 1795.
1849
After Denmark became a democracy in 1849, the
country went through a lengthy and rather peaceful
period of economic development.
1901
Denmark got its first government ruled by the
Parliament.
1940
The current queen, Margrethe II, was born on the
16 of April 1940, exactly one week after the German
invasion of Denmark.
1940-1945
The German Occupation.
1949
Denmark joins NATO.
1971
Freetown Christiania is founded.
1973
Denmark joins the European Community.
1982
Poul Schlüter founds the "Four-leaf
clover government" to stabilize the parliamentary
situation.
21st century
Today, Copenhagen is flourishing as a centre of
culture and the arts; the city is under the spell of
an ambitious project, a new conurbation called
the Ørestad. The Øresund Bridge, a joint venture of Denmark and Sweden, is linking Copenhagen and Malmö, Sweden. |
