Plenty of Nothing

Fredericia's Defences

In 1768. Source.

The names of the bastions. Source.

Eckersberg's Rome

Danish painter C. W. Eckersberg painted these Roman scenes in the 1810s. I love the jumble of ancient, medieval and renaissance architecture, and the green overgrowth. I've already posted another of his views here.

Dyveke Sigbritsdatter

Life in Renaissance Denmark was no bowl of cherries. In fact, King Christian II's mistress Dyveke Sigbritsdatter was killed on this day in 1517 by eating a bowl of poisoned cherries. Painting by Vilhelm Rosenstand.

Ice Hockey on Peblinge Sø, Copenhagen, 1917

Syddansk Universitet

The campuses of Syddansk Universitet. It was founded as Odense Universitet in 1966, and reorganized in 1998.

Vilhelm Hammershoi

It's Vilhelm Hammershoi for the backs of women's necks. Michael Palin made a documentary about it.

The Second Schleswig War

The Eighth Brigade Counterattacking at Dybbøl, April 18, 1864 (1894) by Vilhelm Rosenstand. The painting is housed at Frederiksborg Castle.

Denmark got into a couple of wars with Prussia over the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein in the 19th Century. The Danes took the first round in 1849, but lost decisively in 1864. Swedish neutrality in the second war is one of the reasons why the Danes still hate the Swedes. To mark the 150th anniversary of the war, Danish television has produced this historical epic.

Either/Or

What is Søren Kierkegaard's Either/Or called in Danish? Or in other languages?

Danish: Enten -- Eller

German: Entweder -- Oder

French: Ou bien ... ou bien

Spanish: O lo uno o lo otro

Italian: Aut -- Aut

Dutch: Of/Of

Japanese: あれか、これか  (Are ka, kore ka)

Turkish: Ya -- Ya da

Chinese: 非此即彼  (Fēi cǐ jí bǐ)

About the Danish AL-Bank Ligaen

The AL-Bank Ligaen is the top hockey league in Denmark. Though it is small and semi-professional, like the Dutch Eredivisie, it has attracted some locked-out NHLers.

Each club plays 40 games from September to February. If the league formats the playoffs the way it has done lately, six teams will make the playoffs, there will be a group stage instead of quarterfinals, followed by best-of-seven semifinals and finals, and a best-of-three bronze series.

There is no formal process for relegation and promotion between the AL-Bank Ligaen and the second tier Division 1. A couple of years ago two clubs dropped down for financial reasons.

The AL-Bank Ligaen currently has nine clubs:

Aalborg Pirates. Founded in 1967. Danish champions 1981. They play at the Gigantium Isarena, which is so gigantic it can hold 5,000 fans. Red, white and black. Aalborg is in the northern third of the Danish peninsula. [Colin Greening of the Senators has signed with them.]

Copenhagen Hockey. Double blue and white. Rink: Hvidovre Isstadion (2,000).

EfB Ishockey. Founded in 1964. Five-times Danish champs. They play at Granly Hockey Arena in Esbjerg (capacity 4,195). Colours: blue and white.

Frederikshavn White Hawks. Founded in 1964. Twice Danish champs. Rink: Iscenter Nord (capacity 2,480) in Frederikshavn near the northern tip of Denmark. White and blue. [Zack Smith of the Ottawa Senators has signed with Frederikshavn.]

Blue Fox Herning. Sixteen-times Danish champions, including last year and the year before. Rink: Kvik Hockey Arena (capacity 4,105). Blue, yellow and white. The Senators' Peter Regin used to play for them. Herning is in the middle third of the Danish peninsula, near the North Sea.

Herlev Eagles. Founded in 1968, they were Danish champions in 1984. Black, yellow and white. Their home rink is the Herlev Skøjtehal (1,750). Herlev is a suburb of Copenhagen. [Kevin Klein of the Nashville Predators has signed with Herlev.]

Bulldogs Odense. Founded in 1978. Rink: Bryggereit Vestfyen Arena (3,280). Red, white and green. Odense is on the Island of Fyn.

Rødovre Mighty Bulls. Founded in 1961, they are six-time Danish champs. They play at the Rødovre Skøjte Arena (3,600). Red and white. Rødovre is a suburb of Copenhagen.

SønderjyskE. Founded in 1963 as Vojens IK. Six-time Danish champions. They play at the 5,000-seat Syd Energi Arena in Vojens, southern Jutland. Light blue, black and white.

The Keldby Bucket

Featured on the new Danish 500 kroner note is the Keldby Bucket. The bronze vessel was ploughed out of a field around 1826 and dates to about 300 BC, and was probably made in the Greek world. Each of the new series of Danish banknotes features an archaeological artifact.