When The Queen arrives at Flensburg Harbor aboard the Royal Yacht Dannebrog on Tuesday, 3 September, four days with a varying and tightly-packed program await Her Majesty. The Queen goes to all sorts of places around the state and will be officially received in Kiel, where Her Majesty will visit both the state parliament and the state government. Likewise, the Danish minority and a substantial portion of its many institutions and associations will receive visits from Her Majesty.

The visit should be viewed as a prelude to the official commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the determination of the Danish-German border in 2020. The border was established on the basis of the people’s right of self-determination following referenda in 1920. Today, the Danish-German border stands as a model of cooperation and peaceful coexistence, just as the Danish minority model has won international recognition. The Danish-German border is Denmark’s only land frontier, and northern Germany is our most important trading partner – and Germany overall our biggest export market. 

In connection with the delineation of the border in 1920, the Danish minority came into being. It was the segment of the population that felt itself as being Danish and would have liked to have seen a more southerly delineation of the border. Today, the minority consists of approximately 50,000 persons who are Danish-minded and, to a great extent, live a Danish everyday life in the German society.  

The Queen will visit the Danish Nursing Home, the Royal Danish Consulate General in Flensburg, the Duborg School, the Danish Central Library for South Schleswig, the Copper Mill Industrial Museum, the Church of the Holy Spirit and Flensborghus, the cultural and administrative center for the Danish minority. The program also includes a gala evening in which the Danish minority will be hosts at the A.P. Møller School in Schleswig. Furthermore, there will be time to visit the historical spots Danevirke, Gottorf Castle and the Viking Museum Haithabu. Her Majesty will go to all kinds of places in the state and thus will also visit two of the minority’s institutions in Frederiksstad; the Mennonite Church and the Paludan House, and the Frisian minority will also get a visit at Risum Danish School. During The Queen’s visit in South Schleswig, there will also be opportunities to visit with Danish business interests represented by the German headquarters of Danfoss and Jysk, respectively. In addition to the official reception in Kiel at the Flensburg Town Hall, there will be opportunities to pay visits at the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein and the Geomar Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research. Upon the Royal Yacht Dannebrog’s arrival, there will be a welcoming ceremony at the harbor in Flensburg, and the ship will thus be the setting for a reception and dinner for specially invited guests.