LIFE OF PREBEN JØRGENSEN - PART IV - GRANDFATHER SØREN AWARDED HÆDERSTEGN CROSS

We opened Part III by describing how Preben must have seen King Christian X riding his horse Jubilee through the streets of Copenhagen during the Nazi occupation unaccompanied by any guards.  The King did this to lift the spirits of the people.

By then, however, King Christian X had already lifted the spirits of Preben and his family in a more personal way in 1933 when he awarded Preben's maternal grandfather Søren Christian Christensen (1845-1936) the Haederstegn Cross, which is akin to but different from the Knight's Cross. 

Here is an example of a Haederstegn Cross, which of plain silver:

 Now we take a step back in time to give further details regarding Søren and this event, which occurred shortly after Preben's tenth birthday.

Recipients of royal decorations are required to submit a biography to the Crown.  In his, Søren related that in 1845 he was born on his father's farm named Ledet.  It was located near Borglum Kloster (abbey or monastery), which was Roman Catholic until the "Reformation".   Borglum had once been a royal farm.  (Whether Ledet was part of the old royal farm seems a possibility but requires further research.)

Søren described his boyhood, working on the farm until he was 18 years old.  After that, he began an apprenticeship with a master craftsman, a cooper (bødker in Danish).  As a result, he became a qualified cooper -- a skilled craftsman who made barrels and other such items.

Next he worked as a journeyman cooper in various locations.  Then in 1868 he enlisted in the Danish Royal Guard at Rosenborg Castle to fulfill his military obligation.  He served in the Guard from 1868 until 1870.

After his tour of duty, Søren rented a dwelling in Sulsted, Jutland, and practiced his craft.  He was successful and in 1875 bought a home in Sulsted called Stokbrohuse (Stock Bridge House) and married Abrahamine Gottfride Muhrman who was of Swedish ancestry going back a couple of generations.

Here we see a portrait of Søren in civilian attire:

Abrahamine bore Søren 12 children over the course of a 35 year marriage that remained intact until her death in 1910. Altogether they had 8 sons and 4 daughters.  The twelfth, a girl, was born in 1898.  Below we see Søren, Abrahamine and their offspring.

The empty chair was for the twelfth child (Dusine) who died at less than one year of age.  By the time Søren was made a Dannebrogsmand in 1933, only four of his sons and three of his daughters were still living.

Søren remained loyal to the Crown and the Royal Guards. Here we see Søren in his Guardsman uniform on his 75th birthday in 1920 (fifty years after his tour of active duty).

At some point, Søren co-founded the Royal Danish Guards Association for the North Jutland area and remained an honorary member in his old age.  It was apparently for this service to the Crown that King Christian X honored Søren in 1933 by awarding him the Haederstegn Cross.

Now we see a photograph of elderly Søren wearing the decoration.

It should be noted that the protocol from the Crown archives regarding Søren's decoration does not state the reason for this honor.  But, it seems reasonable to conclude that it was because of Søren's co-founding of the North Jutland Royal Guard Association.  The year of the award (1933) is significant:  In January 1933, Adolph Hitler had become chancellor of Germany.  There was a depression in Denmark and a great deal of social unrest fomented by both left and right wing political currents.  Thus it seems an appropriate time to have honored persons who demonstrated loyalty to the Crown and who were not participants in extremist groups.

Toward the end of his biography, Søren related that Abrahamine had once been in a tragic accident where one of her feet had been entirely crushed.  A doctor who had great skill and care had been able to perform a remarkable repair such that Søren felt it was the doctor rather than himself who should have been honored.

Søren also spoke about how he was once rendered unconscious by a lightening strike on his home but survived by the grace of God.

Søren closed his biography by thanking King Christian X and asserting, "God save the King".

(I should add that Preben once told me that the day before his grandfather Søren died he was given a chance to fly in an airplane.  Søren happily accepted, enjoyed the flight, and passed away the next day at the age of 91.)

To be continued . . .

Attributions:

Biographic material regarding Søren Christian Christensen - Courtesy of Danish Crown and Vendyssel-Gildet publication.

Photograph of Søren Christian Christensen wearing Haederstegn Cross - Courtesy of Danish Crown.

Photograph of Haederstegn Cross by Jesper Valentin

Other photographs - Courtesy of Christensen-Anesen granddaughter who also assisted with segments of translation from Danish.