Oehlenschläger's beech

Adam Oehlenschläger wrote the national anthem, where the country stands with “broad beeches.” As a big boy, he was on a trip to Jægersborg Deer Park in 1793, where he carved his initials into a beech tree, which is now part of the museum's collections.

In the museum's collections there is a large tree stump, the lower part of the tree we know as Oehlenschläger's beech. Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (1779 – 1850) was a poet and author, best known for the national anthem "It is a lovely land" and the poem "The Golden Horns".

The idea of carving your own or your lover's initials into a tree is probably familiar to most people, but few have been as persistent as Oehlenschläger. As a big boy, he went to Dyrehaven near Copenhagen in 1793 and carved his initials into a beech tree that was about 100 years old. As an adult, he returned with his family to the same tree and carved one letter a year, eventually writing his entire surname. The tree fell in a violent storm in 1999, and when the forest district realized its special significance, they donated the piece of wood to the museum.

The beech tree has a special meaning in the minds of the Danes. Oehlenschläger even pays tribute to it in our national anthem, where “(…) it stands with broad beech trees”, so while the oak tree stood for majesty and royal power, the beech tree came to stand for democracy and the people.