[Idyllchat] Good piece on Copenhagen

[Art and Marilyn Bervin]

Thanks, Jerry, for bringing this article about 
Kierkegaard to light.  In 1984-85, I was 
fortunate enough to spend a year living in 
Denmark, not far from what purports to be 
Hamlet's castle, about 30 miles north of 
Copenhagen.

Thirty years earlier, just as I entered my teens, 
I first heard about Kierkegaard from my Baptist 
pastor.  Doc, as we called him, was among the 
first Americans to study Kierkegaard's works when 
they were first translated following WWII.  At 
the time, I could not appreciate the significance 
of that fact, but that unusual name stuck in my 
head.  Later, when I wrote my master's thesis, I 
read Sickness unto Death because the subject of 
my thesis had included Kierkegaard in her last 
novel:  Clock without Hands.

So it was somewhat natural that I find 
Kierkegaard's grave, which was within easy 
walking distance of the school where I was 
teaching.  The path to his grave is not 
well-traveled, but there were markers that guided 
me to the right spot.  I was mildly amused to 
discovered that the other noted 19th-century 
Danish writer, Hans Christian Andersen, is buried 
in the same cemetery.  The path to his grave is 
very worn.  One could find it easily without 
needing any other guidance.

Kierkegaard is acknowledged at one other 
Copenhagen site not mentioned in the NY Times 
article.  The Marmor (Marble) church, which lies 
close to the Queen's primary residence, is ringed 
by sculptures of individuals important to the 
history of the Danish church, including Søren 
Kierkegaard.

On my return in 1985, people were disappointed 
with my answer to that typical question:  How 
many countries did you go to?  Why would I visit 
many countries when there were so many things to 
see and learn about in one country?  Hurrah for 
Untours permitting us the luxury of knowing one 
place reasonably well.

Art Bervin
-- 
Bath Theorem: When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.
	--anon.

Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco.	--Will Rogers

Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change
	places.	--anon.



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