Category Archives: Events

Baby Activities in Sønderborg: An update

Leave a reply

In 2015 we published a couple of posts regarding baby activities in Sønderborg. However end of 2017 a new addition arrived in our family so it is well worth seeing what has remained, what is new and what has changed.

Musical Activities

Babysalmesang is still a hit for me. These are sessions that happen in most churches in the Denmark (in Sønderborg they have it in both Christianskirken and Sct Marie Kirken, but also the smaller churches in smaller villages will offer this) aimed at babies at their parent. We sing, we move and we enjoy some musical time with our kids. It is not necessary that you are a member of the church (I am not Danish Protestant for one!) but if you don’t mind that the songs sung are religious it will all be good.

Besides Babysalmesang there is also Baby Rytmik at the music school. This is very similar to Babysalmesang, except that the song topic is not religious (and you need to pay, unlike babysalmesang).

The third musical activity is Baby Tju-Hej that happens in the libraries of Sonderborg Kommune. While the other activities are limited to a small number of parents (maximum 15), this is open to all kids up to 3 years old with no prior booking. It is more of a sing along performance rather than focussed parent-child time, but still highly enjoyable and we try to go to as many as we can.

From what I have seen these have not changed much from 2015.

Active Sessions

The active sessions available can be grouped into 2: Stimulastik/Baby Motorik and Baby Swimming. We had written more about Baby Swimming  in 2015 here and we are not aware of anything new. A friend has also told us that there are limited drop-in sessions at the warm water basin at the Nordals Idrætscenter on Mondays-Wednesdays so if a course is not for you you can try this out, especially if like us you have 2 kids you want to take.

With regards to Motorik sessions, the Stimulastik provider from 2015 has moved away from the area. Instead I am aware of 2 other providers in the area: Ergo-Liv and Massage by Friis. Both seem to offer a ‘course’ rather than open groups. Our son is still too young so have not experienced either. If you have do leave a comment about your experience. We plan to try one later in the year and will update you on the experience, though we haven’t decided on which.

Sessions for Parents/Creative Sessions

Sønderborghus has recently started sessions on the first Monday of the month. These sessions, called Baby Mandag, consist of a talk or activity for the parents, followed by a creative session for the parent+child. I wrote about our experience here.

So since 2015 it seems that the music sessions have remained, the active sessions have changed while parent/creative sessions have been added. Not bad for a town the size of Sonderborg!

Other than that a facebook group for mothers in Sønderborg that had been started in 2015 has been revived, so if you’re in town with a baby/young child in tow (or even none) you can check what we are up to on Mother Group Sonderborg.

Sønderborghus for Children

Leave a reply

Sønderborghus has really stepped up their offerings for children in the last few months, with regular activities available for children from birth to 13 year olds. With our (now 2!) kids in tow, we tried out the age appropriate activities for them.

Baby Mandag (0-2 years)

The first Monday of the month from 9:30-12:00 is baby Monday at Sønderborghus, aimed at parents on parental leave and their child. The first half is generally a talk or activity for the parents, while for the second half we moved into the workshop for a craft activity to do with your kid (it was footprint Christmas cards when I attended) and a chat with the others.

I really enjoyed the session I went to with my then 2 week old. During my first parental leave in 2015 I found I lacked open drop-in events for parent and child, where the interest of the parent and a chat with other parents with babies of different ages (as opposed to the age stratified mother groups) were available. Good to see an opportunity for this now.

Familielørdag (2-13 years)

We went to this event with our oldest child, who’s 3. Every Saturday the workshop in the basement is open for a drop-in creative session between 10:00-13:00. Every Saturday has a theme, which you can find on the Sønderborghus website; the day we went we did paintings with tape and acrylic paints. The creative session is pre-planned and all the materials already prepared for you to just drop in with your kid and have a go, with pointers and support from the staff if needed. Once a month a bigger event with a theme such as Carnival is held.

Again, a very enjoyable time was had. It is the perfect activity especially for a wet Saturday with not much else to do. We would urge you to support this initiative of Sonderborghus to offer something different for kids. If you want to know the specific offering for a session check out the website. Both sessions cost a very fair 30 DKK for the craft supplies. Do remember to take an apron or old clothes though, unlike us!

 

Pub Quiz at Penny Lane, Sønderborg

Leave a reply

Pub quizzes, as the name implies, are very popular in pubs around the UK; apparently there were over 22,000 regular pub quizzes in 2009! They are maybe not as popular in Denmark, but Penny Lane pub is one that does offer one: every Thursday night at 20:15.

I turned up to my first quiz last week with a group of friends. Doors to the pub open at 20:00, and there were already quite a number of people waiting to get in. In fact, do remember to book a table (on facebook or tlf 26348644) as the tables seem to have all been booked in advance. Luckily for me my friend had sorted that out for us. So on entering we looked around till we found the table with our team name and sat down.

Before the quiz starts the quiz master came over to explain the rules and give us the sheets where we would note down the answer. In all there were 2 halves with 16 questions each. Questions 17 and 18 in each round are bonus questions and you decide whether you want to answer them or not before they are asked (both right = double points, one right = no change, both wrong = half points for the round).

Once the quiz starts the questions go at a steady pace. Each half will have 4 ‘themes’ and the questions cycle between the themes. A few hours before the quiz the themes are posted on the Penny Lane facebook page so you can prepare yourself if you so wish. The bonus questions are riddles.

It is maybe wise to note that the quiz is in Danish. However don’t despair if your Danish is not great. All the tables around us, including ours, were speaking English between them! And we all had fun! And we still managed to come 3rd (out of maybe 8-10 teams?)!

Down to the details: participating is free, though do book in advance, and you can, of course, buy drinks during the quiz. The atmosphere is very friendly and it was good fun. A good way to spend a Thursday evening doing something a bit different.

Impressions and photos from “Kampen om Als”

1 Reply

This is a guest post by Iulian who has lived in Sønderborg for three years and has a blog in Romanian about social media for non-profits.

After spending the whole weekend surrounded by gunpowder smell and a lot of soldiers from a century and a half ago I think it might be interesting, for those of you that didn’t participate, to see what happened and why you shouldn’t miss it the next time.

First of all, is the night battle. Around 2:30 in the morning the things start moving in the camp. People gather close to the water where the Prussians are expected to attack. Boat movements, cannon fire, rifles and a lot of tension in the air. This happens in semi-darkness, only enough for the human eye to distinguish the flow of the events. During all the events, there is a narrator that makes the things even more interesting by giving background insights.

Then I remarked the authenticity. The people are dressed in the old costumes, they live in the army tents, they eat and drink from the old dishes and food is served by the army regiment from an army car attachment. Some of the cooking ladies even have an old outdoor stove or a fireplace in the ground for preparing the food. What’s the interesting part is that you can also be part of the people living in the camp, taking part in all the activities.

There are often demonstrations of the weapons, military activities and costumes. You can see cannons firing from 2 metres, battle simulations with a big number of soldiers, different weapons in actions, costumes of the people from that age, horse presentations. It seemed that there is always something happening there.

Besides the activities, there are also small exhibitions with the equipment and tools used at war. If you’re a fan of old weaponry, this is the right place to come. Not only will you get to put your hands on the old rifles (by the way, one was around 4 kg) but you can even talk with the owners and they can astonish you with some nice stories. I could see old weapons and aspects of the military but there were also exhibited utensils used by paramedics, showing the progress that medicine has made in 150 years.

The people scale the event. As I said, they are very happy to exchange some words with you. For example, this man from Norway was amazing. He explained for hours to all the curious people what was “his” purpose in the battle. How technologically advanced was his weapon. What equipment did he carry, what are the symbols on the hat that made him recognizable as part of a specific regiment, what is the decoration on his collar and how year by year he needs to regain it. There were also some Czech guys that were in the party mood and they seemed to have some prohibited alcohol in the camp, without their commander knowing it. That was probably the fun of taking part in the event as a participant and not only as a spectator. And they seemed to have the most of it.

After such a long tour of the camp, before going home a bit smokey from the fire and gunpowder, you can try the desserts in one of the tents. This old style sweet, made without cooking, was very good. Don’t miss it next year! And if you have proofs that you’ve been around the events, just post them here.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The Battle of Als (Kampen om Als) 2014

1 Reply

IMG_3233

During the coming weekend Sonderborg will be awash with memories of 1864. We asked Ditte Kock, a historian working at Historiecenter Dybbøl Banke, to tell us a bit more about what the event is and what will happen. Here is what she said:

As you may have noticed, the war in 1864 is very important here in Sønderborg. The battle on Dybbøl hill on the 18th of April is the most famous event of the war and it is marked with a military ceremony every year. The assault on Dybbøl led to a peace conference in London, which led to nothing. The war broke out again and on the 29th of june, Prussia attacked Als. The battle was a crushing defeat for Denmark and it has largely been forgotten since.

IMG_3216

This weekend, Historiecenter Dybbøl Banke reenacts the battle. We begin Saturday at 11.00 with a parade from the castle through Perlegade and up to Rønhave plads. There will be Danish and Prussian soldiers, horses dragging canons and women in beautiful dresses. At 14.00-19.00 the soldiers camp (drive to Burger King and follow the signs) opens. There will be stories about the war and the people who participated, battle demonstrations and much much more. Sunday morning at 03.00 we reenact the battle at the historically correct time. Prussian soldiers sail across the water and defeat the Danish army. This is a spectacular experience that you should not miss. Again, drive to Burger King and follow the signs. The soldiers camp opens again Sunday 10.00-19.00. Entrance for the entire weekend is 50 kr. I hope to see you there!

At the same time, Sønderborg city hosts a new event called 1864dage. The city will return to 1864 and there will be a market and several other 1864 events. It should be very fun and much less formal than the ceremony on the 18th of April.

IMG_3226

The Battle of Als is a yearly reenactment, although this year will be a particularly special event with it being 150 years since the events. You can read more about our experience last year. You can also read more about this year’s programme here.

IMG_1436

Sankt Hans (St. Johns Eve) 2014

Leave a reply

Monday the 23rd of June 2014 the summer solstice is celebrated in Denmark with an event called Sankt Hans Aften – or St. Johns Eve. It is the day where the medieval wise men and women would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people. The Danes often meet at outdoor bonfire venues. Here the bonfire with the witch on top is lit around 10 pm. Beforehand, a bonfire speech is often made.

Getting warm on the bonfire

Here is a list of the events we would recommend around Sonderborg 2014. The tourist office has compiled a complete list. Please leave a comment if there is any you think we are missing.

Idrætshøjskolen – Swinging bonfire

There is a swing jazz band playing inside the school. Starts at 20 bonfire at 21.

By the Marina – Family event

It is from 19-21 and labelled as a Family Event.
Rad more

Mølleparken – Local talents

Danish TV celebrity Bubber is the host. Local bands will play on stage. Music starts at 19 – main acts at 19.30 bonfire around 21.45. Read more

In front of Alsion – bonfire on the water

The symphony orchestra is playing a soldout midsummer concert inside. Afterwards entertainment should start outside Alsion. Bonfire on the water at 22.10 Read more

Universe – out of town

The theme park by Nordborg will stay open longer than usual. Reduced entrance cost from 16 onwards. Workshop for the first 100 kids. Bonfire speech at 20.45 – bonfire at 21. Park closes at 22. Read more

Walk with the Ladies… in LadyWalk

Leave a reply

LadyWalk is a yearly event where women from around Denmark meet at predefined places and walk 7 or 12 km. Sonderborg is one of the towns where this event is held… and as the name implies, it is only for women. This year the event was held on 26th of May.

Ladywalk Sonderborg

The aim of the event is to support charity. Every year 2 associations are chosen for support. This year the 2 selected organisations were the sclerosis and heart associations. This makes it a worthwhile cause, even if you remove the enjoyable part of the event.

Over 4000 women have taken part over the last few years. I had planned to take part 2 years ago but, unfortunately, had to cancel at the last minute. However, this year I managed to join.

Taking part

Arriving in the area may take some planning. My first plan was to drive. However, on getting close, I realised that there was a long queue, so I returned home and grabbed my bike. This is probably a preferable way to get there, although by the time I cycled there the queue had disappeared. Having a bike, however, meant I could get closer.

Arriving in the start area I found quite confusing. It wasn’t clear to me what I should do, and it took me around 10 minutes to figure out where I could collect my t-shirt and bag. Better signage would be greatly appreciated (or maybe I should just improve my Danish? Don’t think that would have helped!). In particular, the signs for the different group meeting places being higher up and visible over the people would have been a significant improvement.

The walk itself, however, was gorgeous. In Sonderborg the walk is organised on Kær, the peninsula to the north of Sønderborg. This means that you get to walk in some really beautiful areas, both along Als Sound, as well as inland. The area is especially pretty on a sunny day as we had this year. This made it a really enjoyable way of spending an evening… walking and talking.

ladywalk

What next?

Well, this year’s event is over. So what’s next is to wait for May 18th 2015. See you next year?

Gymnastics…Danish style

3 Replies

Gymnastics is a big deal in Denmark. Talk to any Danish person (regardless of age) and the probability that they were part of a gymnastics group at some point in their life is very high. Gymnastics is seen as a sort of collective activity here. The Danish Gymnastics Association, DGI, has more than 300,000 members at this time.

As the Danish wikipedia page says, there are two kinds of gymnastics in Denmark: popular gymnastics, and competitive gymnastics. When a non-Dane thinks of gymnastics, they probably think of the competitive form. However, when Danes think of gymnastics, they think of the first kind.

So what is the difference?

First of all, gymnastics here is not competitive. The output of the groups is, instead, shown at exhibition events at various places around Denmark. During the past weekend, there was such an exhibition weekend at Humlehøj-hallen in Sønderborg. Having heard a lot about it but never experience it, we decided to check it out.

What did we find?

Well, first of all, there were groups of various ages participating, from very young kids who cannot really follow a routine, to an ‘experienced lady team’, with an average age of 74. And, of course, everything in between, though not people between 30 and 60, it seems. These people are, probably, ferrying their kids to gymnastics groups instead and no time for their own participation.

Another thing that struck me is what the routines really showed. Now, as a non-Danes, I typically think of the Olympics when I think of gymnastics. However, that is not the case here. Instead, there seems to be 2 types of routines: that which I would call tumbling, and that which I would call dancing.

The tumbling routines mostly consist of the whole group of kids, typically 10+ kids, doing the same tumble one after each other. The dancing consists of, hmm, a group dance routine. Most routines are an either/or between the two, so the dancing is not done to link the more technically challenging tumbling parts, as is the case with rhythmic gymnastics in the Olypmics. Instead, if the two are interlinked, you might have a flip-flop between the two, so say, a few minutes is done as a dancing routine and the next few minutes as a tumbling routine. The only routine that could be considered somewhat of an exception to this during the event we saw was the Vesterlund efterskole group, where, possibly as they were around 180 participants, there was more scope for amalgamating the two it seemed.

gym

It was an eye-opening experience to look into this really traditional part of Danish culture that is still going strong. In a way I am glad I didn’t grow up here, as I am sure I would have been absolutely rubbish at it (with even less motivation to do it). However, if you have kids it seems that doing a parent and child class is the thing to do. In that case, I think, I will have to leave it up to Michael to introduce any kids we might have to the delights of gymnastics.

Football Golf – Yes that’s a thing

Leave a reply

You probably haven’t heard of Footballgolf – but that is an actual sport and we have a 18-hole course right here on Als!

When my 10 year old, football-crazy nephew came to visit us this summer I challenged him for a game of Footballgolf.

The game was invented in Sweden not too many years ago and is more or less played like golf but instead of a small ball and an iron you just have a football – and a bigger hole. The international name is “Footballgolf” although in Ireland they have named it Footee. Here’s a video that explains the game (in Danish):

Als Fodbold Golf was started in 2012. It consists of 18 very different courses that each have a special “feature”, some of them are quite innovative and challenging. For instance hole number 13 has these gates where if you hit through the top triangle you get 2 kicks deducted.

Next to the course there is a covered area where you can eat your lunch or picnic. We spent about an hour and a half doing the course and we were very well entertained and we had hole-in-ones and giant blunders to tell about when we got home.

The price is 100 DKK for adults and 50 DKK for kids under 16 – kids under 5 play for free.

To play at the field you get the ball and score cards from Egen Put&Take lake at the address below.

Als Fodbold Golf
Nordborgvej 120
6430 Nordborg

Skaertoft Molle Bread and Food Festival

Leave a reply

Skaertoft Molle is a small-scale organic mill located to the East of Sonderborg owned by Jørgen Bonde and Hanne Risgaard and their daughter Marie-Louise. The special thing about this mill is that it specifically focuses on organic freshly-ground flour with bran and germ that is especially suited for bread-making.

The mill started to mill its own flour in 2004. This required a lot of effort and knowledge on their side in order to produce the best flour they could. Part of this research led the owners to Richard Bertinet in Bath (UK), a well-known name in the bread-making world. It was Bertinet himself who suggested the idea of a Bread and Food festival at Skaertoft, which led to the first festival in 2008, and Bertinet being a guest at this years festival!

IMG_3525

The Bread and Food festival is held on a weekend towards the end of August/beginning of September every year. Each year a specific theme is chosen, with the theme this year being two: Smorrebrod (Scandinavian open sandwiches) and Food waste. During the festival there is a programme of events going on, with presentations, demonstrations, guided tours as well as competitions. On top of that there is a ‘mill market’ with around 25 producers from the German/Danish border region. Oh, and, of course, you can buy the mill’s own flour and other products.

We visited the mill for the festival on Saturday afternoon. There was a real vibe around the place, with many chefs in chef whites and chef blacks happily buzzing around, talking together and appearing to have a good time. We had a look around the stalls, sat in on a demonstration by Bertinet on making dough, and watched a sheep farmer and her dog round up sheep.

IMG_3537

If you’re still looking for something to do tomorrow (1st of September 2013), at 30 DKK a visit to the festival is a good option. Whether you like baking, are interested in local produce, or are a student looking for plenty of free tasters, it should be easy to find something that catches your eye. If you are reading at a time outside the festival, you can always visit the mill on During the rest of the year you can visit the mill on a Mondays at 14-18 to buy the mills own produce. Courses on bread making and baking are also held at the mill on a regular basis.

Skærtoft Mølle
Skærtoft 4
6440 Augustenborg