Denmark will not return documents to Norway – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
In July, the then Minister of Culture Abid Raja asked the Danish Ministry of Culture if Norway could borrow, possibly get back, 12 valuable documents.
The manuscripts were to be included in a new permanent exhibition at the National Library in Oslo. The document is about Norwegian conditions and was in Norway for several hundred years.
Well, they’re in Copenhagen because they were transported there during the union.
The documents were given to the University of Copenhagen by the Icelandic manuscript collector Árni Magnússon in 1730.
Fear that documents may be damaged
Seven of the documents are at the University of Copenhagen.
There is a commission at the Arnamagnæan Collection at the university that now answers “no” to questions from Norway and the National Library.
– It is partly out of consideration for the manuscripts. They should not be left for more than three months, or begin to take damage. The second reason is the consideration for research at the University of Copenhagen, says Anne Mette Hansen, curator of the Arnamagnæan Collection to Danmarks Radio.
Central to Norwegian history
The 12 documents were to be exhibited at an exhibition on the Norwegian Middle Ages at the National Library.
– I’m very disappointed. The documents are peripheral in Danish history, but absolutely central in Norwegian history, says national librarian Aslak Sira Myhre.
The National Library has worked for many years to get these documents to Norway. The documents, which show culture and tradition in Norway in the Middle Ages, are found exclusively in Danish institutions, and are therefore not available to a Norwegian audience.
Among the most well-known documents are Sættargjerda, an agreement between the church and the state from 1277, and the Codex Frisianus which contains Heimskringla. We have no documents in Norway at all, says Myhre.
– I would like the Arnamagnæan Collection to see this as a collaboration, instead of closing the door completely.
Myhre says that he does not take for an answer and that he has tried himself to Copenhagen to discuss this further.
– Sorry
– The National Library has exciting plans for disseminating medieval history, and it is unfortunate if the ambitions have to be reduced because the Danish team is not given access to important historical objects, says Minister of Culture and Gender Equality Anette Trettebergstuen (Labor) to NRK.
Trettebergstuen says that they must show respect for all arguments which are about preserving the documents at the best meeting, and research needs in Copenhagen, but that this is about a common Nordic cultural heritage.
– We must be able to facilitate communication through the relevant institutions across national borders, regardless of who formally «owns» the various objects, she says.
The Royal Library said yes
Five of the 12 documents that Abid Raja has asked for on loan at the Royal Library in Copenhagen. They have come to the conclusion that the National Library can borrow the documents.
– Danish practice for long-term lending to other institutions is lending of five years’ duration, with the possibility of extension after maturity. We must follow the same practice, says director of the Royal Library Svend Larsen.
The then Minister of Culture Abid Raja was happy when it became known this autumn that the Royal Library agreed to lend the Norwegian manuscripts
– I am incredibly happy for the positive response from the Royal Library. I myself have been to Copenhagen and inspected current historical documents, and can already say that it will be great to have these exhibited in Norway, in Raja in October.
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