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DANISH TRADITIONS

Why is Maundy Thursday a holiday in Denmark and Norway but not in Sweden?

People in Denmark and Norway have the day off on Maundy Thursday, but people in Sweden still have to work. Why is this?

Why is Maundy Thursday a holiday in Denmark and Norway but not in Sweden?
People in Sweden having to work today can blame Gustav III. Photo: National Museum of Sweden

Maundy Thursday marks the Last Supper, the day when Jesus was betrayed by his disciple Judas at a Passover meal, and depending on whether you’re speaking Swedish, Danish or Norwegian, It is known as skärtorsdagen, skærtorsdag, or skjærtorsdag.

Historically, it has also been called “Shere” or “Shere Thursday” in English with all four words “sheer”, meaning “clean” or “bright”. 

In the Nordics, whether or not it is a public holiday not depends on where you are: workers in Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands get the day off, but those in Sweden and Finland don’t.

The difference goes back to Sweden’s split from Denmark with the breakup of the Kalmar Union in 1523, and then the different ways the two countries carried out the Reformation and the establishment of their respective Lutheran churches. 

When Denmark’s King Christian III defeated his Roman Catholic rival in 1536, he imposed a far-reaching Reformation of the Church in Denmark, initially going much further in abolishing public holidays than anything that happened in Sweden. 

“Denmark carried out a much more extensive reduction of public holidays in connection with the Reformation,” Göran Malmstedt, a history professor at Gothenburg University, told The Local. “In Denmark, the king decided in 1537 that only 16 of the many medieval public holidays would be preserved, while in Sweden almost twice as many public holidays were retained through the decision in the Church Order of 1571.”

It wasn’t until 200 years later, that Sweden’s Enlightenment monarch, Gustav III decided to follow Denmark’s austere approach, axing 20 public holidays, Maundy Thursday included, in the calendar reform known in Sweden as den stora helgdöden, or “the big public holiday slaughter”.

Other public holidays to get abolished included the third and fourth days of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, ten days celebrating Jesus’ apostles, and the three days leading up to Ascension Day. 

“It was only when Gustav III decided in 1772 to abolish several of the old public holidays that the church year here came to resemble the Danish one,” Malmstedt said. 

At the time Finland was simply a part of Sweden (albeit one with a lot of Finnish speakers). The other Nordic countries, on the other hand, were all part of the rival Denmark-Norway. 

So if you live in the Nordics and are having to work on Maundy Thursday, now you know who to blame.  

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DANISH TRADITIONS

Why is Whit Monday a public holiday in Denmark, but not in Sweden?

People in Denmark have the day off on Whit Monday, but people in Sweden still have to work. Why is this?

Why is Whit Monday a public holiday in Denmark, but not in Sweden?

Whit Monday, also known as Pentecost Monday (Anden pinsedag or pinsemandag in Danish), falls on the day after Pentecost Sunday, marking the seventh Sunday after Easter.

It is a time when Christians commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus, an event described in the Bible.

READ ALSO: Why is Maundy Thursday a holiday in Denmark and Norway but not in Sweden?

Denmark (and Norway’s) head start in axing public holidays

When they were still Catholic counties, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, had far more religious holidays than they do today, with the third and fourth days of Pentecost also holidays. 

But after Denmark’s King Christian III defeated his Roman Catholic rival in 1536, he abolished nearly twice as many public holidays in Denmark as his counterpart Gustav Vasa did in Sweden. 

“Denmark carried out a much more extensive reduction of public holidays in connection with the Reformation,” Göran Malmstedt, a history professor at Gothenburg University, told The Local in February. “In Denmark, the king decided in 1537 that only 16 of the many medieval public holidays would be preserved, while in Sweden almost twice as many public holidays were retained through the decision in the Church Order of 1571.”

So it wasn’t until 1772, that the third and fourth day of Pentecost stopped being holidays in Sweden, when the Enlightenment monarch Gustav III, abolished 20 holidays in den stora helgdöden, or “the big public holiday slaughter”, including Maundy Thursday, which remained a holiday in Denmark and Norway.

Whit Monday, however, survived in all three Scandinavian countries. 

Sweden’s government inquiry

The inquiry launched by Persson’s government also looked at May 1st, Ascension Day and Epiphany as alternative victims of the axe, but in the end settled on Whit Monday, after “all churches and faith associations in Sweden agree that Whit Monday is the least bad church holiday to remove”.

Because Whit Monday always falls on a Monday, whereas June 6th some years falls on a Saturday or Sunday, this means that Swedish workers don’t always get an extra day off for National Day. This is still a source of bitterness for many Swedes.

What next? 

The axing of Whit Monday didn’t mark the end of holiday reform in Scandinavia, however, Great Prayer Day becoming a normal work day on Apr 26th this year. In the run up to the vote in parliament on the abolition in 2023, many arguing Whit Monday should go instead. 

Jakob Brandt, the head of SMVDanmark, which represents small businesses like cafes, argued that Whit Monday had no commercial significance with Christian Friis Bach, an MP for the Social Liberal Party making the same point. 

“There are many more good experiences and traditions which for me are connected with Great Prayer Day, when my mother always baked Great Prayer day buns. On the other hand, I can’t really think of anything connected to Whit Monday,” he told the Kristelig Dagbladet newspaper

Some blame Persson’s decision to deprive the Swedish public of Whit Monday for his defeat in the election in 2006. Will the Danish government’s decision to scrap Store Bededag have the same effect? 

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