POINT OF INTEREST

Flensborg Hus

Norderstraße 76, 24939 Flensburg

Flensborghus can look back on an eventful history. Built from the rubble of the Duburg-Castle, it is now the seat of the institutions of the Danish minority. However, during the Nazi era up to 1937, Jewish services, which could no longer be held elsewhere, were also held there.

The building of the current Flensborghus has had an eventful history. Built in 1724/1725 largely out of rubble from the Duburg-Castle, it was initially an orphanage and later, from 1760, also a prison and workshop. From 1865 to 1891, it served as barracks for the Prussian army before being converted into the “Nordischer Hof” hotel in 1893. After the plebiscite, the Border Association (Grænseforeningen or Grenzverein) bought the hotel in May 1921 and opened Flensborghus. It is the seat of the secretariat of the Danish minority and a cultural centre and for meetings of Slesvigsk Forening (SF), since 1946 SSF(South Schleswig Association). It is also the seat of the SSW(South Schleswig Voter’s Association) together with the SdU, which is its youth unit and also the umbrella organisation for Danish sports and youth clubs in “Southern Schleswig”. Its main objective is to promote Danish child and youth work. The Jewish citizens of Flensburg worshipped in the “red hall” of the former hotel and later in Flensborghus up to 1937. They were supported above all by the Danish Secretariat-General (Dänisches General-Konsulat), which offered its post-room among other things. In the main hall of Flensborghus, the statues of Danish generals are displayed on the pedestal of the Idstedt Lion, which was situated in the old cemetery between 1862 and 1864.