Faroese Christmas Meeting 1888

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Commemorative stamps for the 100th anniversary of the Christmas meeting with the newspaper announcement, a drawing and the battle poem by Joannes Patursson

The Faroese Christmas meetings ( for everyone. Jólafundurin ) took place on 26. December 1888 and is considered the official founding date of the Faroese national movement.

On December 22, 1888, the only newspaper in the Faroe Islands at the time, Dimmalætting , published the following appeal:

Everyone is invited to meet on Boxing Day at 3pm in the parliament building, where we will discuss how the Faroese language and tradition can be defended.

The invitation is signed by nine prominent Faroese people and marks the beginning of a new chapter in Faroese history: the emergence of the national movement. These nine were (by their signatory names):

Despite the raging storm and muddy streets, a large crowd of people gathered at Løgtingshaus that afternoon . Speeches were made and patriotic songs were sung. The highlight of the event came when the poet Rasmus Effersøe sang a battle hymn by Jóannes Patursson , which was written especially for the day.

Christmas meeting 1888

The message of the longer poem is revealed in the first lines:

The hour has now come when we can join hands and work for our language. It is up to us to preserve our most precious cultural heritage: the language that suffers so much in our own country and will not survive unless the whole nation tries hard.

In the end, the assembly passed a 6-point resolution:

  1. As soon as enough Faroese textbooks are available, the school language should be Faroese.
  2. History classes focus on Faroese history .
  3. Faroese takes the place of Danish as the church language.
  4. Pastors must have the right to speak Faroese inside and outside the Church.
  5. Faroese is intended to be used in all public affairs.
  6. A Faroese adult education center is set up.

The storm prevented many people in distant villages from coming to Tórshavn . That is why there was another meeting on January 6, 1889, at which the Faroese Association ( Føringafelag ) was constituted according to the following principles:

  1. Faroese must be restored to its honor and dignity
  2. The Faroese people must rally around the common goal of becoming independent at all levels.

This shows that even at this early point in time the Faroese national ideal went so far as to strive for sovereignty. The Faroese national movement therefore worked both culturally (assertion of the language as the most important cultural asset) and politically (self-administration or even separation from Denmark).

See also

literature

  • Jóhannes av Skarði : Jólafundurin 1888 - og eitt sindur um høvuðsmenninar í Føroyingafelag í Føroyum . Tórshavn: Føroya Skúlabókagrunnur, 1980 ("The Christmas meeting 1888 - and a little bit about the main actors in the Faroe Islands")

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