Klaus Berntsen

Klaus Berntsen

Klaus Berntsen (born June 12, 1844 in Eskilstrup , † March 27, 1927 in Copenhagen ) was a Danish politician and Prime Minister .

Professional career

After attending school, he completed a teaching degree, in which he was influenced by the ideas of Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig , the founder of the Danish adult education movement ( folkehøjskoler ). Later he became the head of the adult education center in Bogense on Funen . In addition, he was co-editor of the daily Fyns Tidende founded in 1872 from 1880 to 1887 and of the newspaper Friskolens Tidende from 1893 to 1895 . Most recently, he was director of a credit union from 1897 to 1908.

Political career

Longstanding member of parliament

Berntsen took part in political life at an early age, but in the first few years, despite his popular agitation , he was only active in local politics without any particular influence within the Liberal Party ( Venstre ). After founding the Moderate Party ( Det Moderate Venstre ), he joined this group in 1880.

In 1873 he was elected for the first time as a member of the Folketing Parliament, to which he initially belonged as a representative of the Bogense constituency until 1884. Two years later he was re-elected as a member of the Folketing, in which he then represented the constituency of Assens for forty years until 1926 . At 51 years of parliament, he is the Member with the longest membership in the Danish Parliament.

Minister and Prime Minister from 1910 to 1913

In particular after the merger of the Moderate Party and the Liberal Party to form Venstre in 1910, he gained increasing influence. From October 1908 to October 1909 he was Minister of the Interior in the cabinets of Niels Neergaard and Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg .

On July 5, 1910, he was appointed head of government ( Konseilspræsident ) by King Frederick VIII , who was his personal friend . In his cabinet, which was in office until June 13, 1913, he also assumed the post of Minister of Defense .

It was precisely because of the personal friendship that his government enjoyed the special support of the king. After his death and the succession by King Christian X. , however, criticism of the government was voiced, in which in particular the neglect of social issues was denounced. In 1913 he promised a revision of the constitution , but was previously replaced as Prime Minister by Carl Theodor Zahle .

Most recently he was Minister of Defense from May 5, 1920 to October 9, 1922 in the second Neergard cabinet.

literature

• Berntsen, Klaus . In: Christian Blangstrup (Ed.): Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon . 2nd Edition. tape 3 : Benzene Derivatives Brides . JH Schultz Forlag, Copenhagen 1915, p. 82 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
• Berntsen, Klaus . In: Carl Frederik Bricka (Ed.): Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537-1814. 1st edition. tape 2 : Beccau – Brandis . Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1888, p. 171-172 (Danish, runeberg.org ).

Web links

• Berntsen's cabinet