More about 1864 and the Border Region:

 Peder Hiort Lorenzen (1791-1845). .

“He spoke Danish, and he continued to speak Danish.” These words are the eulogy for a man who, for his steadfast commitment to Danishness, received the greatest respect of the Danish nation.

In 1834, Peter Hiort Lorenzen was elected in his home town of Haderslev to the Schleswig provincial assembly. He became one of the leading figures in the assembly's liberal group. His demands for Schleswig's liberation from the German Confederation, a popular constitution, and the introduction of Danish as the official language in Schleswig provoked strong resentment and opposition in the assembly's German-minded majority. The opposition was not lessened when Hiort Lorenzen subsequently began speaking Danish in the assembly. He demanded that Danish speeches should be recorded in the minutes alongside the German ones.

Hiort Lorenzen continued to speak Danish, and the opposition to his policies grew. At the end of 1842, the president of the assembly announced that he would deny Hiort Lorenzen access to the chamber if he did not speak German.

This meant a decisive breakthrough for the Danes” sense of nationality, and in 1843 Hiort Lorenzen was hailed by his compatriots at the first meeting of Danishness on Skamlingsbanken in Southern Jutland. He was presented with a drinking horn inscribed ”He continued to speak Danish".”

The language dispute inflamed tempers on both sides of the border, but in the spring of 1844, King Christian VIII ruled that only Danish could be spoken in the Estates of Schleswig if one could not speak German, thereby forbidding Hiort Lorenzen from speaking Danish. The King's decision caused great indignation throughout the country, and a protest letter with 20,000 signatures was sent to the King, who never fully supported Hiort Lorenzen.

The memorial was erected in 1911 in Højeruplund.