Morten Eskesen

Morten Eskesen (1826-1913) was born in West Jutland and trained as a teacher at Snested Seminary, where he was strongly influenced by the Grundtvigian views on church, school, and popular education. In his time, he was a well-known free school educator, folk high school teacher, and public speaker. In 1874, he published the songbook: “Nordic Songs for use at folk meetings, rifle associations, and in schools,” and in 1890, a song booklet with 80 songs featuring his own melodies was released.

But it was only after his death that his true historical significance became known. Residing in Kolding, he worked in the North Schleswig area for young North Schleswigers to attend Danish folk high schools. This connection, which was forged with the lost land, became very important during the 1920 referendum, when North Schleswig returned to Denmark.

The cornerstone was laid on 9 Nov 1920.