Symbolism
During the prolonged nineteenth century political and military struggles between Danes and Germans over possession of the territory variously known as Sønderjylland or Slesvig by the Danes and Schleswig by the Germans, the Danevirke was used as a potent symbol of Danish nationalism. Specifically, it was a symbol of the Danish historical claim for the whole of this territory — although during the centuries since its construction the linguistic frontier has moved gradually northwards, so that in the 19th century the territory north as far as Flensburg as well as south of the Danevirke was predominantly German-speaking. The fiefdom remained as a Danish fief.
Read more about this topic: Danevirke
Famous quotes containing the word symbolism:
“...I remembered the rose bush that had reached a thorny branch out through the ragged fence, and caught my dress, detaining me when I would have passed on. And again the symbolism of it all came over me. These memories and visions of the poor—they were the clutch of the thorns. Social workers have all felt it. It holds them to their work, because the thorns curve backward, and one cannot pull away.”
—Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933)