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- 1912-1947: King of Denmark
- 1918-1944: Only King of Iceland
- House of Oldenburg
Biography
Christian X of Denmark, King of Denmark, King of Iceland, was born 26 September 1870 Charlottenlund Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark to Frederick VIII of Denmark (1843-1912) and Louise of Sweden (1851-1926) and died 20 April 1947 Copenhagen, Denmark of unspecified causes. He married Alexandrine von Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1879-1952) 26 April 1898 in Cannes, France.
Christian X was King of Denmark from 1912 until his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, holding the title as a result of the personal union between Denmark and independent Iceland between 1918 and 1944.
He was a member of the House of Glücksburg, a branch of the House of Oldenburg, and the first monarch since King Frederick VII born into the Danish royal family; both his father and his grandfather were born as princes of a ducal family from Schleswig. Among his siblings was King Haakon VII of Norway. His son became Frederick IX of Denmark. Among his cousins were King George V of the United Kingdom, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, and King Constantine I of Greece, while Queen Maud of Norway, was both his cousin and sister-in-law.
His character has been described as authoritarian and he strongly stressed the importance of royal dignity and power. His reluctance to fully embrace democracy resulted in the Easter Crisis of 1920, in which he dismissed the democratically elected Social Liberal cabinet with which he disagreed, and installed one of his own choosing. This was in accordance with the letter of the constitution, but the principle of parliamentarianism had been considered a constitutional custom since 1901. Faced with mass demonstrations, a general strike organized by the Social Democrats and the risk of the monarchy being overthrown he was forced to accept that a monarch could not keep a government in office against the will of parliament, as well as his reduced role as a symbolic head of state.
During the German occupation of Denmark, Christian became a popular symbol of resistance, particularly because of the symbolic value of the fact that he rode every day through the streets of Copenhagen unaccompanied by guards. With a reign spanning two world wars, and his role as a rallying symbol for Danish national sentiment during the German occupation, he became one of the most popular Danish monarchs of modern times.
Marriage
Prince Christian and Princess Alexandrine with their son Frederik in 1900
During a stay in Cannes in March 1897, Christian met and fell in love with Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; she was a daughter of Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia. They were engaged in Schwerin on 24 March 1897 and married in Cannes on 26 April 1898. She eventually became his queen consort. They had two sons:
- Prince Frederick IX of Denmark (1899-1972), later King Frederick IX of Denmark
- Prince Knud of Denmark (1900-1976), later Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark
The couple were given Christian VIII's Palace at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen as their residence and Sorgenfri Palace north of Copenhagen as a summer residence. Furthermore, the couple received Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus as a wedding present from the people of Denmark in 1898. In 1914, the King also built the villa Klitgården in Skagen.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Frederick IX of Denmark (1899-1972) | 11 March 1899 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark | 14 January 1972 Copenhagen, Denmark | Ingrid av Sverige (1910-2000) |
| Knud of Denmark (1900-1976) | |||
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Christian X of Denmark (1870-1947) | 26 September 1870 Copenhagen, Denmark | 20 April 1947 Copenhagen, Denmark | Alexandrine von Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1879-1952) |
| Haakon VII of Norway (1872-1957) | 3 August 1872 Charlottenlund, Denmark | 21 September 1957 Oslo, Norway | Maud of Wales (1869-1938) |
| Louise of Denmark (1875-1906) | |||
| Harald of Denmark (1876-1949) | |||
| Ingeborg of Denmark (1878-1958) | 2 August 1878 Charlottenlund | 11 March 1958 Stockholm | Carl av Sverige och Norge (1861-1951) |
| Thyra of Denmark (1880-1945) | |||
| Gustav of Denmark (1887-1944) | |||
| Dagmar of Denmark (1890-1961) | |||
See Also
- Christian Oldenburg
- Oldenburg Family
- Oldenburg in Lower Saxony
Notable Descendants
- Royal Line: King of Denmark.
Notable Ancestors
- Charlemagne (747-814) - via House of Ravensburg.
- House of Oldenburg - Danish Royal Family - Line of Succession to the Throne.
References
- Bramsen, Bo (1992) (in da). Huset Glücksborg. Europas svigerfader og hans efterslægt. (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Forlaget Forum. ISBN 87-553-1843-6.
- Fabricius Møller, Jes (2013) (in da). Dynastiet Glücksborg, en Danmarkshistorie. Copenhagen: Gad. ISBN 9788712048411.
- Jespersen, Knud J.V. (2007) (in da). Rytterkongen. Et portræt af Christian 10.. Copenhagen: Gyldendal. ISBN 978-87-02-04135-4.
- Lerche, Anna; Mandal, Marcus (2003). A royal family : the story of Christian IX and his European descendants. Copenhagen: Aschehoug. ISBN 9788715109577.
External links
- wikipedia:en:Christian X of Denmark - English Version
- Christian X of Denmark, De.Wikipedia.org, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_X., retrieved 02 Jan 2025 - German Version
- Christian X of Denmark at thePeerage
- Christian X of Denmark, Geni.com, https://www.geni.com/people/Christian-X-King-of-Denmark-and-Iceland/6000000002879557044, retrieved 02 Jan 2025
- Christian X of Denmark, FamilySearch.org, https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LBFW-F3C, retrieved 02 Jan 2025
- Christian X of Denmark, Genealogics.org, https://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00007220&tree=LEO, retrieved 02 Jan 2025
- Christian X of Denmark, FindAGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8509536/christian_x, retrieved 02 Jan 2025
Succession Charts
- The Royal Lineage Archived 14 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine at the website of the Danish Monarchy
- Christian X at the website of the Royal Danish Collection at Amalienborg Palace
- Newspaper clippings about Christian X of Denmark in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBWScript error: No such module "EditAtWikidata".
Christian X House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg Born: 26 September 1870 Died: 20 April 1947
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Frederick VIII |
King of Denmark 1912–1947 |
Succeeded by Frederik IX |
| New title Kingdom of Iceland created
|
King of Iceland 1918–1944 |
Vacant Republic of Iceland created
|
Footnotes (including sources)
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