Denmark: Chronology

1842 • Boston, MassachusettsPeter Clemensen and Hans Christian Hansen, the first Danish converts to the Church, were baptized.

1845 • Nauvoo, Illinois

Peter Olsen Hansen, the brother of Hans Hansen, began translating the Book of Mormon into Danish while serving as a guard in the Nauvoo Temple.

June 5, 1849 • DenmarkKing Frederik VII signed a new constitution that guaranteed freedom of religion, a critical step in allowing the gospel to be preached in Denmark.

October 6, 1849 • Salt Lake City, Utah TerritoryIn general conference, Erastus Snow of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Peter O. Hansen were called as the first missionaries to Denmark.

May 11, 1850 • Copenhagen, DenmarkPeter O. Hansen arrived in Copenhagen and began preaching.

June 14, 1850 • CopenhagenElder Erastus Snow of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles arrived in Copenhagen and organized the Scandinavian Mission.

August 12, 1850 • CopenhagenOle Ulrich Christian and Marie Christine Mønster and 13 others became the first converts baptized in Denmark.

August 25, 1850 • CopenhagenThe sacrament was administered for the first time in Denmark in the home of Hans Larsen.

September 15, 1850 • CopenhagenThe Copenhagen Branch, the first in Denmark, was organized.

November 25, 1850 • Aalborg, DenmarkA branch was organized in Aalborg, with Hans Peter Jensen as branch president.

1851 • CopenhagenThe Book of Mormon was published in Danish, the first non-English edition.

January 1, 1851 • CopenhagenChristian Christiansen became the first Dane ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood.

March 1851 • DenmarkThe first Danish hymnal was published. This was the first Latter-day Saint hymnal published in a language other than English.

October 1, 1851 • CopenhagenThe first issue of Skandinaviens Stjerne (Scandinavian Star) was published by Erastus Snow in Copenhagen.

January 1852 • DenmarkThe first group of Saints left Denmark for Utah. By the end of the century, over 12,000 had emigrated.

February 1852 • DenmarkThe Doctrine and Covenants was published in Danish.

March 15, 1852 • DenmarkIn the face of persecution, a committee of Saints appealed to the Rigsdag (Danish parliament) for protection and freedom to worship as granted by Denmark’s constitution. The petition, signed by 850 members, was never acknowledged.

1852 • DenmarkAbout 150 of the 1,000 Saints in Denmark had been called as missionaries in their own country. The branches contributed to support the families of those men who were away preaching the gospel.

1856 • Denmark

Chisten Dalsgaard painted Mormoner på besøg hos en tømrer på landet (Mormons visit a country carpenter), which was donated to the Danish National gallery in 1871.

February 1858 • DenmarkAll missionaries from North America were called home. Carl Widerborg, a Swede, became mission president, with Niels Wilhelmsen, a Dane, and Peter O. Thomassen, a Norwegian, as counselors.

1870 • DenmarkSunday Schools were organized in all branches in Denmark.

1873–75 • ScandinaviaChristian Gries Larsen became the first Dane to be called to preside over the Scandinavian Mission.

November 20, 1879 • CopenhagenThe first Relief Society was organized with Johanna Christina Nordstrom as president.

November 29, 1879 • CopenhagenThe Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association was organized and publication of Ungdommens Raadgiver (Juvenile Instructor) began.

January 26, 1882 • CopenhagenThe Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Association was organized and soon spread to the other branches in Denmark.

1883 • DenmarkThe first Danish translation of the Pearl of Great Price was published.

April 28, 1884 • Salt Lake CityChristian D. Fjeldsted was called as a member of the Council of the First Seven Presidents of the Seventy. He was the first native of Denmark called as a General Authority of the Church.

October 7, 1889 • Salt Lake CityAnthon H. Lund, a native of Denmark, was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

April 1893 • Salt Lake CityAndrew Jenson, a native of Denmark, was called as Assistant Church Historian.

July 4, 1902 • CopenhagenThe first Church-built meetinghouse in Denmark was dedicated.

1905 • DenmarkAnna Hansen Otte served as the first sister missionary in Denmark.

1906 • DenmarkChurch member Frederik F. Samuelsen was elected to the Rigsdag, becoming the first Church member to serve in a European Parliament.

July 27, 1910 • DenmarkJoseph F. Smith became the first President of the Church to visit Denmark.

October 1914 • DenmarkBecause of World War I, many missionaries not native to Denmark were sent home.

November 23, 1918 • Salt Lake CityAnthon H. Lund was called as a counselor in the First Presidency.

April 1, 1920 • DenmarkThe Danish Mission was organized.

June 14, 1931 • CopenhagenJohn A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the meetinghouse at Priorvej 12 in the Frederiksberg municipality of Copenhagen.

November 1931 • DenmarkThe first Primary in Denmark was officially organized.

1935 • DenmarkAndrew Jenson was given audience with King Christian X and shared the gospel with him.

September 1, 1939 • DenmarkWhile Elder Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve was visiting Denmark, Germany invaded Poland and all missionaries in Germany evacuated to Denmark. Smith told the Saints that “Denmark will be spared from much in the future because she was willing to open her doors to the Missionaries from the evacuated countries.”

December 2, 1939 • DenmarkAmerican missionaries were withdrawn due to World War II, and Orson Brinck West, president of the Copenhagen Branch, was appointed as acting president of the Danish Mission.

April 1940 • DenmarkNazi forces invaded Denmark. The recreation hall of the new Copenhagen meetinghouse served as a public air raid shelter.

May 14, 1945 • CopenhagenAfter Germany surrendered, a thanksgiving service was held that evening in the Copenhagen meetinghouse, and the chandeliers were lit for the first time since the invasion.

February 15–18, 1946 • CopenhagenEzra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Denmark, visiting the branches and giving radio interviews.

May 1946 • CopenhagenThe Church’s Genealogical Society began microfilming Danish parish and census records.

1946 • DenmarkThe Church sent humanitarian aid to assist in the recovery from World War II.

September 11–15, 1955 • Bern, SwitzerlandMany members and missionaries traveled from Denmark for the dedication of the Bern Switzerland Temple, the first temple in Europe.

July 18, 1957 • BernFlemming Hall and Ellen Ganneskov became the first couple living in Denmark to be sealed in the Temple.

April 9, 1967 • DenmarkThe Sunday sessions of general conference were translated into Danish and broadcast in the Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus, and Esbjerg Branch meetinghouses.

November 20, 1970 • DenmarkThe Church received official permission from the government to perform marriages.

August 29, 1971 • DenmarkChurch Patriarch Eldred G. Smith gave the first patriarchal blessings to members in Denmark.

1973 • DenmarkSeminary and institute programs were introduced in Denmark.

June 16, 1974 • CopenhagenThe Copenhagen Denmark Stake, the first stake in Scandinavia, was organized with Johan H. Benthin as president.

July 2, 1978 • Aarhus, DenmarkThe Aarhus Denmark Stake, the second stake in Denmark, was organized with Knud B. Andersen as president.

1988 • AarhusA choir composed of members of the Aarhus Denmark Stake performed on Danish television.

1998 • DenmarkThomas S. Monson of the First Presidency rededicated Denmark for the preaching of the gospel.

March 27, 1999The First Presidency announced the building of the Copenhagen Denmark Temple.

July 2000 • DenmarkSaints across Denmark celebrated 150 years of the Church in Scandinavia. The statues The Family and Kristina were unveiled in memorial of thousands of Danish Latter-Day Saint immigrants to America.

August 7, 2001 • Esbjerg, DenmarkA fleet of eight sailing ships left on a 59-day voyage to New York, in commemoration of the first European Saints immigrating to the United States.

May 23, 2004 • Copenhagen

The Copenhagen Denmark Temple was dedicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.

April 30, 2005 • CopenhagenL. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve and local Church leaders met with Danish government officials to discuss how gospel teachings answer pressing issues facing Denmark.

June 2010 • DenmarkTo celebrate the 160th anniversary of the Church in Denmark, members across Denmark participated in service projects in their communities.

December 11, 2011 • DenmarkChurch-produced films The Testaments and Finding Faith in Christ were aired on national television following an interview with Tomas Kofod, the actor who portrays Jesus in the films.

August 30, 2012 • DenmarkA book about the history of the Church in Denmark, De Danske Mormoners Historie, written by historian Jesper Stenholm Paulsen, was published.