Christiansfeld - The War Years

Christiansfeld's sitting close to one of the main thoroughfares leading from the south to the north through the Jutland peninsula, has meant that in times of unrest and war the town has often been occupied by the military.
This can be seen on the memorial plaque which is displayed at the Moravian hotel, as well as in the church's historical records, which contain detailed accounts of the town's fate during these times.
These bear witness to the stay of the foreign envoys at the hotel during the siege of Copenhagen in 1807, while King Christian VII remained in the castle known as "Kolding House". When the castle burnt down in 1808 the Royal Commission found quarters in the Moravian hotel in Christiansfeld for a period of 6 months.
On the morning of January 7, 1814-during the last week of the Napoleonic Wars the vanguard of the Russian general Tettenborn's army arrived. The vanguard were to prepare the general's quarters at the Moravian hotel and also to find quarters for 3000 Cossacks, who were Denmark's enemy. The inhabitants of the town were well prepared for their enemy's arrival. All the money and valuables were either buried, secreted inside the house walls or hidden by other means. When the enemy could not find Danish soldiers or weapons, the town was spared, though some looting did take place. The town's inhabitants were required to provide accommodation and provisions for 3000 soldiers and their horses. When peace had been restored and the foreign soldiers had returned home, the brethren from the church marched through the streets, singing as a sign of their gratitude that the town had been spared.
During the first Schleswig war 1848-50, King Frederik VII visited the town and the hotel. He was accompanied by the Countess Danner, as well as by his ministers and horse guards. During this war the town was often occupied by Danish or German troops, depending on whether the front line was to the north or to the south of the town. On the night of 1 May, 1848, 1,500 Prussian troops stopped in the town on their way north. During this war the church was used both for accommodating troops as well as a field hospital.
The night after the bloody battle at Kolding, on 23 April 1849, the wounded soldiers from the German side were brought to the church where they were treated in the field hospital.
38 of the soldiers died (14 of them Danish) and they were buried together in a communal grave in the churchyard. The Danes raised a memorial plaque with the legend that "future generations shall preserve the memory". A total of 117 soldiers are buried in "God's Acre".

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