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IN PICS: Denmark's Queen Margrethe marks centenary of return of southern region

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IN PICS: Denmark's Queen Margrethe marks centenary of return of southern region
Denmark's Queen Margrethe II made a speech next to the stone monument erected by her grandfather Christian X to mark the return of the region. Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II on Sunday visited the ceremony to mark the return of Southern Jutland, Denmark's most southerly province, from Germany.

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The centenary celebrations for the return, which followed a referendum following Germany's defeat at the end of the First World War, took place over the weekend. They had been due to be held last year, but were delayed by a year due to the pandemic. 

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II began the proceedings by driving in a horse and carriage through an "air gate" erected to mark the pre-1920 border between Denmark and Germany. 

Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

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Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

She then gave a speech by the stone monument erected by her grandfather Christian X, to mark the return of the region, which Denmark lost after it was defeated by Prussia in 1864, in the Second Schleswig War. 

Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen attended the celebrations, but took a relatively low-key role. 

Tim Kildeborg Jensen/Ritzau Scanpix

Crowds thronged the roads of Haderslev as the royal party made their way by car to attend a service at the 12th century Haderslev Cathedral. 

Tim Kildeborg Jensen/Ritzau Scanpix
Tim Kildeborg Jensen/Ritzau Scanpix

After the service, Queen Margrethe II made her way to the fortifications built by the Prussians at Dybbøl Banke, outside the town of Sønderborg, alongside German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier. 

Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix
Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

She then travelled by boat to Sonderborg's harbourside Alsion Centre where she watched a series of performances, including a show put on by a local girls' choir, to mark the end of the celebrations. 

Tim Kildeborg Jensen/Ritzau Scanpix

She then left the city. 

Tim Kildeborg Jensen/Ritzau Scanpix

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