DISCOVER JOHAN SKJOLDBORG'S HOUSE!

Johan Skjoldborg's childhood home in Skippergade in Øsløs was opened as a museum in 1961, the centenary of his birth. The small shoemaker's home is a good example of how a village craftsman and householder lived in the latter part of the 19th century. Characteristic is the paving of small beach stones and the use of beach timber at the fireplace.

The home was poor, but not an ordinary home. Despite a meagre education, his father was an enlightened man who liked to discuss with people from all walks of life. During these discussions, the boy's indignation at injustice was aroused. As an adult writer, he fought the cause of the poor and was nicknamed the Poet of the Household.

After a period as a teacher in Koldmose near Jammerbugten, Skjoldborg devoted himself entirely to poetry and lecturing. In 1907 he bought a farm on the Dynæs peninsula in Julsø, where he organised large public meetings. Skjoldborg had some good years here, but things went badly for agriculture, and in 1915 the property was put up for auction. The householders gave him an honorary residence in Løgstør, where he lived until his death in 1936.

Skjoldborg made his breakthrough as a writer in 1896 with the novel En Stridsmand. It is the story of a dune farmer who fights for his poor livelihood. Skjoldborg later wrote many books. The best known are The Crow's Nest, Gyldholm and New Men. The poetry collection Dynæs Digte contains some of Skjoldborg's best-known poems. The most famous is undoubtedly the Husband Song (Når Vinteren rinder i Grøft og i Grav).

Skjoldborg's way of working was characterised by great thoroughness. He took great care to make his novels as realistic as possible. He made study trips to Germany, Italy and the United States. He went to sea to study seafaring, and when he was writing Gyldholm, he spent some time as a day labourer on a manor farm.

Source: museumthy.dk