Swedish royals in Denmark: Day three

King Carl Gustaf, Crown Princess Victoria and Crown Prince Frederik visit Danish company Foss A/S Hillerød a provider of analytical instruments for the food, agricultural, chemical and pharmaceutical industries


Queen Silvia and Queen Margrethe visit the Ordrupgaard museum in Charlottenlund


Queen Silvia and Princess Benedikte visit the Memory Loss Clinic in the Neurology Unit at Rigshospitalet Hukommelsesklinikken


King Carl Gustaf, Crown Princess Victoria and Crown Prince Frederik visit Dansk Industri


King Carl Gustaf, Crown Princess Victoria and Crown Prince Frederik have lunch at Mikkelgaard Restaurant with Danish Food Minister Hans Christian Schmidt



Queen Silvia visits Royal Copenhagen



Queen Silvia and Princess Benedikte visit Plejehjemmet Lotte , assisted living re manufacture and marketing of innovative technical aids for the disabled, a particular interest of Princess Benedikte


TV2 gallery

King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Queen Margrethe, Prince Henrik, Crown Princess Victoria, Crown Prince Frederik, and members of the Danish royal family participate in the Swedish return dinner held at the Town Hall in Malmö, Sweden (third largest city in Sweden connected to Denmark by the Öresund Bridge)



Added:

The Øresund region (the focus of the state visit)
The Øresund Region
Øresund guide
Øresund Network
Øresund Direkt
Øresund Region on wikipedia
Øresund map


Galleries:
Billed Bladet - 'Kongeligt statsbesøg'
Sydsvenskan.se - 'Kungligt besök'

TV2 galleries:
Photos by private citizens
Swedish royal family arrives in Copenhagen
Arrival at Fredensborg Palace
Frederik & Victoria at Idrættens Hus (emphasising integration)
Carl Gustaf & Silvia at Fritz Hansen
Frederik & Victoria at Ørestads Gymnasium (high school)
Frederik & Victoria at the Biovidenskabelige Fakultet (rapid microbiology)
Visit to Fields (shopping centre in the Ørestaden development)
Gala at Christiansborg
Opening of the Queen Ingrid exhibition at Amalienborg Museum (includes a display of several dozen of her gowns, includes a touching photo of Queen Silvia placing her bouquet under Queen Ingrid's portrait)
Carriage procession from Amalienborg to the Town Hall
Reception at Copenhagen Town Hall
At the Opera House for the ballet
Carl Gustaf, Victoria & Frederik visit Dansk Industri
Margrethe & Silvia at a nature reserve at Amager Fælled
Benedikte & Silvia at plejehjemmet "Lotte" (assisted living)
Silvia & Benedikte at Rigshospitalet's hukommelsesklinik
Press conference photos of Carl Gustaf & Silvia in Malmø
Return dinner at the Town Hall, Malmø, Sweden

See Madeleine Glindorf's website for many great photos on day 1 - Madeliene will be adding photos from days 2 and 3 this weekend


Video clips:

Politiken web TV (2:14)
B.T. web TV (1:50)
B.T. web TV (2:15)
TV2 clip (1:15)
TV2 Swedish RF - part 1 (25:00)
TV2 Swedish RF - part 2 (25:00)
TV2 Swedish RF - part 3 (24:00)
DR TV news (2:30)
DR TV news (1:04:00)
SVT web TV (2:35)
Berlingske Web TV (2:25) 'De kongelige overværer Øresundsting' - opening of the Øresund IT university

Articles:
Hello magazine 'Victoria and Frederik share repartee on Denmark visit'
Sydsvenskan.se 'Kungaparet möttes av nyfikna Malmöbor' (Swedish)

From The Copenhagen Post:

An Øresund ABC

11 May 2007
Seven years after the opening of a bridge between Denmark and Sweden, the borderland between the two countries is coming into its own as a distinct region.

Bridges always make good symbols. Whether printing them on our currencies or speaking metaphorically about building them - crossing them or even burning them, the bridge carries with it a connotation of opportunity and ambition.

During the welcome dinner of the current state visit by the Swedish royal family in Denmark, both the Swedish king and the Danish queen made references to the Øresund Bridge, which joins Copenhagen with southern Sweden. But those remarks could just as well refer to the cultural bond that Øresund Bridge has helped create in developing a distinct cross-border region.

On 1 July 2000, the same two monarchs met to dedicate the new Øresund Bridge connecting their kingdoms. Though the feuds of yesteryear had long since been put to rest, the 16 km-wide Øresund strait had served as a border between the two since Denmark lost control of its provinces in what is now southern Sweden in the 17th century.

Until the bridge opened, crossing the Øresund required travelling by ferry. Though Swedish could often be heard on the streets of the Danish capital, it was mostly lower prices that made the one-hour ride worth the effort. For Danes, Sweden's port city of Malmö remained undiscovered.

Today 14,000 people commute between Denmark and Sweden either by rail or car. Though Swedes remain Swedes and Danes remain Danes, the concept of an 'Øresundite' is fast becoming a part of the consciousness of people living on both sides.

A is for Architecture
Both Copenhagen and Malmö have coupled the construction of the bridge with the creation of new city districts. While Malmö's officials have thought in grand terms - turning its waterfront area into the site of Scandinavia's largest building with another skyscraper yet to follow - Copenhagen's ambitions have focused more on the architecturally unique.

What is now known as the Ørestad area in Copenhagen was nothing more than few wind-swept fields until construction on the bridge began. Since then, a futuristic, driverless underground train and a sleek glass and steel university addition have come along, while remarkable buildings designed by names such as Jean Nouvel, Henning Larsen and Daniel Liebeskind are nearing completion.

It is expected that within 20 years some 60,000 people will be working in the district - 20,000 as residents and another 20,000 attending the area’s educational facilities.

Plans for the third and final stage of the Ørestad district were unveiled late last year and will feature buildings that can serve as architectural milestones for the future - including a T-shaped structure designed by Steven Holl, who was named by Time Magazine as the US's 'best living architect.'

Jens Kramer Mikkelsen, Copenhagen’s former Lord Mayor and the current managing director of the Ørestad Development Corporation, described the goal of what will be the city's biggest development programme in a century.

‘Our ambitions are high. One hundred years from now, people shouldn’t wonder what we were thinking when we did this.’

B is for Biotech
Medicon Valley, the collective name for the cluster of life science institutions ringing the Øresund, has its medical research roots in Carlsberg Brewery's research there during the late 1800s. While a number of the region's pharmaceuticals date back to the early 20th century, it was only in the late 1990s that public authorities in both countries began to actively market the area as a collective entity.

The effort has worked. In addition to major international companies such as AstraZeneca on the Swedish side and Novo Nordisk on the Danish side, the region is home to hundreds of biotech firms of all sizes. Complimented by a high density of universities, hospitals and other bio-medical institutions, Medicon Valley attracts more foreign direct investment in life sciences than any other European region.

C is for commuting
Before the bridge opened, the there were less than 3000 daily commuters across the Øresund. In the hype surrounding the ribbon cutting, promoters suggested that with the geographical barrier removed, traffic between the two countries would take off. It didn't.

For the first two years, the numbers remained stagnant. At one point, a TV reporter even broadcast from the centre lane of the bridge during mid-day to talk about the low numbers of people crossing it. Business and tourism organisations gave the blame to the bridge's exorbitant DKK 245 (EUR 34) one-way toll.

While there is still plenty of grumbling about the toll, a number of other factors - including a hot job market in Denmark, lower housing prices in Sweden, and the simple fact that people are used to the idea of being able to drive to another country - have all helped boost trans-Øresund travel. Last year the number of people commuting from Malmö to Copenhagen increased to 14,000 from 10,000. And it is forecast to reach 20,000 by 2012.

Traffic in the other direction has also increased, though instead of weekday commuters it is more likely to be Danish weekend guests taking advantage of lower prices, stores staying open on holidays and the thrill of visiting Sweden's forests and raw nature.

'Sweden,' Queen Margrethe observed during Wednesday's state dinner, 'is both different and comfortable for us Danes.' The increasing number of people living, working and recreating on both sides of the bridge would seem to indicate that the same holds true for Swedes as well.CP