Niels Krause-Kjær: The Lost Land - Lecture

Author and journalist Niels Krause-Kjær takes the audience on a personal and historical journey through Denmark's transformative era.

Based on his acclaimed novel "Ude for uden", he explores the story of a country where rural society vanished within decades, the city became the ideal, and the provinces became losers in a new cultural reality. The novel has become a major reader favourite and was praised by critics, including Jyllands-Posten, which called it "fundamentally relevant to all Danes".

The novel is fiction but draws on a real travel journal that Niels Krause-Kjær discovered in the Danish National Archives - written by his father and his folk high school friends over half a century. It became the starting point for a story about dreams, disappointments, and a culture in dissolution.

With warmth, insight, and narrative joy, Niels Krause-Kjær shares reflections on heritage, identity, culture, and the shifts that have shaped the Denmark we know today. The lecture is a vivid blend of personal memories, historical perspectives, and literary storytelling - an ideal opportunity to reflect on what we have gained and what we have lost in our encounter with modernity.