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Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig

Sønderborg Slot, Museum Sønderjylland

2023

An exhibition at Sønderborg Castle on the First World War as it was lived in Sønderjylland. Denmark stayed neutral, but the region was German at the time, and around 35,000 of its men were called up to the German army and navy. Some 6,000 never came home, and 4,000 returned as invalids. Seven rooms follow the war from the mobilisation of 1914 to the front, the sea, the home front and the long shadows after 1918, told through the soldiers' own uniforms, letters and belongings, a wall of their portraits, field telephones where South Jutlanders speak in their own words, and films in which actors give voice to authentic wartime accounts. A field of crosses stands for the dead. A full-size tank stands for the machine the war became.

ClientMuseum Sønderjylland
LocationSønderborg Slot
TypeSpecial exhibition, from April 2023
Exhibition architectTroels Lærke, MSJ
Year2023
PhotoJeppe Vinum
Our role

Digital / film / media production

We designed and produced the whole digital layer of the exhibition.

Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, rows of small black crosses in the sand
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, visitors at the title wall of the exhibition
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, a visitor listening to a soldier's memories on the telephone
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the corridor with the red walls, a visitor passing
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the wall of portraits of the soldiers
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the mobilisation room with the photograph of the crowd and the monument
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the tank B46
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the corridor along the tank with the film screen
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the cavalry uniform on horseback
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, one of the actor screens in the dark
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, a visitor listening to a soldier's memories on the telephone
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the corridor towards the Danish flag and the mobilisation photograph
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the map room with the chandeliers, the uniforms and the projected map of 1918
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, letters and photographs in a vitrine
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the blue order in its box
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the wall of medals with coloured ribbons
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, visitors passing the uniform vitrine
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, a visitor bending over a vitrine
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, helmets and uniforms in the trench vitrine
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, a rolled letter and postcards in a vitrine
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, visitors at the vitrine with letters
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the uniform vitrine seen from the front

Three of the exhibition's screens. Actors give voice to letters written by South Jutlanders during the war, word for word. Press play to listen; the monologues are in Danish.

Anne Maren WindHaderslev, August 1915
Peter Grosbøll FrankMoulin-sous-Touvent, Western Front, December 1914
Søren P. PetersenLens, Western Front, June 1916

We made fourteen monologues in all.
Here are all the talented actors who gave them a voice.

Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Maren
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Frank
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for S. Petersen
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Ingeborg
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Albrechtsen
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Brodersen
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for H. Petersen
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Hollesen
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Inger
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Moos
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Møller
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for N. Petersen
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Støckler
Sønderjyderne og Den Store Krig, the actor screen for Valentiner
Clara Herman, @clarahermanPlays Ingeborg Andresen. On the set, in Danish

Behind the screens

The monologues were shot in a black box in March 2023, with actors working from the original letters, one at a time, straight to camera. Real period costumes, a few small props, a single light and no scenery. What the visitor meets in the castle is the result: a person, life-size, speaking to you.

Behind the scenes, actress in shawl and headscarf seen past the camera
Behind the scenes, costume fitting by the window
Behind the scenes, director with headphones reading the script
Behind the scenes, the crew watching the monitors
Behind the scenes, direction with the script under a single light
Behind the scenes, three of the crew on set
Behind the scenes, actor in soldier's uniform behind the camera
Behind the scenes, the control desk during the shoot

PhotographyJeppe VinumFilmFlowerhaus

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