Poverty in Odense

Seal of Odense poor relief, first half of the 19th century. The seal depicts a money box bearing the Odense lily. It is now at Møntergården in Odense. Photo: Jens Gregers Aagaard.

Intro

On the corner of Overgade and Påskestræde stood the poorhouse where Hans Christian Andersen first received free and somewhat sporadic schooling during his last years in Odense. Parts of the old poorhouse are still preserved.

The city’s wealthy citizens lived a life of luxury and could afford servants and education. But for the city's poor, hunger was a daily threat. Their homes were tiny hovels in miserable alleys, and only a small sum from poor relief and private charity kept body and soul together. However, most citizens lived an ordinary life somewhere between these two extremes. Throughout history, a major part of the population has been unable to support itself. Numbers have naturally varied according to the economic conditions prevailing at the time, but an estimated third or fourth of the population were dependent on the help from others in order to survive. This responsibility was usually borne by close relatives, as well as neighbours, craftsmen's guilds, etc. In an Odense census from 1672, 650 persons are recorded as being poor. That is to say they were too ill or too old to work. But this figure does not reflect the actual number of poor people in the city. According to the census, many people had minor jobs and worked as spinners, washerwomen, day labourers, etc. – jobs often shrouding virtual unemployment and only supporting a very basic existence. The 1672 census indicates, therefore, that close to 40% of Odense's population lived in abject poverty.

The market town of Odense Odense is the capital of Funen and was, for centuries, the second-largest city in the realm. During the period following 1860, the city grew rapidly with new residential and industrial districts, and after World War Two, single family housing and high-rise districts emerged outside the old city centre. The urban space has changed significantly and so has the life of the inhabitants of Odense.
Odense’s citizens in the 19th century The population of Odense increased significantly from the beginning of the 19th century, and by the middle of the century the city was Denmark’s second largest. The wealthy lived along the main thoroughfares while the poor lived in the side streets. Rich and poor could not avoid one another in the pre-industrial city.

This location is part of the exhibition 'Funen – at the centre of the universe', at Møntergården in Odense. Read more about the exhibition on our website.