Princess Marie opens the ‘Danger – Mines!’ exhibition at Tirpitz Museum.

Today, Princess Marie was at Blavand to open the ‘Danger – Mines!’ exhibition at Tirpitz Museum.

The exhibition focuses on the period of time where German soldiers had to remove the landmines they had left during World War II after 1945 in Denmark. According to the exhibition :” Along the West Coast, the Germans dug 1.4 million mines down. 620,000 of them alone on the stretch between Esbjerg and Nymindegab. Mines that would burst into the air by touch, pressure or through stubborn threads. And thus damaging attacking tanks and soldiers. Now the German troops themselves – piece by piece – had to find and disarm the mines, which wind and weather could easily have moved around compared to the German maps that showed where the mines should be. “

The exhibition also aims to make the visitors feel the adrenaline and the uncertainty felt by the German soldiers when they were trying to find the mines, knowing that they could step on one at any moment. At some point in the exhibition, visitors can try to find mines by themselves into a small sandbox.  Stina Troldtoft Andresen, the exhibition manager, explained:” You can find and disarm the mines with a mine probe – before they burst. And you have 10 seconds to do it. If you manage it, there will be a green light. If you can’t handle it, there will be a red light and a sound that tells you that you did not reach it, so you can probably feel the adrenaline even if this is not reality.” There is also a room where you can hear the stories of four people who were wounded or died during this operation. You also see images and you can hear sounds such as an emergency horn that will give you the same sense of uncertainty.

TV Syd reports that one of the big questions that needs to be asked again after seeing the exhibition is “Should Denmark have a bad conscience about letting the Germans clean up the mines with so many lives lost in result?”. Indeed, 149 people died and these questions were already raised by the film “Under the Sand” in 2015.

When she arrived at the exhibition, Princess Marie was welcomed by Camille, a young girl celebrating her 13th birthday today! After visiting the exhibition, Princess Marie officially opened the exhibition with a speech in which she said: “Today there are still 2000 people a year who die because of landmines. Three times as many are wounded. 40 percent of the victims are children.”

As Princess Marie said, Land mines are still a big problem today in many countries and this is why the exhibition also shows the equipment used today to find mines. Exactly a year ago, on April 4th 2018, Folkekirkens Nødhjælp (DanChurchAid) launched a campaign against landmines in which Princess Marie took part as Patron. In her video message she said: “DanChurchAid is focusing on the important work of clearing mines. Every year, more than 2000 people die from landmines and unexploded ammunition. But mines do not kill people only. Landmines maintain millions of men in poverty and prevent reconstruction and development. Landmines make it impossible to cultivate the earth and thus provide food to thousands of families.Landmines prevent children from giving safe to and from school. They prevent children from playing freely and just being children.
That is why I support the efforts of the DanChurchAid in removing land mines with the victims and the teaching of how to avoid landmines.”

Now, the DanChurchAid campaign is still going on : “DCA conducts clearance of mines and explosive remnants of war in accordance with DCA’s own operational standards, national standard operating procedures and International Mine Action Standards.” This campaign is part of their Safer Communities strategy which also includes Risk Education, Armed Violence Reduction, Physical Security and Stockpile Management as well asVictim Assistance and Psychosocial Support.

For this event, Princess Marie wore her Giorgio Armani blazer with her Hugo Boss dress.

She paired the look with her Jimmy Choo ‘Romy’ black suede pumps and an ufo clutch from 2018. I believe the clutch could be from Armani but I can’t confirm that.