Last stop: ​
​Ringsted, Iowa

Pastors Gudmund Petersen og Harold Petersen of the two churches had the Ringsted Opera House in readiness for the group when they arrived. Strenthened for the final performance were players of Ordet – and that thanks to the chicken dinner at the farm home of retired Rev. Hans Nielsen. Danalumna daughter Anita was hostess to the troupers.

… the last make-up was on … the stage manager made the last minute check-ups for the last time … Professor Nyholm closed his last lecture … the curtain rose, and fell for the last time … some of the troupers left for home or summer work … and now the Ordet tour is another pleasant memory in the pattern of our lives. 
From the "Ordet Odyssey," 1942.
Rev. Gudmund Petersen from St. Paul's Lutheran Church wrote to Nyholm that he and his colleague from St. John's Danish Church are very happy to welcome the Dana troupe to perform in their village. 
The village of Ringsted was named around 1899 after Mrs. John Larson's home town in Denmark. The first Danish church, St. Ansgar Danish Lutheran Church, was built in 1882 but later split into two due to the conflicting views between Inner Mission and Grundtvigians. However, after more than 100 years apart, the two churches reunited and became the United Lutheran Church. The small village still has a Danish American Fellowship group.
Ringsted Opera House in the 1920s.
Ringsted Opera House as it looked in the 1920s. The curtain featured an original painting of the Danish Kronborg Castle. The building usually housed traveling stock companies. (Image: "Ringsted, Iowa 1899-1974, History of Our Heritage".)

Ringsted reviews

The Ringsted performance was praised in the Danish-language newspapers. The writer in the Ansgar Lutheran states that the play has a message for everyone who has "thrown his religious faith to the winds." In another newspaper, Johanne from Albert Lea in Minnesota writes about the trip to Ringsted, Iowa, which she and her friends turns into a special outing. On the way there, the four women reminisce about their lives as young women in Denmark. On the way back, they give Ed Hansen, one of the actors, a lift and spend the whole way home singing Danish songs. Johannes writes: "The curtain went up, and we were not disappointed by what we heard and saw. It is some of the best of Danish and art that I have seen in America. That the young students from Dana can speak and act in Danish so well – it is an honor for both themselves and for Dana College. Thank you to Dana’s students for what they gave us in The Word, it was art of the very best kind."     

additional photos from the tour

Browse through more of Ed Hansen's and Paul Nyholm's photos of the students, the people they met,
​and the places they visited.