Aalborg, Denmark

We took a fascinating tour of Aalborg to learn of their resistance efforts during WWII after the Germans came in and occupied their town during rhe war years.

The Churchill Club was one of the earliest resistance groups to be formed in Denmark. Under the leadership of 16-year-old Knud Pedersen, their activities began at the end of 1941 when they began to target the German occupation forces in Aalborg to imitate the resistance of Norwegian soldiers. They succeeded in carrying out 25 acts of sabotage before they were arrested by the police in May 1942. They headquartered their effort out of the town's monastary.

The story of Aalborg Monastery dates back to the 1400s. At that time Aalborg, on the natural crossing point over the Limfjord, had grown into a very busy trading town. Aalborgian, Maren Hemmings, was a wealthy, warm-hearted and philanthropic woman. She noticed that not everyone was thriving in the city; poverty, malnutrition and appalling living conditions were rife. It had such an effect on her, that she donated a plot of land from her parent’s inheritance to the city, to establish a hospice where the poor, sick, needy, as well as the mentally & physically disabled, could find shelter and help. It is this plot of land that Aalborg Monastery now stands on to this day. At that time it was at the western most limit of the city; today the city has grown, so much so that the Monastery is now in the city centre. It is also this momentary where the Danish Resistance organized during WWII and where several of the Churchill Club children lived.Read more