ABSTRACT
From the early nineteenth century instruction in history seems to have expanded in schools for commoners. Written history had been employed from the early middle Ages to prove the antiquity and dignity of dynasties with no concern over the 'verity' of the information in a scientific sense. Contemporary political cross-border relations and potential conflicts over the drawing of borders on maps were decisive for both the politics of the nation-states and for which demarcations on the ground were claimed as important to history. The natural border in resund was an ideal expression of this singularity. The changing of the border occurred during a historic window of opportunity when borders could be shifted without creating later disagreements between political and cultural conceptions of the nations. The relation between Swedish solidarity, collectivity, and responsibility on the one hand and Danish independence, individuality, and freedom on the other became a point from where the relation between the dominating cultural bordering narratives crystallized.
