Signe Christine Antoinette Manna Reimer (1858–1943) was a Danish journalist and writer who is remembered in particular for her interest in

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, r ...

. Her five-volume ''Nordfynsk Bondeliv i Mands Minde'' (1910–1919) describes the way of life, customs and language of ordinary people in the rural communities of north

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

. The work is considered to be one of the most important historical records of Danish folklore and related traditions. She bequeathed her own collection of artefacts to Nordfyns Museum in

Bogense Bogense () is a town in central Denmark, located on Funen in Nordfyn municipality, Region of Southern Denmark. The town has a population of 4,059 (1 January 2022). With its half-timbered houses, narrow streets and large marina, it is a popular t ...

Early life and education

Born on 15 April 1858 in Hårslev Parish near

on the island of

, Signe Christine Antoinette Manna Reimer was the daughter of Hans Bertel Reimer (1800–1872), a school master, and his wife Kirsten Poulsdatter (1827–1920). She had two half brothers from her father's first marriage. Brought up in a well-to-do family, after attending her father's school in Hårslev, when she was nine she moved to her half-brother Alexander's home in Viborg where she spent five years at Wissing's Girls School. She was also trained in office work and

bookkeeping Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business and other organizations. It involves preparing source documents for all transactions, operations, and other events of a business. ...

by her brother, a local official. When her father died in 1872, she moved back to Hårslev to live with her mother. From 1880, she spent three years at the home of her second half brother, Anton, who was a pastor, tutoring his three children.

Professional life

Reimer taught in

Herning Herning () is a Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 50,565 (1 January 2022)Hellebæk Hellebæk is a town located on the coast five kilometres northwest of Helsingør, North Zealand, some 40 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It has merged with the neighbouring community of Ålsgårde to form an urban area with a population of ...

in the 1890s. She was able to spend her winters developing her interest in local traditions and folklore. In 1897, she settled with her mother in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 2 ...

and began to seriously devote herself to writing, taking a special interest in folklore and local language and traditions. She improved her knowledge of the field by visiting libraries and archives and meet with older people to discuss their past. Writing some 150 articles a year, she presented her ideas on good

housekeeping Housekeeping is the management and routine support activities of running an organised physical institution occupied or used by people, like a house, ship, hospital or factory, such as tidying, cleaning, cooking, routine maintenance, shopping, ...

, publishing ''Hjemmets Bog'' (Book of the Home) in 1908 which also included old sayings and poems and described some of the local housekeeping traditions she had experienced. In 1910, Reimer published the first volume of her celebrated work ''Nordfynsk Bondeliv i Mands Minde''. As a result of her own poor health and the pressures of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, the fifth volume did not appear until 1919. She had set out to show that folk traditions should not only be a topic for academics from Copenhagen but could be addressed by interested authors in the provinces. She succeeded in her enterprise, receiving wide acclaim from recognized authorities. After her mother's death in 1920, Reimer could not find the strength to write more books but until the end of her life she continued to contribute articles to journals. Christine Reimer died in Odense on 13 December 1943. She left her folkloric artefacts to the Nordfyn Museum in Bodense and bequeathed her collection of some 5,000 sayings, proverbs and examples of local dialect to the Udvalg for Folkemaal og Dansk Folkemindesamling, the Danish folklore archives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reimer, Christine 1858 births 1943 deaths 19th-century Danish writers 20th-century Danish writers 19th-century Danish women writers 20th-century Danish women writers Danish women journalists Danish journalists Danish folklorists People from Nordfyn Municipality