Kristian Ostergaard (February 5, 1855 – October 9, 1931) was a

Danish-American Danish Americans () are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danes, Danish origin or descent. Most Danes who came to the United States after 1865 did so ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor, educator, author and hymnwriter.

Background

Kristian Ostergaard was born at Østergård in the Hjerm parish of

Viborg County Viborg County () is a former county ( Danish: '' amt'') in the north-central part of the Jutland peninsula in western Denmark. The county was abolished on 1 January 2007, when most of it merged into Region Midtjylland The Central Denmark Re ...

, now

Struer Municipality Struer Municipality () is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Mid Jutland Region on the Jutland Peninsula in west Denmark. The municipality includes the island of Venø. It covers an area of and has a total population of 20,229 (1. Janu ...

Region Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative Regions of Denmark, region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municip ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He was the son of Peder Ø. Davidsen (1817 – 1876) and Maren Pedersdatter (1825 - c.1876).

Career

Ostergaard immigrated to the United States during 1878. He taught at the Danish Folk High School (''Højskolein'') in Elk Horn, Iowa, from its beginning in 1878. He also helped establish the Ashland Folk School at

Grant, Michigan Grant is a city in Newaygo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 952 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to Grant Township and Ashland Township. It is a part of the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan combined s ...

, in 1882. In 1885, he returned to Denmark, where he founded a Folk high school in

Støvring Støvring is a town in Rebild municipality in Region Nordjylland in the geographic region of the Jutland peninsula known as ''Himmerland'' in northern Denmark. The town has a population of 9,584 (2025), and is one of the centres of industry and ret ...

(now

Rebild municipality Rebild Municipality () is a '' kommune'' in the North Jutland Region of Denmark. It covers an area of 628 km2 and has a total population of 30,942 (2025). On 1 January 2007, Rebild Municipality was created as the result of ''Kommunalreforme ...

Region Nordjylland The North Jutland Region (), or in some official sources, the North Denmark Region, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform, which abolished the traditional counties () an ...

). In 1892, Ostergaard returned to the United States. He was ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1893. He served the ministry of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church. He ministered to a number of congregations before retiring in 1916 at Tyler, Minnesota. Ostergaard devoted the remainder of his life to writing songs, poetry and fiction. His writings were all in the Danish language. He wrote a number of novels depicting the life among

immigrants. His novels provided accounts of the immigrants struggling to create communities on the prairies. Four of Ostegaard's novels are set in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. Several trace members of a family from their arrival in the early 1870s to their participation in the settling in their new home. Ostergaard's novels also reflected a debate in Danish society involving the influences of

N. F. S. Grundtvig Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (; 8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872), most often referred to as N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential p ...

and George Brandes. Ostergarrd additionally alluded to the Danish intellectual Soren Kierkegaard. Ostergaard also wrote many songs and hymns. He published two songbooks: ''Børnesangbogen'' (1898) and ''Den dansk-amerikanske Højskolesangbog'' (1901). An

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

was published in 1912 as ''Songs of the Prairie''. Most notably, Ostergaard wrote the hymn ''Den Sag er aldrig i Verden tabt''. Translated into English by Jens Christian Aaberg (1877-1970) as ''That Cause Can Never Be Lost Nor Stayed'', it was published in ''Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark'' during 1945. Ostergaard died in Tyler, Minnesota, and was buried at the Danebod Lutheran Cemetery.''The Cross Church at Danebod'' (Danebod Lutheran Church)

Selected works

*''Fra Skov og Prærie'' (1883) *''Vesterlide'' (1889) *''Nybyggere'' (1891) *''Blokhuset'' (1892) *''Anton Arden'' (1897) *''Et Købmandshus'' (1909) *''Dalboerne'' (1913) *''Danby Folk'' (1927)

Background

Career

Selected works

References

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