The History of the Border Gendarmerie

The Border Gendarmerie, as it was called from 1876 onwards, had its roots in the Holstein Border Gendarmerie (established in 1839) and the Schleswig Gendarmerie Corps (established in 1851), which were combined in 1864, becoming the Field Gendarmerie.

Established on 23 January 1865, following Denmark’s defeat, the Danish State Border Customs Police Corps was manned by the staff of both former and now disbanded corps - its task being to guard the new border along Kongeåen.

Following the Reunification, some of the staff moved southwards to guard the new border.

When Germany invaded Denmark on 9 April 1940, the border was guarded by border gendarmes, three of whom died that day.

The commander-in-chief of the Border Customs Police Corps, Svend Bartholin Paludan-Müller (b. 1885), was killed on 26 May 1944 in a three hour long heroic struggle against the Germans. On 5 October 1944, the Germans rounded up 141 members of the corps and interned them in Frøslevlejren. 37 of whom died and 1 was reported missing.

Following WWII, the corps acted solely as a military police corps. In 2015, it underwent a name change to “The Military Police of Denmark”.

In 1909, the Border Gendarmerie needed to cut its costs. Its forces were reduced from 129 to 100 men, and the number of riding horses was reduced from 18 to 2. The Sergeants First Class and dispatch riders had to make do with Icelandic horses. These horses could not carry a lot, a fact that hindered the promotion of Dismounted Sergeant Peder Madsen Kjær.