Danebod
Danebod (pronounced "DAHN-a-bo", or "DAN-a-bo") is a historic district at the south edge of the railway town of Tyler in southwestern Minnesota. Founded in 1885 by Danish Evangelical Lutherans led by Rev. Hans Jørgen Pedersen (1851–1905), the district comprises a group of buildings dating back to 1888 from Minnesota's oldest Danish immigrant settlement. Danebod remains until this day a predominantly Danish Lutheran, close-knit religious community. An annual celebration named Æbleskiver Days, held on the fourth weekend of July, celebrates Danish heritage and culture and includes a parade that goes down the town's main street with floats that are made by the various Danebod neighborhoods. On the basis of its cultural and architectural significance, four buildings from Danebod were added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on June 30, 1975 as the "Danebod Historic Complex". Etymology The name "Danebod" honors Denmark's first queen, Queen Thyra Danebod, the consort of tenth-century Danish king Gorm the Old. Queen Thyra is recorded in medieval accounts to have directed the building of the Danevirke, a defensive earthwork across Jutland as protection against foes to the south. Due to her importance and good policies, she was given the name Danebod, which can be variously