Hjalmar Kjems was the first elected mayor of Denmark and Skive, where he served from 1914-1916. Kjems was the only mayor of Skive to be elected by direct election and not as part of the city council elections. In addition to his political work, Kjems was first a school teacher and then a school inspector in the city.
Life before Skive
Hjalmar Kjems was born near Odder in 1878 at his parents’ independent school Solbakken, which followed the Grundtvig-Kold tradition of education. His parents worked first at this school, and then at another in Odder before the family traveled to the USA in 1891. Here the father became a missionary and high school teacher in the Great Lakes region. In the US, Kjems was inspired by both the charitable work and the struggle of the American workers. Kjems’ father died while working over there and the family decided to return to Denmark in 1891. Especially due to the poor financial situation that resulted from his father’s death and the opportunities for help from friends and family in Denmark.
Back in Denmark, Kjems decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and train as a teacher. The teacher training took place at Silkeborg Seminarium in the years 1898-1900. Despite exam nervousness, Kjems graduated with good references.
Shortly after graduation, Kjems became a substitute teacher at the school in Østergade, and was very captivated by the view of the Karup valley, even though the town itself still looked very dirty and unfashionable at the time. The town made such a good impression that after his military service in 1901, Kjems returned to the town and was hired as a permanent teacher.
Teacher and school inspector
Kjems was employed as an hourly teacher at Skive Nordre Skole, also known as Skivehus Skole, in 1902. Here he came up with an approach to teaching that was quite modern for the time, which brought Kjems into conflict with the old teachers in the town, especially with C.W. Hasselriis. Hasselriis, head of the school system in Skive. The conflict with Hasselriis was in many ways decisive for Hjalmar Kjems’ political awareness and for his later work for the school system in Skive.
In 1919, Kjems was appointed head teacher, and in 1924 he became headmaster of all schools in Skive. Only when he reached the age limit in 1948 did Kjems retire after a long career as a popular teacher and civil servant.
Political career
After some deliberation, Hjalmar Kjems chose to join the Social Democratic Party. The fact that the Liberal Party supported the “Prygleloven” in 1905 made it clear to Kjems that he could not support the Liberal Party. Hjalmar joined the Social Democratic Party in 1905 and was elected to Skive City Council in 1906.
In connection with the 1913 election, Kjems wanted to retire – at least temporarily – from politics, but he was pressured to continue by the other Social Democrats.
Elected mayor
Kjems’ continuation on the city council meant that he was the most prominent Social Democrat and with the transition to elected mayors, Hjalmar Kjems would become Denmark’s first. Kjems succeeded Constantin A. J. Hastrup as mayor.
At this time, mayors in Denmark were still appointed officially by the king, but in practice the ministries were responsible. There was a growing desire on the part of the government to change this, but at a local level there were doubts as to whether this would be the right solution. Firstly, the mayor’s work would be unpaid, which they feared would lead to low quality, and secondly, under the current rules, the mayor would either have to be elected from outside the city council or resign from it.
Skive was persuaded and set up a direct election where voters could vote for either Kjems or the right-wing bank manager V. Müller. The election campaign was intense and personal, but the vote went in Kjems’ favor with 880 votes against Müller’s 790.
The mayoral era
The time as mayor was characterized by two things. Firstly, more than 1,000 soldiers were billeted in Skive during the First World War. Naturally, this put massive pressure on the small town, which at that time only had 5,500 souls. The second case involved the sale of coke. The municipality typically sold coke without any major problems. In connection with the war, the price of coke rose significantly, which postmaster and member of the city council Jørgensen took advantage of to purchase large quantities. Kjems reacted after he was told and tried to stop the sale, but this put him in conflict with postmaster Jørgensen and Jørgensen’s party colleague Carl Hansen.
It was to be another conflict with Postmaster Jørgensen that ended Kjems’ time as mayor. Jørgensen was a member of the Vestsallingbane committee, and Hjalmar Kjems and others criticized the way he used his mandate. They tried to get Jørgensen to resign. This caused such a stir from the Liberals, led by Carl Hansen, editor of Skive Folkeblad, that Kjems ended up resigning his own mandate as mayor instead.
Subsequently, they switched to a mayoral election that is more similar to today’s elections, where the mayor is appointed from the center of the city council.
Member of the city council
After the 1914-1916 mayoral term, Hjalmar Kjems again became a private councilor. He tried again in 1925 to become mayor, but Carl Hansen, the editor of the newspaper Folkeblad, who was the new leader of the Radical Left, refused to nominate Kjems. The Radicals, on the other hand, could point to another Social Democratic candidate. This meant that Kjems never got the chance again.
As a city councilor, Kjems became chairman of the board of Sabroe Children’s Home in Skive in 1923. In this capacity, he criticized the headmistress of the orphanage for her harsh treatment of the children. The board recommended to the city council that the headmistress be dismissed, but this failed after opposition from Carl Hansen and Skive Folkeblad. Carl Hansen and the newspaper entered the case on Gerda Nielsen’s side and the fight went back and forth in all four newspapers in the city. In his memoirs, Hjalmar Kjems describes that “he gradually waded into a swamp of toxic gossip, slander and lying accusations” and he felt forced to make a humiliating settlement. As a consequence of the prolonged strain, he lost the desire to continue in politics and in 1925 he resigned from the city council to no longer participate in political life.
Political background
Kjems’ focus areas as a politician were inspired by his own and his father’s background as a teacher and were particularly concerned with education and children’s conditions. A particular role model for Kjems was Peter Sabroe, and Kjems often stood with him in the fight against critical conditions for orphans in particular. In local politics, Hjalmar Kjems tried to stop or limit child labor in the city. He also worked to stop the use of physical violence against children. In an interview with Skive Folkeblad in connection with Kjems’ 90th birthday, he says that his biggest regret in life is that he once hit a pupil at school, which was both legal and common at the time.
However, he had a particular focus on access to education and knowledge without financial obstacles in the way. Kjems was part of the fight for free schooling, which meant that Skive became only the fourth municipality in the country to have free access to primary school.
The work for education was not only aimed at children. Kjems was one of the main men behind the establishment of a free library in the city and behind the establishment of the workers’ evening school.
Kjems was a temperance activist and worked to limit access to liquor licenses in Skive.
Private life
Kjems was married to Dorthea Abelone Laustsen, with whom he had three children Helge, Yrsa and Aksel. Kjems’ brother Olav Kjems was headmaster at Krabbesholm Folk High School 1917-1924.
Kjems spent his free time gardening and in the Odd-fellow lodge “Erik Holst”.
Sources
- Skive Folkeblad 1/6-1968
- Kjems, Rud, Social Democrat Hjalmar Kjems – Denmark’s first elected mayor, 2014
- History of Skive Municipality 1880 – 1940, p. 368 -371 Skive Museums Forlag 2002