Kjærulf Stories

Stories about the Kjærulff family have been told ever since the first Kjærulf was born. If you have a good Kjærulf story you want to share with other Kjærulfs, send it to kiermeet@kiermeet.com and we will put it on the web.

Rikke Kierulff-Jørgensen has this story:

In my job at the University of Copenhagen, Institute of History, an assistant professor for whom I work presented me with a new publication, HOMO RUSTICUS. The theme is: "to what extent fate was considered to decide a person's life" amongst peasants in Demark in the year 1800. An Ancestor is mentioned here, and you might find it interesting because it is "believed" that here is a certain "good" character to "most" Kjærulfs!

"In the middle of the 18th century (1750) the greedy peasant Marcus Møller from Seest in South East Jutland ignored all rules about norms and traditions in his quest for material benefits, and therefore he was very unpopular in the village. He ended his days getting attacked very violently and got his eyes stuck out.

"The same destiny met Peder Kjærulf, who was also very unpopular, because he constantly broke the traditional norms for correct social behaviour. A dark night, he was therefore attacked by six men dressed up as women, who broke every bone in his body, and stuck out his eyes with their fingers or an instrument."

Well, as time goes by the family apparently adjusted to society's model of social behaviour, since comparatively many Kjærulfs survived.

(Sources: P.Eliassen: Fra Indherrederne, Vejle Amts Aarbog 1914, s.169 ff. and Carl Klitgaard: Et raat Overfald i Dronninglund Sogn 1813, Vendsysselske Aarbøger 1946, s. 330 ff.)