Ditlev Gothard Monrad (24 November 1811 – 28 March 1887) was a Danish politician and bishop, and a founding father of Danish constitutional democracy; he also led the country as Council President in its huge defeat during the Second Schleswig War. Later, he became a New Zealand pioneer before returning to Denmark to become a bishop and politician once more.
Monrad's father, Otto Sommer Monrad, an attorney, suffered from mental illness, and spent some years in institutions. From time to time Monrad was himself on the brink of, or had, emotional breakdowns.
Political career
Monrad studied theology, learned Semitic and Persian languages, and became a Lutheran priest while beginning to participate in politics. He became a co-editor of the publication Fædrelandet in 1840, was a leading figure in the National Liberal Party and spearheaded the movement towards a constitutional Denmark. Monrad wrote the draft of the liberal 1849 Constitution of Denmark, with structure and many phrases similar to the current version. In it he coined the term people's church. The constitution was quite democratic for its time, largely a result of the political and philosophical positions formulated by Monrad.
Monrad became the first Minister of School and Church Affairs () in 1848; he held the same position in 1859 as well as from 1860 to 1863. He was also Minister of the Interior 1860–1861, and a member of Parliament from 1849 to 1865 (except for three months between two elections in 1853). He was the bishop of the Lolland–Falster diocese from 1849 to 1854, and then a permanent secretary in the department of from 1855 to 1859.
With war approaching, against the advice of the other National Liberal leaders, Monrad formed a government after the resignation of Hall, due to disagreement with Christian IX. As Council President (1863–1864), Monrad was the Danish state leader during the early part of the Second Schleswig War against the German Confederation led by Otto von Bismarck. With none of the other National Liberal bigwigs wanting to continue in office, Monrad became the most, and arguably often the only, important figure for cabinet decision-making. Yet, at critical moments during the war, Monrad was indecisive. Thus, during an armistice, he let the king decide on a peace proposal at the London Conference to divide Schleswig approximately along the language line between majorities of Danish and German speakers (see also the Schleswig-Holstein Question). The king, who held an unrealistic hope to maintain a personal union with the duchies, rejected, the conference ended with no result, and war resumed resulting in further military defeat. Next, the king dismissed Monrad and his government. The Peace of Vienna resulted in the loss of much of the monarchy's territory, including almost all of Schleswig. Denmark was relegated to a minor power. In what was labelled his speech of madness, Monrad spoke in Parliament for continued resistance and against ratifying the peace treaty even if such actions would look like 'madness'.
Following the war, a depressed and disillusioned Monrad emigrated to New Zealand. After sending his sons to Nelson and other districts of New Zealand to scout for land, he chose to settle in Palmerston North on the North Island of New Zealand. He bought of land at Karere Block. He first lived in a small hut and then erected a timber house and started clearing bushland. He and his family farmed cows and sheep.
Monrad helped the New Zealand Company to find suitable settlers from Scandinavia and helped many Danish immigrants find land to settle on, most notably in the area of Dannevirke. His work was disturbed by Māori who had been illegally robbed of their land, members of the Hauhau religion under Chief Titokowaru. Monrad buried his belongings and went with the family to Wellington and then went back to Denmark in 1869. His sons Viggo and Johannes later returned to Karere to become farmers.
Before leaving New Zealand, he presented to New Zealand's Colonial Museum a collection of 600 woodcuts, etchings and engravings by European Old Masters, including Rembrandt, Hollar, Albrecht Dürer and van Dyck. They are now part of the collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa where examples often feature in temporary exhibitions. Monrad Intermediate is a Palmerston North intermediate school named after Monrad.