Frits Clausen

Danish physician, far-right politician and leader of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (DNSAP) before and during World War II.

Born in Aabenraa, since 1864 a part of Prussia, Clausen served in the German Army during World War I. After the war, Clausen studied medicine in Heidelberg and became a doctor in 1924, after which he returned to Aabenraa, which had been voted back to Denmark in 1920, and set up a practice. Clausen initially became involved in politics as an advocate of Aabenraa once again becoming a part of Germany. Still, he eventually turned to Danish politics, advocating causes favouring the German minority in southern Jutland.

Clausen initially became a conservative party member, but he eventually resigned and, in 1931, joined the DNSAP. Two years later, Clausen ousted the leadership committee of the party (whose members were Einar Jørgensen, C. C. Hansen, and Cay Lembcke) from power and became the party's sole leader.

Under Clausen's direction, the party essentially espoused nationalism and called for a stronger relationship between Denmark and Nazi Germany. At the height of its popularity, the DNSAP had about 20,000 members and 20,000 sympathizers. However, the party fared relatively poorly in the 1939 elections, winning only three seats in the Folketing. A year later, when Germany invaded Denmark, Clausen strongly supported the German occupation and took credit for the lenient way Germany governed the country.

The Germans attempted to reward Clausen for his services by persuading King Christian X to let Clausen and his followers have roles in the nation's government in 1940 and 1943, but the King opposed any such suggestions. The German government was unwilling to forcibly put him in charge of Denmark for fear of angering its people, although there were talks of doing so in 1940 and 1942. The Germans did hope, however, that Clausen would legally seize power over the nation in the 1943 elections.