The Danish court was for centuries dominated by German-speaking aristocratic immigrants, culminating with Johann Friedrich Struensee's de facto rule in 1770-72.
The Danish Citizenship Act of 1776 was created at the initiative of Ove Høegh-Guldberg in response to growing anti-German sentiment in the population following Struensee's fall in 1772, especially among the country's emerging bourgeoisie.
The act was proclaimed on Christian VII's birthday (29 January 1776), giving the right of citizenship constitutional status, and the king promised that it would never be withdrawn.
After that, attaining office was only possible for those born in the state, which was defined as all of the king's kingdoms and lands, i.e. Denmark, Norway and the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.
The right of citizenship legitimized the national identity that had developed in bourgeois Danish circles, where the law was received with enthusiasm.