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The history of the Jews in Denmark is over 400 years long. Some families arrived from Hamburg and Amsterdam as early as the 1620s. Others set out from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s: headed for the United States and the American dream, they ran out of money and ended up in Copenhagen.
The most recent wave of Jewish immigration consisted of 3,000 Polish refugees who arrived from 1969-73.
Though a very small minority group, the Jewish people in Denmark have made significant contributions to the economic, political, cultural and scientific development of Denmark. And the rescue of the Jews during World War II is an important chapter in both Jewish and modern Danish history.
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The first arrivals in the 17th centuryThe first Jews arrived in Denmark at the invitation of King Christian IV (1588-1648). Aiming to propel trade and economic growth, the King gave the Sephardic Jews – the majority of whom were successful merchants from Amsterdam and Hamburg – extensive trading privileges and freedom from religious persecution. Prominent Jews held high ranking positions, including physician to the royal family and governor of the Danish West Indies.
Building communities and integrating into Danish societyIn 1684, permission was given to hold Jewish religious services in Copenhagen, and the state-recognized Danish Jewish Religious Community “ Mosaisk Troessamfund” counts 1684 as its year of foundation. By the mid-18th century, Jews had developed a significant presence in Copenhagen itself. Slowly but surely they were winning a variety of civil and human rights.
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As merchants and intellectuals, the Jewish community quickly began to integrate into and contribute to the greater society, launching political magazines and companies. Many of these businesses survive to this day in some form.
 The Yiddish wave
In the early part of the 20th century, over 10,000 immigrants from Eastern Europe passed through Copenhagen. Most of them were on their way to the United States. However, about 3,000 stayed – they did not have sufficient funds to complete the last leg of their planned journey. The “new Jews” were poor. They spoke Yiddish and lived in close quarters in the poorest neighborhoods of Copenhagen. Many of the Russian Jews were socialists, Zionists or ultra orthodox Jews.
 The well-established middle and upper-class Jews in Copenhagen were afraid that this new wave of Jews arriving would negatively impact their smooth relationship with the general Danish population. They collected money to help the poorest Jews and worked to integrate the new Jews into Danish Jewish society.
The 20th centuryFrom 1933-39, approximately 4,500 Jewish refugees passed though Denmark. Some were allowed to stay on temporarily as agricultural apprentices bound for Palestine. But as a general rule, Denmark did not allow German refugees to settle in Denmark at this time. |
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By the beginning of World War II, about 7,800 Jews lived in Denmark. In 1943, Danish politicians warned the Jewish community that the Nazis planned a mass deportation of the community. Events unfolded rapidly. On Rosh Hashanah 1943, Rabbi Melchior urged his congregants to go into hiding and plan an escape to nearby Sweden. The greater Danish population sprang into action, smuggling nearly all of Denmark’s Jews to Sweden on fishing boats. In the 1970s, around 3,000 Polish Jews arrived as refugees in Copenhagen. Like the Eastern European Jews who came before them, they found the Danish Jewish culture quite different from their own.
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Jews in Denmark todayThe number of Jews living in Denmark today is not known. According to the rosters of the synagogues, there are approximately 2,500 members in Denmark. However, the estimated number of people who consider themselves to be Jewish may be around 7,000-9,000 out of a total population of 5.5 million. Almost all Jews are very integrated into main-stream Danish society. During recent decades, the Jewish immigration into Denmark has consisted of only a trickle of people arriving from all over the world, mostly from Israel and the United States. The majority of the Jewish community live in and around Copenhagen. The religious center of the community is the (Orthodox) Copenhagen Synagogue of the Mosaiske Troessamfund. But there are also communities that are more and less Orthodox than the main one, such as Machsike Hadas, an Orthodox community in Copenhagen since 1910, and Shir Hatzafon, the Progressive Jewish community in Denmark. To read more about the history of the Jews in Denmark, go to The Danish Jewish Museum’s website. Main sources: Arrivals by The Danish Jewish Museum Jewish Points of Interest by VisitDenmark (out of print) |
Danish Jews in the business world - then and now Visiting Copenhagen and Denmark today, you'll very likely come across businesses which have some Jewish heritage as part of their history. Some of these are: Danske Bank: the large Danish bank grew out of three banks including Den Danske Landmandsbank which was established in 1871 by the saddle-maker Gottlieb Hartvig Abrahamsson Gedalia. Measured by total assets, the Danske Bank Group is the largest financial enterprise in Denmark and one of the largest in the Nordic region. Royal Copenhagen: the porcelain company Bing&Grøndahl was founded in 1853 by the sculptor Frederik Vilhelm Grøndahl and the Jewish merchant brothers Meyer Hermann Bing and Jacob Herman Bing. In 1987, the company merged with its primary competitor, the Royal Porcelain Factory, under the name Royal Copenhagen. In Copenhagen, a visit to the Royal Copenhagen flagship store is a real treat for anyone interested in timeless home décor. And it’s a great place to shop for a special Denmark souvenir. - The daily broadsheet newspaper Politiken, which you will find anywhere newspapers are sold in Denmark, was cofounded by Edvard Brandes in 1884.
 Jewish history at the Copenhagen cruise harbor
If you visit Copenhagen as part of a cruise, keep your eyes open for Jewish history as soon as you embark at the Langelinie pier. By the ice cream kiosk, you'll find a monument dedicated to the people who were deported to Theresienstadt. Read more about Jewish history that you can discover on a walking tour of Copenhagen.
The rescue of the Danish Jews In and around Copenhagen, you can walk in the footsteps of the Jews escaping Denmark in 1943, and learn more about the dramatic escape.
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