Dragør () is the main town of
Dragør Municipality
Dragør Kommune () is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden on the southern coast of the island of Amager just east of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 18.41 km² (2013), ...
, (Denmark), which includes the village of
Store Magleby. The city hall and seat of the municipal council lies on Kirkevej 7 (postal code 2791 Dragør) in Store Magleby, which has enough space for such a large building.
Geography
Dragør, on the southeastern coast of the island of
Amager
Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...
, is located only 12 km from central
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. Together with the neighbouring village of
Store Magleby, it forms a separate urban area with a population of 12,401 (1 January 2022).
[BY3: Population 1. January by urban areas, area and population density]
The Mobile Statbank from Statistics Denmark
Statistics Denmark ( da, Danmarks Statistik) is a Danish governmental organization under the Ministry of the Interior and Housing and which reports to the Minister of Economic and Internal Affairs. The organization is responsible for creating st ...
Dragør has many well-preserved historical buildings. The old part of the town is a compact, picturesque maze of alleys with yellow-painted houses, red roofs, and
cobblestone
Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings.
Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...
streets built in the traditional Danish style. Many of these buildings are hundreds of years old.
Dragør was a prosperous seafaring town in the latter half of the 19th century, and its charming harbour front is still in use.
Today Dragør is known, as the place where the "happiest danes" live.
History
Dragør was founded in the 12th century, and grew quickly as a fishing port. In 1370, the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
was granted some trade privileges in the town. Dragør continued to grow - as the home of one of the largest fishing fleets in the country and as a base for salting and processing fish.
The first part of the name, ''Drag-'', refers to drawing (dragging) boats ashore. The ending ''-ør'' is common in Scandinavian placenames and means a beach covered in sand or gravel.
The area has a Dutch ancestry that is still much in evidence. In the early 16th century,
King Christian II invited a group of farmers from the Netherlands — at the time a more agriculturally advanced nation than Denmark — to settle in the area and produce food for the royal household. Twenty-four families arrived. They and their descendants settled in the village of
Store Magleby. Tensions between the Dutch farmers of the inland and the Danish fishermen and sailors at the coast are still detectable now, with a certain rivalry between citizens of Store Magleby and Dragør. The Dutch peasants delivered vegetables to the
Amagertorv
Amagertorv (English: Amager Square), today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone, is often described as the most central square in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Second only to Gammeltorv, it is also one of the oldest, taking its name from the Amage ...
market in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. Among their many other achievements they were responsible for introducing the
carrot
The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...
to Denmark. Dutch and
Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = West Germanic
, fam4 = North Sea Germanic
, ancestor = Old Saxon
, ancestor2 = Middle L ...
were still spoken on Amager until the 19th century.
Dragør was made an independent parish 1 April 1954, before that being a part of Store Magleby parish.
Attractions
* The Amager Museum, an open-air recreation of life in old rural Amager.
* Dragør Museum, a seafaring museum located at Dragør harbour.
* The Kastrupgaard Collection (''Kastrupgårdsamlingen'') in nearby Kastrup. An art museum on the premises of an estate from the 18th century.
* Mølsted Museum, in the heart of old Dragør in the artist's studio, an art museum dedicated to the works of seascape painter
Christian Mølsted
Christian Ferdinand Andreas Mølsted (15 October 1862 – 10 May 1930) was a Danish artist who specialized in marine painting. He is best known for his painting of the frigate ''Niels Juel'' during the Battle of Heligoland on 9 May 1864.
Biogra ...
(1862–1930).
* Dragør is the sister city of Kodiak, Alaska.
Economy
Prior to its dissolution,
Maersk Air
(), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...
had its headquarters in Dragør. When it existed,
Sterling Airlines had its head office at
Copenhagen Airport South in Dragør.
[Contact]
" Sterling Airlines. Retrieved on 13 February 2011. "Head office Sterling Airlines A/S Copenhagen Airport South 2791 Dragoer Denmark."
Notable people
![Christian Mølsted by Paul Bærentzen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Christian_M%C3%B8lsted_by_Paul_B%C3%A6rentzen.jpg)
*
Hans Nielsen Jeppesen
Hans Nielsen Jeppesen (15 February 1815 – 8 October 1883) was a Denmark, Danish merchant and ship-owner. He bought his first ship in 1850 and his fleet of merchant ships later grew to 10 ships. He was the maternal grandfather of Mærsk- founder ...
(1815 in Dragør – 1883) a Danish merchant and ship-owner
*
Peter Mærsk Møller
Peter Mærsk Møller (22 September 1836 – 9 February 1927) was a Danish sea captain and the father of Arnold Peter Møller, founder of the Maersk corporation, and grandfather of Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, who made Maersk the largest container sh ...
(1836 in Rømø – 1927 in Svendborg) a Danish sea captain, started the
Maersk
(), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...
business conglomerate, lived in Dragør 1864 to 1884
*
Christian Mølsted
Christian Ferdinand Andreas Mølsted (15 October 1862 – 10 May 1930) was a Danish artist who specialized in marine painting. He is best known for his painting of the frigate ''Niels Juel'' during the Battle of Heligoland on 9 May 1864.
Biogra ...
(1862–1930) a Danish artist who specialized in marine painting
*
Arnold Peter Møller
Arnold Peter Møller (2 October 1876 – 12 June 1965), better known as A. P. Møller, was a Danish shipping magnate, businessman who was the founder of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group in 1904.
Biography
A. P. Møller was the son of captain Pet ...
(1876 in Dragør – 1965) a Danish shipping magnate who founded
A.P. Moller-Maersk Group
(), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line ...
in 1904
*
Marcel Hansen (born 1965) a Danish serial rapist and twice-convicted murderer who was sentenced to life imprisonment, brought up in Dragør
*
Silja Schandorff
Silja Maria Wendrup Schandorff (born 1969) is a Danish ballerina who performed with the Royal Danish Ballet from 1985 to 2009. She has since served the Royal Theatre as ballet instructor and deputy ballet master.
Biography
Born on 10 February 196 ...
(born 1969 in Dragør) a Danish ballerina, performed with the
Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Danish Theatre in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world and originates from 1748, when the Ro ...
1985 to 2009
*
Anne Skare Nielsen (born 1971) a Danish futurist, lecturer, author and partner in Future Navigator; she lives in Dragør
Sport
*
Marc Dal Hende
Marc Dal Hende (; born 6 November 1990) is a Danish professional footballer who plays for Danish Superliga club SønderjyskE.
Career
On 1 December 2009, Dal Hende signed a one-and-a-half year contract with Viborg FF after having played for the F ...
(born 1990 in Dragør) a Danish footballer who plays for
FC Midtjylland
FC Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the western part of Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Supe ...
*
Frederik Schram
Frederik August Albrecht Schram (born 19 January 1995) is a professional footballer who plays for as a goalkeeper for Icelandic club Valur. Born in Denmark, he represents the Iceland national team internationally.
Club career
Frederik is a p ...
(born 1995 in Dragør) an Icelandic football goalkeeper, plays for
FC Roskilde
Football Club Roskilde is a Danish professional association football club based in Roskilde, Region Zealand. They will compete in the Danish 2nd Division in the 2022–23 season following their promotion. They play at Roskilde Idrætspark (also k ...
*
Freja Ravn
Freja Ravn Nielsen (born 17 February 2000) is a Danish badminton player who affiliates with KMB2010 club in Kastrup, specializing in doubles play. She started playing badminton at the age of 6 in Dragør badminton club, and entered the national t ...
(born 2000 in Dragør) a Danish badminton player, specializing in doubles play
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragor
Municipal seats in the Capital Region of Denmark
Municipal seats of Denmark
Copenhagen metropolitan area
Cities and towns in the Capital Region of Denmark
Dragør Municipality