Dronningmølle () is a
seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...
town in
Esbønderup parish,
Gribskov Municipality
Gribskov Kommune is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden ("Capital Region"). The municipality covers an area of 278 km², and has a total population of 40,850 (1 April 2014).
The municipality was created on 1 January 20 ...
in the
Capital Region of Denmark
The Capital Region of Denmark ( da, Region Hovedstaden, ) is the easternmost administrative region of Denmark. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41 elected members. As of 1 August 2021 the chairperson ...
, of eastern Denmark. Dronningmølle is located four kilometers west of
Hornbæk
Hornbæk () is a seaside resort town on the north coast of the Danish island of Sjælland, facing the Øresund which separates Denmark from Sweden. It is part of Helsingør Municipality and is located 12 km north-west of Helsingør, and is ...
, six kilometers east of
Gilleleje
Gilleleje () is a fishing town and seaside resort on the north coast of the peninsula North Zealand, Denmark. The town is located at the northernmost point of the island of Zealand. It is one of the main towns of the Gribskov municipality in Regio ...
and 22 kilometers north of
Hillerød
Hillerød () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 35,357 (1 January 2022)[Dronningmølle Station
Dronningmølle () is a seaside resort town in Esbønderup parish, Gribskov Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark, of eastern Denmark. Dronningmølle is located four kilometers west of Hornbæk, six kilometers east of Gilleleje and 22 kilo ...]
on the
Hornbæk Line
The Hornbæk Line ( da, Hornbækbanen) is a long standard gauge single track local passenger railway line north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs along the coast of Øresund between Helsingør and Gilleleje, through an area with many holiday hom ...
.
Since 2010 Dronningmølle has grown together with its neighbour
Hornbæk
Hornbæk () is a seaside resort town on the north coast of the Danish island of Sjælland, facing the Øresund which separates Denmark from Sweden. It is part of Helsingør Municipality and is located 12 km north-west of Helsingør, and is ...
in
Helsingør Municipality
Helsingør Municipality (a variant English name: Elsinore Municipality; Danish: ''Helsingør Kommune''), is a municipality in the Capital Region on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipali ...
to form an urban area with a combined population of 5,283 as of 2019. Hornbæk proper had a population of 3,608 with Dronningmølle having 1,675.
History
The name Dronningmølle, literally "queen's mill", comes from a water mill located close to the point where the stream
Esrum Å
Esrum Å is the principal drainage of Lake Esrum, Denmark's second largest lake, located in Gribskov Municipality, some 50 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The 10-km-long stream extends from the northwestern part of the lake and flows past E ...
runs into the
Kattegat
The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
. The first water mill at the site was built by monks from
Esrum Abbey
Esrum Abbey, also Esrom Abbey ( da, Esrum or ), was the second Cistercian monastery founded in Denmark, located near Hillerød in Region Hovedstaden, on the island of Zealand (Sjælland), on the north side of the Esrum Sø (Lake Esrum) near Es ...
. In 1588, it was replaced by a new water mill which was commissioned by
Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II (1 July 1534 – 4 April 1588) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1559 until his death.
A member of the House of Oldenburg, Frederick began his personal rule of Denmark-Norway at the age of ...
and named after his wife,
Queen Sophie, possibly because she owned the site on which it was built. Valentin von Spangenberg, who also worked on
Kronborg Castle
Kronborg is a castle and stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe and was inscribed on the UNES ...
and many other road and mill projects in the area, was charged with the construction of the complex.
The nearest settlements were Villingerød and Villingebæk which are both mentioned in documents from the early days of Esrum Abbey. Located a couple of kilometres inland, Villingerød, literally "The forest dwellers' clearing", was with its 10 farms the largest village in Esbønderup parish. Villingebæk, literally "The forest dwellers' stream", a reference to the location at Pandehave Å, consisted of a mixture of fishermen's houses and small farmsteads. It prospered from the fishing of herring in the 16th century but was hit hard by sand drift in the 17th and 18th century.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to its sandy beach, the locality has been a popular resort with hotels and guest houses along the coast road. Today, it has some 1,500
summerhouses reaching up to two kilometres inland. Until 1946, Kassegård, a large thatched house had stood for centuries on the corner of Villingerødvej and Linde Alle.
Dronningmølle Station on the Helsingør-Gilleleje line was initially opened to serve Dronningmølle Teglverk, a brick factory established in 1898 by the coffee merchant Ferdinand Andersen. For a time, the local fishermen were opposed to the growing importance of the factory but, as Andersen bought up most of the area, they were eventually forced to work there. The brickyard was closed in 1947 and subsequently demolished.
[
]
Landmarks
Dronningmølle water mill was rebuilt in the National Romantic style
The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the National Romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often considered to be a form of Art Nouveau.
The National Romantic style spread ...
for Ferdinand Andersen and is now known as Dronningmølle Slot. The building has later been converted into holiday apartments. Ferdinand Andersen is also associated with other buildings in the area, such as the beach house Skansen which he constructed at the mouth of Esrum Å in 1899. The house takes its name after a protected defensive structure located on the estate. The now wingless wind mill next to the water mill was built in 1878 and remained in use until 1934. Dronningmølle Avlsgård from 1923 was designed by the architect Henning Hansen.
Munkeruphus
Munkeruphus (literally "Munkerup House") is a former country house located in Munkerup now part of Dronningmølle–Hornbæk, on the north coast of Zealand, Denmark. A rare example of American influence in Danish architecture, the building no ...
(Munkerup House), a residence inspired by American Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
, is located in Dronningmølle. It is now an exhibition centre.
The Rudolph Tegner Museum
The Rudolph Tegner Museum is set in the middle of a protected area just south of Dronningmølle on Zealand's north coast, some 50 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The museum is dedicated to the oeuvre of the sculptor Rudolph Tegner (1873–1 ...
, just south of Dronningmølle, is dedicated to the work of the sculptor Rudolph Tegner
Rudolph Tegner (12 July 1873 – 5 June 1950) was a Danish sculptor linked to the Symbolist movement. In the early 20th century his work caused considerable controversy in Denmark. A large number of his works are on display in the Rudolph Tegner M ...
who designed the building himself in a bunker-like Modernist style.
Villingerød Church, located on the west side of the road between Villingerød and Dronningmølle, close to the Rudolph Tegner Museum, is from 1906. It was designed by the architect Vilhelm Holck and is surrounded by a small graveyard.
Notable residents
* Eli Benneweis, (Danish Wiki) (1911 - 1993 in Dronningmølle) owned ''Hulerød Avlsgård'' from 1939, using it as a winter residence for his Cirkus Benneweis.
* Svend Asmussen
Svend Asmussen (28 February 1916 – 7 February 2017) was a Danish jazz violinist, known as "The Fiddling Viking". A Swing style virtuoso, he played and recorded with many of the other jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and S ...
(1916 – 2017 in Dronningmølle) a Danish jazz violinist, known as ''The Fiddling Viking''
* Helge Bronée (1922 – 1999 in Dronningmølle) a Danish footballer who played four games for the amateur Denmark national football team in 1945/6
See also
* Tibirke
References
External links
Dronningmølle Standcamping website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dronningmolle
Cities and towns in the Capital Region of Denmark
Populated coastal places in Denmark
Gribskov Municipality
Resorts in Denmark