Sundby is a neighbourhood on

Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. It is often also referred to as Sundbyerne (plural form) since a distinction is traditionally made between Sundbyvester (Sundby West) and Sundbyøster (Sundby East), located on each their side of

Amagerbrogade Amagerbrogade is the main shopping street and thoroughfare of the part of Copenhagen, Denmark that is located on the island of Amager. It begins at the end of the causeway which connects Amager to Christianshavn and the city centre on the other si ...

History

Early history

Sundbyvester (''Sundby occidentali'') and Sundbyøster (''Sundby orientali'') were originally two villages known from about 1100. They consisting of two rows of farmsteads extending from Amager Road, now

, roughly where present day Øresundsvej and Englandsvej are found today, separating their farm land to the south from their pastures to the north. In the second half of the 18th century, the area changed character when sailors, craftsmen and workers began to settle in the community which spread along the main road. Administratively, Sundby belonged to the civil parish of

Tårnby Tårnby () is a town in Denmark, the seat of Tårnby Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark. It is located approximately south of central Copenhagen on the island of Amager. Neighbouring settlements include the Copenhagen suburb of S ...

. In 1793, the northnmost part of the area, Amagerbro, was transferred to Copenhagen whose so-called

Demarcation Line {{Refimprove, date=January 2008 A political demarcation line is a geopolitical border, often agreed upon as part of an armistice or ceasefire. Africa * Moroccan Wall, delimiting the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara from the Sahraw ...

, which heavily restricted construction within a certain distance from the city walls, kept development to a minimum.

19th century

Up through the 19th century, Sundby became home to an increasing number of manufactories and workshops, often from

Christianshavn Christianshavn () is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of the city centre by the Inner Harbour, ...

, which moved out of the city in search of more room in the face of increasing industrialization. An early example of this was Jacob Holm, who purchased several pieces of land on both sides of the main road between 1808 and 1812, establishing both a smock mill operating an oil-press, a glue manufactury and a rope walk on it. The differences between urban Sundby and rural Tårnby grew still larger and led to conflicts over matters such as schools, sewers and street maintenance. In the 1890 census, Sundbyerne had a population of 13,310. In 1895 when Sundby was finally disjoined from Tårnby.

20th century

Sundby's status as an independent civil parish (''sognekommune'') only lasted for seven years. Its population skyrocketed in the years around 1900 when many workers moved to the area from Copenhagen, and it was from the beginning faced with economic, social and sanitary challenges, leading to its merger into Copenhagen in 1902.

Sundby today

References

{{coord, 55, 39, N, 12, 37, E, region:DK_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dawiki, display=title Amager