Hørsholm () is an

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

on the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...

coast approximately north of

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. It covers most of

Hørsholm Municipality Hørsholm Municipality () is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in the Capital Region in the northern part of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 31 km2, and has a total population ...

and straddles the borders neighbouring

Fredensborg Municipality Fredensborg Municipality () is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden (Capital Region). The municipality covers an area of 112.13 km2 and has a total population of 42,186 (as of 1. January 2025). Its mayor, since 2010, ...

and

Rudersdal Municipality Rudersdal Municipality () is a part suburban, part rural municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') located on the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers an area of 73 km² and has a population of 57,342 (1. January 2025). The distance ...

. Hørsholm proper is developed around

Hirschholm Palace Hirschholm Palace, also known as Hørsholm Palace, was a royal palace located in present-day Hørsholm, Hørsholm municipality just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was rebuilt in the Baroque architecture, Baroque style in the 1740s and, one of the ...

, which was constructed in the 1730s, but the town has later absorbed several of the nearby communities that are of much older origins.

History

Palace and market town

Hørsholm was founded in connection with the construction of

. Niels Eigtved created a plan for a residence town in 1737 and to stimulate its growth, it was given status as

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

in 1739. However, it never came to serve as a market town and was still only a small settlement when the palace was demolished between 1810 and 1816. Over the following decades it grew as a garrison town and a local centre for trade.

Industrialization

A textile factory, later known as the Royal Military Textile Factory, had already been established in Usserød in the 1790s (closed 1981). It was later joined by other industrial enterprises, such as

Hørsholm Textile Factory Hørsholm Textile Factory ( Danish: Hørsholm Klædefabrik) was a textile mill in Hørsholm, Denmark. The oldest part of the buildings can still be seen at Hovedgaden 51 and have now been converted into office space. History Hørsholm Klædefabri ...

(1885–1975), Hørsholm Tobakspakkeri og Hørsholm Iron Foundry (1900–1965).

20th-century growth

In the 20th century, Hørsholm gradually grew together with the neighbouring communities Usserød,

Rungsted Rungsted, also known as ''Rungsted Kyst'', is an affluent suburban neighborhood in Hørsholm Municipality on the Øresund coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The center of Hørsholm is located two kilometers west of Rungsted. At the Øresund coast ...

and Smidstrup. Most recently, Hørsholm has grown together with Kokkedal in Fredensborg-Humlebæk Municipality and

Trørød Trørød is a suburban district in Rudersdal Municipality, located approximately 20 kilometres north of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The original village has merged with the neighbouring communities of Vedbæk and Gammel Holte and now form the sou ...

Vedbæk Vedbæk is a wealthy suburban neighbourhood on the coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It belongs to Rudersdal Municipality and has merged with the town of Hørsholm to the north. The area has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years, as evidenced ...

and Gammel Holte in Rudersdal Municipality.

Nature, parks and open spaces

Hørsholm Slotshave, the former gardens of Hirschholm Palace, is the largest public park in Hørsholm. A little to the east of it lies

Hørsholm Arboretum Hørsholm Arboretum () is an arboretum located in Hørsholm, 20 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It operates as part of the University of Copenhagen's Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management. Arboretum Hørsholm Arboretum wa ...

, part of the

University of Copenhagen Faculty of Science The Faculty of Science () at the University of Copenhagen houses 12 departments, including the Natural History Museum of Denmark. The faculty also encompasses several national and international research centres, and has a number of field stations ...

. Hørsholm Cemetery is Hørsholm's largest cemetery. Rungsted Beach is Hørsholm's most popular beach but bathing is also possible at Mikkelborg and from several other localities along the coast. Hørsholm is surrounded by a number of small woodlands. They include Rungsted Hegn–Folehave Skov. Kokkedal Skov, Elleskoven and Stasevang Skov. The larger Jægersborg Hegn, which separates Hørsholm from

Skodsborg Skodsborg is a small town/suburb approx. 20 km. north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The town has a population of 1,228 (1 January 2024)

to the south, adjoins the extensive UNESCO-LISTED deer park Jægersborg Dyrehave.

Culture and attractions

Trommen ("The Drum") is Hørsholm's principal cultural centre and also home to its main library. Hørsholm is home to several museums.

Rungstedlund Rungstedlund, also known as the Karen Blixen Museum, is a country house in Rungsted on the Øresund coast just north of Copenhagen, Denmark, notable for its association with the author Karen Blixen, who lived there for most of her life. She was b ...

is the former home of the author

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Ta ...

and is now home to the Karen Blixen Museum. The Danish Museum of Hunting and Forestry was based in the few surviving buildings from Hirschholm Palace, but i now moved to

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().Jægersborg Dyrehave and

Store Dyrehave Store Dyrehave (literally Large Animal Park) is a forest located to the east of the village Ny Hammersholt immediately south of Hillerød, on both sides of Lyngby Kongevej, Københavnsvej, in North Zealand, Denmark. Consisting of conifers and beec ...

and some from

Gribskov Gribskov (Grib Forest) is Denmark's fourth largest forest, comprising c. 5,600 ha of woodland situated in northern Zealand, west and south of Lake Esrum. The forest is owned and administered by Directorate of State Forestry (Denmark), the State of ...

, all three included in the recently UNESCO-listed

Par force hunting landscape in North Zealand The Par force hunting landscape in North Zealand is a collection of hunting grounds and forests north of Copenhagen. The landscape was submitted for admission to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites on 1 August 2010 and was inscribed on 4 July ...

developed by

King Christian V Christian V (15 April 1646 – 25 August 1699) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the de ...

in the late 17th century for hunting deer with hounds. The adjacent Hørsholm Local History Museum contains a Struense exhibition.

Gammel Holtegård Gl. Holtegaard is a former Manor house in Rudersdal Municipality north of Copenhagen, Denmark, today operated as an arts centre and a museum. It was built by the Danish Baroque architect Lauritz de Thurah (1706–1759), for his own use in 1757. It ...

plays host to temporary art exhibitions as well as a permanent archeological exhibition. The small Fuglsangshus is also used as a venue for changing art exhibitions.

Economy

Hørsholm is linked to engineering consultancy and information technology.

DTU science park DTU Science Park (previously Scion DTU) is a science park in Hørsholm north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The park is administratively part of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in Kongens Lyngby, and it also comprise premises at DTU's main ca ...

, a science park now part of the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark (), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and it is today ran ...

, is home to many technological start-ups. Hørsholm Hospital used to be a major employer but has now closed. The Danish roof window and skylight manufacturer

VELUX VELUX A/S is a Danish manufacturing company that specialises in roof windows, skylights, sun tunnels and related accessories. The company is headquartered in Hørsholm, Denmark and is a part of VKR Holding A/S. VELUX Group is a founding partner o ...

has its company headquarters in Hørsholm.

Transport

* Rungsted Kyst railway station and Kokkedal railway station on the coast are located on

Kystbanen Kystbanen ("The Coast Line") is a regional railway line between Helsingør (Elsinore) and Copenhagen in Denmark. It was opened in 1897, and is one of the busiest railway lines in Denmark. Kystbanen is operated by Danish State Railways (DSB). It ...

and served by the Oresundtrains which continue to

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup (, ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, as well as the wider Øresund Region, including Zealand and the southern Sweden, Swedish province of Scania. In 2023 it was the largest ai ...

and across the

Øresund Bridge The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined List of road–rail bridges, railway and motorway cable-stayed bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the second longest bridge in Europe and combines both roadway and r ...

to Sweden. The Hørsholm Highway (now Helsingør Highway) is Denmark's oldest highway and connects Hørsholm to Copenhagen to the south and

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

to the north.

Notable people

Nobility

Princess Louise Augusta by Anton Graff 1791

Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark Louise Augusta of Denmark and Norway (7 July 1771 – 13 January 1843) was the daughter of the Queen of Denmark-Norway, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain. Though officially regarded as the daughter of King Christian VII, it is widely accepted t ...

(1771 in

– 1843) very close to her older brother, Crown Prince Frederick * Wilhelmine Schröder (1839–1924) a Swedish telegraphist, writer and journalist and confidant and royal mistress of King

Charles XV Charles XV or Carl (''Carl Ludvig Eugen''; Swedish language, Swedish and Norwegian language, Norwegian officially: ''Karl''; 3 May 1826 – 18 September 1872) was King of Sweden and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway, there often referred to as C ...

of Sweden

The Arts

Johannes Ewald Johannes Ewald (18 November 174317 March 1781) was a Danish national dramatist, psalm writer and poet. The lyrics of a song from one of his plays are used for one of the Danish national anthems, ''Kong Christian stod ved højen mast'' whic ...

(1743–1781) a Danish national dramatist and poet, lived in the municipality * Harald Conrad Stilling (1815–1891) an architect of the Late Classical period *

Claus Bjørn Claus Ebbe Bjørn (7 October 1944 – 18 April 2005) was a Danish author, historian, and television and radio broadcaster, who was Associate Professor of History of agriculture, Agricultural History at the University of Copenhagen, Chairman of ...

(1944–2005), author, historian and broadcaster * Sir Stig Fogh Andersen (born 1950) a Danish operatic tenor, a Wagner-tenor *

Jesper Kyd Jesper Kyd Jakobson (; ; born 3 February 1972) is a Danish composer and sound designer who has worked on various video game, television, and film projects. He has composed soundtracks for the ''Hitman (franchise), Hitman'' series, ''Assassin's ...

(born 1972) a Danish composer and

sound designer In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

* Alex Vargas (born 1988) a Danish singer, songwriter and record producer

Science, Business & Public Service

* Rogert Møller (1844–1918) a Danish architect, credit union manager and local politician * Mary Westenholz (1857–1947 in Hørsholm) a Danish Unitarian, women's rights activist, writer and editor; aunt and supporter of

Holger Scheuermann Holger Werfel Scheuermann (12 February 1877 – 3 March 1960) was a Danish surgeon after whom Scheuermann's disease is named. Biography Scheuermann was born into a medical family in Hørsholm, a small town between Copenhagen and Øresund. He ...

(1877–1960) a surgeon, eponym for

Scheuermann's disease Scheuermann's disease is a skeletal disorder. It describes a condition where the vertebrae grow unevenly with respect to the sagittal plane; that is, the posterior angle is often greater than the anterior. This uneven growth results in the sig ...

* Gunnar Dyrberg (1921 – 2012 in Hørsholm) a member of the Danish resistance during WWII * Henrik Stiesdal (born 1957) an inventor and businessman in the modern

wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

industry * Karen Ellemann (born 1969) politician and former teacher, lives in Hørsholm *

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (born 25 September 1973) is a Danish former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark and Minister of Defence under Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen from 2022 to 2023. He led the Venstre party from 2019 to 2 ...

(born 1973) a Danish politician, former Army officer and lawyer * Sofie Carsten Nielsen (born 1975) politician and former Higher Education Minister *

Anja Cetti Andersen Anja Cetti Andersen (born 25 September 1965) is an astronomer and astrophysicist from Hørsholm, Denmark. Life She received her BSc in 1991, MSc in astronomy in 1995, and her PhD in 1999, from the University of Copenhagen. Her thesis was title ...

(born 1965) an astronomer and astrophysicist

Sport

Charles Buchwald Charles von Buchwald (22 October 1880 in Bjerringbro, Viborg – 19 November 1951 in Hørsholm) was a Danish amateur football player, who played seven games as a defender for the Denmark national football team. He won silver medals at the 1 ...

(1880 – 1951 in Hørsholm) a Danish amateur footballer, played seven games for

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 ...

and team silver medallist at the

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

and

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

* Susanne Slotsager (born 1966) a Danish female curler * Anisette Torp-Lind (born 1971) a former figure skater, competed at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

* Tommy Løvenkrands (born 1974) a former footballer, 157 club caps * Louise Hansen (born 1975) a retired footballer, Denmark's most successful woman footballer, she played 98 games for

from 1995 to 2007 * Tine Baun (born 1979) a former badminton player, won the women's

All England Open Badminton Championships The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premi ...

three times in 2008, 2010 and 2013 *

Peter Løvenkrands Peter Rosenkrands Løvenkrands (born 29 January 1980) is a Danish professional football manager and former player. He played mainly as a striker or as a winger, and was known for his pace. Løvenkrands began his career in his native Denmark, w ...

(born 1980) a former footballer, 313 club caps and 22 for

* Per Holten Møller (born 1952) a Danish former ice hockey player *

Christina Nielsen Christina Nielsen (born 10 January 1992 in Hørsholm, Denmark) is a Danish racing driver who is the first female driver to win a IMSA SportsCar Championship, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series title. She is the daughter of racing driver La ...

(born 1992) a Danish auto racing driver *

Rasmus Højlund Rasmus Winther Højlund (; born 4 February 2003) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the Denmark national team. Højlund graduated from Copenhagen's youth academy, making h ...

(born 2003), footballer with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

, grew up in Hørsholm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsholm Municipal seats in the Capital Region of Denmark Municipal seats of Denmark Cities and towns in the Capital Region of Denmark Hørsholm Municipality