Welcome to Dragør

Why Dragør?

A great place to explore on foot

Dragør was founded in the 1100s as a fishing village and it was used as a fishing port for centuries. In the Middle Ages, Dragør was an international market place for the Hanseatic merchants who came here from August to October to take part in the herring trade.

Dragør is particularly known for its Dutch influence because the Danish king Christian II invited Dutch farmers to live here to supply food for the royal family in the 16th century. The Dutch were more agriculturally advanced than the Danish, and they actually introduced carrots to Denmark. King Christian II also wanted to reform Danish society according to Dutch ideals, and he awarded the Dutch settlers with higher status than other peasants on the islands of Amager.

The Dutch settled in the nearby village of Store Magleby, which the bus goes through on its way in/out of Dragør. The village has a distinct Dutch look because of this history. You can learn more about the Dutch history of the region by visiting the Amager Museum, which is located in an old Dutch farm from the 16th century. Here you learn more about the Dutch who settled in this part of Denmark and what life was like at the time.

Dutch and Low German were spoken in this region until the 19th century. The Dutch immigrants were talented and hardworking. They were particularly known for catching, salting and selling eel to the Netherlands and England. Dragør was a convenient harbour for them, and it ’s assumed that the Dutch built the harbour here. For a long time, Dragør was the largest harbour out of Copenhagen.

Dragør is a great place to explore on foot. In the old town, the houses are built in rows going east-west and the gardens are all facing south. The streets are all bisected with alleys going north-south. Most houses were built by the master builder J.H. Blichmann. His houses were built during the economically successful era of Dragør 's shipping during the second half of the 18th century. The houses have a black tarred base, with yellow-rendered walls and red-tiled roofs. Some older houses have thatched roofs. The houses blend Danish and Dutch influence.

One of the most picturesque places in Dragør is Jens Eyberts Square. It is named after a skipper who lived in number 6 on the square from 1756 to 1811 and his living room has been perfectly preserved and transferred to Dragør Museum. There is a well in the centre of the square, and this was the towns only source of drinking water until the 1800s.

Today the population is 12,000. The name Dragør is made up of two words: “Drag” means “dragging boats ashore”, which “ør” is a common Scandinavian word for a beach covered in sand or gravel.