Time flies but terrifying events live on
Denmark was, as many know, occupied by Germany during the world war 2. And just like in other places, there are still traces of this world-changing event. So join us on a tour to places that make you feel the beat of history.
And memories are with us to this day
Advertisement for the newspaper Information which was founded during the war and acted as a news agency for the resistance movement.
The old execution site
Just next to the road there are some larger rock outcroppings and a slab of concrete. It could have been anything but is an eerie place where executions took place between 1946-1950. In fact, this was one of the two places where the death sentences in the Danish court after the occupation were carried out.
Norddyssen 60
Wehrmacht graffiti in Kødbyen, meat district
When German Wehrmacht marched into Copenhagen in April 1940 they took control of Kødbyen (the Meatpacking District). In brief the bored german soldiers on guard started to make graffitti on the brick walls. And still to this day you can come here and read their messages from the war.
Staldgade 35
The place of execution at Ryvangen
The location in Ryvangen, which means “rye field”, was acquired in 1893 by the army for a barracks and exercise field. During WW2 the German army used the barracks at Ryvangen for themselves, part of the exercise field was used as an execution and burial site for members of the Danish resistance.
After the liberation the site was converted to a cemetery and memorial park for the resistance members who were executed there or were otherwise killed.
Tuborgvej 33
Danish Order of Freemasons and the bullet holes
The lodge is a magnificent building of a whopping 80,000 square meters. During WW2 it became the headquarters of the Schalburg Corps, a Danish SS unit. A storming attempt 1944 was made by the Danish resistance movement, but this failed. As a reminder of this event, there are still three bullet holes in the wall.
Here is a map of all sabotage and weapon drop locations in Denmark during the war.
Blegdamsvej 23
The propeller at Shell house
Visit a memorial of a spectacular attack (Operation Karthago) on Gestapos headquarter in the city centre in March 1945. Indeed the propeller on the wall is a cast from on of the Mosquito planes who carried out precision bombing of the building. More info here.
Corner of Nyropsgade and Kampmandsgade
Vore faldne (Our fallen)
A statue commemorating the fallen during ww2. It is carved out of limestone and was erected in the late 1950s.
Kastellet, Churchillparken
The Australian memorial
the Australian memorial to the Australians who lost their lives during the war.
Churchillparken
Rosengaardens Vinstue
an important event in the history of the resistance movement took place here at this bar when an informant, Rudolf Christiansen “The Horse Thief”, was killed by the resistance movement. It happened on April 20, 1944, Hitler’s birthday.
Here, there are also two bullets in the wall behind the counter that remind of the incident.
Rosengården
Holger Danske
On February 26, 1945, the resistance was hit hard. At this address the resistance movement Holger Danske was exposed and several of its members were arrested by the Gestapo. The following month they were executed at Ryvangen.
Skindergade
Museum of Danish Resistance
Take part in the time when Denmark was occupied and the freedom struggle that followed. Please visit their website for opening times.
Esplanaden 13
Stjerne radio
If you walk from the main railway station and further along Istedgade, you will soon see a large sign, Stjerne Radio. And that’s actually how it looked in the 1940s when the business was an important part of the resistance movement during WW2. Now the premises is a museum to be viewed through the shop window.
Istedgade 31
Vestre Kirkegård
The largest Danish cemetery for Germans is Vestre Kirkegård. And it is not surprising as the number amounts to around 10,000, both refugees and soldiers resting here.
Some graves were added during the occupation and others were added in connection with movements from other places during the 60s.
Vestre Kirkegårds Allé 15
Centrally located buildings connected to the occupying power
The Persil house was seized by the Waffen-SS. Here, many of the 6,000 were recruited into the volunteer corps.
Vesterbrogade 2 D
The Grundtvig house became Luftwaffe’s headquarters with a message- and telephone center. With a design like a medieval castle and sturdy reinforced concrete construction, it was called “the strongest house” in the city. Previously, the building was intended for church activities and a hotel.
Studiestræde 38
Dagmarhus. Another Nazi headquarters and this time right next to the town hall square. Werner Best, Germany’s political chief was stationed here until the end of the war.
In photos from the war, anti-aircraft batteries can be seen on the roof.
H. C. Andersens Blvd. 12
Waffen-SS and the house on Østerbro
This stylish building housed the Chinese embassy in Copenhagen. But during the occupation it was taken over by the SS and became their HQ.
There were activities here until May 5, 1945, when the resistance movement captured it.
A.F. Kriegers vej 3
King Christian X and his daily rides in the city
Even when the occupation was a fact, King Christian X had his daily riding tours of the city. And there was no doubt about the people’s appreciation.
Safety was apparently no problem when it went. But in some pictures, police officers in civilian clothes can be seen around him.
Bredgade 33
The unfortunate bombing of the French school
The french school was a Catholic girls school located at Frederiksberg Allé 74. It was accidentally bombed on March 21, 1945 during Operation Carthago. The Gestapo headquarters was the target but unfortunate circumstances led to this sad event. 104 people lost their lives.
Frederiksberg Alle
Bispebjerg Cemetery Commonwealth war graves
It is not entirely easy to find the way to the English soldier graves as the map of the cemetery is somewhat misleading. This is also a fairly large cemetery.
Once at the graves, there is a detailed commemorative plaque that informs about the creation of the place.
Frederiksborgvej 125
The bullet holes at Amalienborg
In 1944 the Germans decided to send all Danish policemen to concentration camps. In connection with this, firefights took place between the police and the occupants at Amalienborg.
Toldbodgade
BOPA and the Axeltorv Bodega
A memorial that tells about a situation when the leader of the sabotage group BOPA, Børge Thing, was very close to being arrested by the Germans. This took place right in front of Axelborg Bodega, where the plaque is also mounted on the wall.
Axeltorv
Stumbling stones
You will find them in Denmark and not least in Copenhagen, metal paving stones with names of Jews, resistance people, policemen, and others who all suffered from Nazi prosecution. This is a project that the German artist Gunther started in 1992.
Bredgade 3
The anchor in Nyhavn
The anchor was placed in Nyhavn as a memorial to the sailors who lost their lives during the war. And just below the anchor is a lead capsule submerged with the names of the 1,600 who perished.
Nyhavn
Werft Magleby
Right up until the end of the war, the occupying forces built a large hangar south of Copenhagen Airport. It was intended to service various warplanes, but it barely had time to get started before the end of the war.
Halvejen 3
Taarbæk and the secret route to Sweden
Jewish refugees were hidden and helped to escape from Denmark to Sweden during the war, particularly from the small fishing village north of Copenhagen, Taarbæk.
Down by the harbor you will find this memorial plaque that preserves what happened here during the burning war.
Taarbæk
The German bunker at Kastellet
Inside the Kastellet grounds is a German bunker (Regelbau 608 Heer) built during World War II. The construction was started in 1943 and completed on January 7, 1944. However, it was never used as the Germans moved their war headquarters to Silkeborg. There were 24 of the same type built in Denmark during the war.
If you want to visit the bunker, you should take the opportunity when it is the Kastellet birthday or some other cultural activity.
Kastellet
Emdrupborg
A large building built by the Germans during the war. It was supposed to be a school for Germans in Denmark. Architect Verner March designed it, who is also behind the Olympic stadium in Berlin.
Several hundred drawings, films and archival materials in one archive document how the school was built down to the smallest detail according to March’s drawings.
After the war, its appearance was changed, including the facade.
Today, the building is part of a university.
Tuborgvej 164
