Jews were prohibited entry into Denmark after the Reformation in 1536. However, it was only in the mid-17th century that the first Jews were allowed to settle in the country. The first community was founded in the new town of Fredericia in 1682, and in 1684 an Ashkenazi community was formed in Copenhagen.

Only a small number of them resided outside Copenhagen. Remnants of these former provincial communities can still be found in ten Danish towns. The two oldest cemeteries were established approximately 300 years ago in Fredericia and Nakskov.

As the Jewish enlightenment reached Denmark in the late 18th century, the king instituted a number of reforms to facilitate integration of Danish subjects into the larger society. Jews were allowed to join guilds, study at the university, buy real estate, and establish schools. The early 19th century saw a flourishing of Danish-Jewish cultural life, and a number of Jewish personalities, among them the art benefactor and editor Mendel Levin Nathanson, the writer Meir Aron Goldschmidt, and the founder of the newspaper Politiken, Edvard Brandes, rose to prominence.
In the early 20th century, pogroms in Eastern Europe, the Russian-Japanese War in 1904, and the Russian Revolution led to an influx of several thousand Jewish refugees into Denmark, of whom approximately 3,000 permanently settled in the country.

When Denmark was put under Germany military occupation in April 1940, the situation for Jews became increasingly precarious. In 1943, with a German roundup of Jews imminent, about 90 percent of the Jewish population was spirited to safety in neutral Sweden. All in all, 5,191 Jews, 1,301 people of part Jewish parentage, and 686 Christians married to Jews were secretly brought there and escaped the Nazis. 464 Jews were captured and deported to the Theresienstadt camp, and 52 perished there.

After the war, the Jewish community was reconstituted. In 1968, 2,500 refugees from Poland, victims of a Communist Party witch-hunt, settled in the Copenhagen area. Today, the Jewish community of Denmark is the second largest in Scandinavia.
 

Most Jews reside in Copenhagen. There is also a small community in Aarhus. The great majority of Danish Jews are Ashkenazim with roots in central and eastern Europe. Although intermarriage has taken its toll, Jewish life has been bolstered by the arrival of Jewish immigrants, particularly from Israel and from other European countries. Moreover, in recent years, children of some of the refugees from Poland, with tenuous Jewish links, have begun to take an active part in communal life.

The central body is the Det Mosaiske Troessamfund (Jewish Congregation in Copenhagen). Most of the Jewish organizations and institutions have their offices in the Jewish community center. The Dansk Zionistforbund (Danish Zionist Federation) is the leading Zionist body. B'nai B'rith and WIZO have chapters in the community, as does B'nai Akiva. In addition are there approximately 20 other Jewish organizations represented  in Denmark. A mikvah is also available at the community center.

The community is run by a council of 20 delegates elected by the members of the community. A board of seven representatives is elected by the council.

Social institutions include two homes for the aged and one condominium with  self-contained apartments, pre-schools, and the Caroline Jewish Day School located in the suburbs of Copenhagen. Carolineskolen was founded in 1805 and has an enrollment of some 200 pupils, about half the Jewish children in the 6- to 16- year age group. There are also three kindergartens.

A Jewish newspaper, Jodisk Orientering is published in Copenhagen, and a quarterly, Israel, is published by the Dansk Zionistforbund. The bi-monthly popular magazine Goldberg caters for the wider audience and is available at various stores around the city. The royal library in Copenhagen is an important repository of Judaica and houses the famous Biblotheca Simonseniana, as well as a Jewish department.

Two synagogues exist in the country, both in Copenhagen. The Great Synagogue, completed in 1833, is the seat of the rabbinate. It was inspired by the architectural style of Ancient Greece but is also one of the few synagogues of its period to use Egyptian elements in the columns, ceiling and cornice over the ark.

Great Synagogue (Orthodox)
Krystalgade 12
DK-1172 Copenhagen K
Tel: +45 3312 8868

The service hour for Shabbat mornings is 9.00 a.m. Morning services are held on Mondays and Thursdays at 6.45 a.m., Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.00 a.m., and Sundays at 7.30 a.m., in the summer 8.30 a.m.
For evening services contact: +45 33 12 88 68.

The Great Synagogue is only open during services and by special arrangement. 

There is also a smaller Orthodox synagogue, which maintains a Mikvah.

Machsike Hadas Synagogue (Orthodox)
Ole Suhrs Gade 12
DK-1354 Copenhagen K
Tel: +45 33 15 31 17
Website: www.machsikehadas.dk

Shir Hazafon is a progressive Jewish congregation established in 2001 with the purpose of creating a a strong Jewish progressive community in the Öresund region (Copenhagen, Malmö, and southern Sweden).
Shir Hazafon (Liberal)
Tel: +45 23 70 97 57
Email: progressiv@mail.dk

Jewish Copenhagen
Tel: +45 26 23 75 05
E-mail: info@jewish-copenhagen.dk
Website: www.jewish-copenhagen.dk
Jewish Copenhagen offers guided tours of Jewish sites both in and outside of Copenhagen.

Judaica Collection of the Royal Library (Det Kongelige Bibliotek)
Søren Kierkegaards Plads 1
DK-Copenhagen
Tel: + 45 33 47 47 47
Website: http://www.kb.dk

Based on the private library of the late Chief Rabbi David Simonsen, manuscripts, rare editions and printed books. Open for readers Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays  and Fridays 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. and Wednesdays 12.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. The David Simonsen Archives has recently been digitalized and is available at http://www.kb.dk/en/nb/samling/js/dsa/index.html

The Danish Jewish is dedicated to Jewish culture, art and history. The museum’s purpose is to collect, register, research, preserve, and present the Danish Jewish cultural heritage. Changes and static periods of this cultural heritage are presented in a cultural, historical and artistic context. The architecture is made by Daniel Libeskind.

Danish Jewish Museum (Dansk Jodisk Museum)
Proviantpassagen 6
DK-1218 Copenhagen K
Tel: +45 3311 2218
Email: info@jewmus.dk
Website: www.jewmus.dk

Shir Hatzafon / Progressive Judaism in Denmark
Tel: +45 2370 9757
Email: shirhatzafon@mail.dk
Website: www.shirhatzafon.dk

Det Mosaiske Troessamfund (WJC affiliate) has approximately 2,200 individual members and is the umbrella organization of Jews in Denmark.
Ny Kongensgade 6
DK-1472 Copenhagen K
Tel: +45 31 128 868
Fax: +45 31 141 332
Email: mt@mosaiske.dk
Website: www.mosaiske.dk

Jewish Community Center Copenhagen
Ny Kongensgade 6
DK-1472 Copenhagen K
Tel: +45 3312 8868
Opening hours: Monday-Thursday: 9.00-12.00 am.; 1.00-3.30 pm. Friday: 9.00-1.00 pm.
On the premises the facilities of most Jewish organizations in the country are located. The center also offers rental facilities for meetings, and both large and small banquets.

Rabbinate
Chief rabbi: Bent Lexner
Bomhusvej 18
DK-2100 Copenhagen O
Tel: +45 39 29 95 20
Fax: +45 39 29 25 17
Email: bent@lexner.dk

Chabad Lubavitch
Ole Suhrs Gade 10
DK-1354 Copenhagen K
Tel: +45 33 16 18 50
Fax: + 45 33 79 33 86
Email: info@chabad.dk
Website: www.chabadenmark.com

WIZO Denmark
Tel: +45 33 93 19 65    
Fax: +45 33 91 00 91   
Email: wizo.dk@post.tele.dk

Danish Zionist Federation
Tel: +45 33 93 00 93
Email: office@zionist.dk

Israel and Denmark maintain full diplomatic relations. Since 1948, around 1,500 Danish Jews have emigrated to Israel.

In Jerusalem, a boat-like monument was erected on the 25th anniversary of the rescue of Danish Jewry, and a school was named in Denmark's honor. Many cities and towns in Israel have a street or square commemorating the heroism of the Danes. Moreover, one of the prominent items on display in Yad Vashem is a small boat that was used to ferry Jews to safety in Sweden. On  Israelsplads in Copenhagen there is a monument from Eilat stone with an inscription in both Danish and Hebrew, a gift of the people of Israel. Denmark's Queen Margrethe II was the patron of the 1993 events marking the 50th anniversary of the rescue operation of Danish Jews.

Israeli Embassy
Lundevangsvej 4
DK-2900 Hellerup, Copenhagen
Tel: +45 88 18 55 00
Fax: +45 88 18 55 55
Email: info@copenhagen.mfa.gov.il
Website: http://copenhagen.mfa.gov.il

Kosher food is readily available, and Denmark exports kosher meat to Sweden and Norway where Shechita is not permitted.

Beit Chabad Copenhagen
Ole Suhrs Gade 10
DK-1352 Copenhagen
Email: info@chabad.dk

Copenhagen Kosher & Deli
Lyngbyvej 83
DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
Tel: +45 39 18 57 77
Email: mail@copenhagenkosher.dk

MT-cafeen
[at Jewish Community Center]
Ny Kongensgade 6
DK-1472 Copenhagen K
Tel: +45 3393 2793
Email: mt@mosaiske.dk

Hotel Villa Strand (kosher hotel)
Kystvej 12
DK-3100 Hornbæk
Tel: +45 49 70 00 88
Email: hotel@villastrand.dk
Website: www.villastrand.dk

For up to date information on Kosher restaurants and locations please see the Shamash Kosher Database