When flying to Greenland, most travelers will choose to fly from Copenhagen. If you wish to combine your stopover in the Danish capital with a pre-taste of the Arctic, this guide will help you find Greenland’s strong presence in the city’s cultural and historical sights, from monuments to food and activities for everyone – from families to active explorers. Read this article to find out how to experience Greenland in Copenhagen.
Knud Rasmussen in Copenhagen
Knud Rasmussen is without a doubt the greatest explorer, Greenland and Denmark ever raised. His contribution to the exploration of Greenland is significant. He initiated seven expeditions that each yielded ground-breaking scientific results and caught the interest of the media and academic journals all over the world.
Growing up in Ilulissat with a Greenlandic mother and Danish father, he spoke Greenlandic as well as Danish fluently – and at an early age became interested in dog sledding. A means of transport that has taken him far in the Arctic regions.
At each expedition, he and his team came home with many surprising and innovative research results. These ranged from scientific topics such as botany, geology, meteorology – and more humanities subjects such as ethnography and archeology.
Knud Rasmussen’s statue at Strandvejen
The memories of Knud Rasmussen can be observed if you bike up the coastal road Strandvejen, north of Copenhagen – and end near Skovshoved. Here is a beautiful granite statue of the world-famous polar explorer looking out over the Øresund, the strait of sea dividing Denmark and Sweden.
On one side of the statue, you will find a list including all of Knud Rasmussen’s expeditions. On the other side, a quote (in Danish) by the arctic explorer is carved:
“Only the spirits of the air know
what I will meet behind the mountain,
but I still drive my dogs
further forward,
further forward,
further forward”
Knud Rasmussen’s House in Hundested
If you continue the trip along the coast all the way up to the charming village of Hundested, you will come across Knud Rasmussen’s home and office when he was based in Denmark. Today it is a museum about his life, including the seven expeditions he participated in.
The address is Knud Rasmussensvej 9, 3390 Hundested
Knud Rasmussen’s burial place in Vestre Kirkegaard
Knud Rasmussen died in Copenhagen after his 7th Thule expedition. In 1933, he was buried in the largest cemetery in Scandinavia, Vestre Kirkegaard, which you can visit during your stay in Copenhagen.
Vestre Kirkegaard is a green oasis featuring thousands of trees, flowers and plants, as well as two peaceful, beautiful lakes. The cemetery includes a section dedicated to Greenland, but if you would like to pay a visit to Knud Rasmussen, you will have to look for the lake known as “Det røde hav” (The Red Sea). This name is due to a group of famous Social Democratic (hence “red”) politicians, who are buried on the southern side of the lake close to Knud Rasmussen. One of them is the former prime minister Thorvald Stauning, who donated his own burial spot to Rasmussen’s family to let the polar explorer rest in peace.
Knud Rasmussen’s gravestone is simple, yet majestic: the two meters wide stone is located right on top of a little hill overlooking the lake, which is inhabited by fish, frogs, ducks and herons, as well as plants and trees dipping their branches into the water. The benches right next to Knud Rasmussen’s stone make this a perfect spot for visitors to enjoy nature and silence, perhaps while reading one of the arctic explorer’s Greenland adventures.
“Against the Ice” – Greenland’s great expeditioners and polar bears’ sculptures close to the Little Mermaid
Not far from Copenhagen’s most known landmark, the Little Mermaid’s sculpture in Langelinie, continue straight and walk by Langelinie Harbour. At the end of the harbour you will find three statues with a strong connection to Greenland.
The Denmark Expedition’s memorial stone
In 1907, scientists Niels Peter Høeg Hagen, Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen and Jørgen Brønlund went on an expedition to prove that Greenland was an island, in order to have the right to claim that it only belonged to Denmark. This expedition is known as the Denmark Expedition. Relying on wrong mapping of the remote Northeastern Greenland, the three explorers of the Denmark Expedition got lost in the ice, tragically disappearing.
Walking all the way to the end of Langelinie Harbour, you will find a 3 meters wide stone, resting on 5 rocks facing the sea. This is The Denmark’s expedition’s memorial stone, depicting Høeg Hagen, Mylius-Erichsen and Brønlund on a dog sled in Greenland.
Ejnar Mikkelsen – Greenland’s explorer behind “Against the Ice”
In the small garden not far from the beautiful bas relief, you will find the sculpture of another Greenland explorer – Ejnar Mikkelsen.
In 1909, Ejnar Mikkelsen took off from Copenhagen with a crew of six on the ship Alabama to solve the mystery behind Denmark’s expedition. After a long journey touching Iceland and the Faroe Islands, the uncharted waters of Northeastern Greenland showed no mercy to the expedition: the ship got stuck in the ice in Northeastern Greenland, not far from where the Denmark Expedition had failed. Mikkelsen traveled for more than 300 km by dogsled on the ice together with the ship’s mechanic, Iver Iversen. They found Jørgen Brønlund’s body and the diaries with cartographic sketches from the Denmark Expedition, which proved that Greenland was, as the Denmark Expedition was hoping, an island. However, once they got back to the ship, they found out that they had been abandoned by their crew. Ejnar Mikkelsen and Iver Iversen survived for two years in terrifying conditions, facing cold, frostbite and hunger, eating food from previous expeditions and hunting. Both were rescued in 1912, and welcomed as heroes once they arrived in Copenhagen harbour.
Ejnar Mikkelsen wrote several books and memoirs and inspired the Netflix movie “Against the Ice” featuring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, premiering in spring 2022.
Holger Wederkinch’s Polar bear with cubs
Walk on the bridge crossing the narrow canal after Langelinie Harbour, and you won’t miss Greenland’s symbol. A polar bear with its cubs stands right next to the sea. The statue is a bronze copy by the sculptor Holger Wederkinch (1886-1959), who was awarded for its original version at the Salon in Paris in 1929. If you look carefully at the polar bear’s head, you will notice a hole. In fact, the statue was shot by mistake by a German soldier during World War II.
The Greenland Monument in Christianshavns Torv
Christianshavn Torv looks like an ordinary, bustling square with a metro station nearby, where lots of commuters hurry on to reach their final destination. If you have time for a short break, enjoy the group of statues known as the Greenland Monument.
The statues were made from red granite by the Danish sculptor Svend Rathsack after he had spent six weeks in the Arctic colonies in 1931.
The Greenland Monument represents an everyday fishing scene from Greenland. To the left when facing the white building you will see two women flensing a seal and cleaning fish and, on the opposite side, two women wearing Greenland’s national costume who are fishing ammassat (capelins) with a net. In the middle of the square, a hunter overlooks the scene standing by his kayak, one of Greenland’s strongest symbols. The kayak is in fact a Greenlandic invention from the old days, used for hunting in the arctic sea, and a symbol of Greenland. For this reason, both modern English as well as most other languages have borrowed the word “kayak” from the Greenlandic word “qajaq”.
North Atlantic Wharf – the old Greenlandic trade port
The old warehouse, which is now North Atlantic Wharf’s domicile, is a part of the old Greenlandic Harbour. Products got sent to Greenland from here over hundreds of years. It was also here, where large amounts of Greenlandic produce were imported. Here, passenger ships started their journey to Greenland, before flying became the standard means of transportation.
At the North Atlantic Wharf, you will find the North Atlantic House, which is home to Iceland’s Embassy as well as Greenland’s and the Faroe Islands’ representations. Several other companies with close bonds to the North Atlantic countries have their offices here, too.
You will find the North Atlantic Wharf when you walk down Strandgade or by crossing the pedestrian and bicycle bridge from Nyhavn. The area is very lively, with bars and cafés.
If you are interested in Nordic food, it’s worth knowing that the building used to house restaurant Noma – several times awarded best in the world, last time in 2021 – and houses today, in the same space, Restaurant Barr, which is a tribute to Nordic craft beers and food. Behind the North Atlantic House, you will also find the Bridge Street Kitchen, a gourmet food market co-owned by Noma, featuring some of the best restaurants in town’s take on street food. In the winter you will also find an ice-skating rink with a disco and an urban Christmas atmosphere.
The address of the North Atlantic House is: Strandgade 91
For more information, visit the website
Arctic Institute – an impressive collection of pictures and texts
Right in front of North Atlantic Wharf you will find the Arctic Institute. The Institute was founded by two of Greenland’s most famous explorers, namely Ejnar Mikkelsen and Egil Knuth. The Arctic Institute is internationally known and respected for gathering material of great ethnographical value from Greenland – from old texts to maps, pictures and films.
Even before your trip, you can start exploring the archives of the Arctic institute through this link and get access to a website, where most of the Institute’s material is uploaded digitally. For instance, users from all over the world have free online access to more than 80,000 pictures out of 150,000 from the Institute’s archive, but you should pay the Arctic Institute a visit when in Copenhagen, in order to experience their material regarding Greenland and their exhibitions in person.
The address is: Strandgade 102, 1401 Copenhagen
For more information, visit the Arctic Institute’s website
The Greenlandic House – getting a feel for Greenlandic culture and food
The Greenlandic House is a cultural institution, open to anyone who is interested in learning more about Greenland. Here, you can always find a wide selection of books about Greenland for sale, and you can often experience exhibitions by Greenlandic artists as well as talks about Greenland. To see what’s on, visit www.sumut.dk.
If you would like to buy an Arctic present to your loved ones for Christmas, it’s worth visiting the Greenlandic House for its Christmas market, taking place every December. Here, you will find unique items by Greenlandic artists and craftsmen.
For travellers who would like to have a taste of Greenland while in Copenhagen, Ajamats Café at the Greenlandic House serves authentic Greenlandic food every Tuesday from 12:00 to 14:00.
Kalaallit Illuutaat – The Greenlandic House in Copenhagen is located at Løvstræde 8.
Geological Museum – see the world’s third biggest meteorite from Greenland
If you are interested in Greenland’s incredible geology, the Geological Museum in Copenhagen won’t disappoint you. Here, you will learn many facts about Greenland which would surprise even a professional geologist. Did you know, for instance, that 4 billion years ago, before moving to its current location, Greenland was placed in the world’s southern hemisphere?
If you are into fossils – or would like to learn more about them – the museum will surprise you with more than two million years old findings, which can tell us about climate change throughout the history of our planet.
Amongst these, a must see is located right by Copenhagen’s Geological Museum’s main entrance. It’s the world’s third largest meteorite, the 20 tons meteor Agpalilik, part of the Cape York meteorite. The meteorite was found in Greenland in 1963 nearby Cape York in the Thule area, but its existence had been known for years. In fact, researchers knew that Inuits had been using the meteorite to forge harpoons, knives, and other hunting tools, and found its first remains already back in 1894 with the help of the locals. Amongst others, the Danish Per Kirkeby – a very passionate explorer and painter of Greenland – was part of the expedition which retrieved Agpalilik.
The Geological Museum is located on Nørre Voldgade at the corner of the Botanical Gardens and across the street from the National Museum of Art.
The National Museum of Denmark
– getting serious about Greenland’s early history
When in Copenhagen, you shouldn’t miss Denmark’s National Museum. Here you will find a series of unique archaeological and historical items from Greenland, which will tell you stories about Greenland from its very beginning all the way to today.
You will find the National Museum in the city center in Ny Vestergade, close to the city hall and Tivoli, the amusement park.
Inuitten
– a Greenlandic gift shop
In “Inuitten” you can find lots of funny things from Greenland – from polar teddy bears to Greenlandic jewelry, made from reindeer bones and fresh water from the inland ice.
The address is Amager Boulevard 131, 2300 Amagerbro.
Greenland in Copenhagen’s castles and palaces
The Danish Royal Family has always had a close relationship with Greenland, which is represented in many of Copenhagen’s palaces and castles which are open for visitors. Find out where to find Greenland in Copenhagen’s castles and palaces.
Christiansborg Palace – Greenland in the Danish Royal Family’s artworks
The Royal Representation Rooms at Christiansborg Palace are open to the public and are still being used by the Royal Family for official occasions, making Christiansborg one of the few functioning Royal Palaces in the world open for visitors. Here you will find beautiful artworks and tapestries owned for centuries by the Royal family, and you might find traces of Greenland on many of them. In fact, Greenland is often represented through the Royal coat of arms of Denmark with a standing polar bear, roaring against the enemies. The first coat of arms with Greenland’s polar bear dates back from 1665, but in Christiansborg you will also find modern reinterpretations of it on some of the beautiful tapestries by contemporary artist Bjørn Nørgaard.
Borgen – from Christiansborg to Greenland
Christiansborg is not only a Royal castle, but also home to the Danish Parliament and to the Netflix hit-series Borgen, shot both in Copenhagen and Greenland. If you want to walk in Borgen’s footsteps, get behind the scenes with a free guided tour of the Danish parliament and join a Borgen-themed guided tour of the city with Nordic Noir Tours, then follow Birgitte Nyborg to Greenland. The new season will be available on Netflix in late spring 2022.
Rosenborg Castle – Greenlandic narwhals for a King’s throne
Rosenborg is probably the most charming castle in Copenhagen, with its fairytale-like design and location, inside King’s Gardens in the city center.
The Marble Chamber is one of the most peculiar rooms which visitors can access inside the castle, being almost intact since 1670. When looking up, you might recognise Greenland’s polar bear in the loft’s decorations, right next to the window on the right.
In the Knights’ Hall you will find two coronation chairs used in the 1600’s. In order to give his chair a legendary look, the King had it decorated with unicorn horns. Actually, the horns were tusks from narwhals, a very rare type of whale which can be spotted in Greenland’s most remote waters. The narwhal tusk was believed to have magical powers since the viking age, and has been used in some of the royal relics which you will find at Rosenborg Castle.
Amalienborg Palace – A polar bear in the King’s studio
Amalienborg is The Danish Royal Family’s residence still in use, located by Copenhagen’s waterfront. Every day at 12 ‘o clock you can attend the change of the Royal Guards here, and you can visit one of the four palaces. Right next to the Queen’s residence, lies Amalienborg museum, where you will see how Danish Kings and Queens used to live. Inside the museum, you will find a polar bear’s skin inside King Frederik the VIII’s studio, decorated in a new renaissance style in 1860. The polar bear was kept by the King as a symbol of Greenland’s coat of arms, and the one which you will see at the museum was a present by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe.
Copenhagen’s city hall – Polar bears and walruses
Copenhagen’s city hall, designed by Martin Nyrop in 1905, features Danish flora and many creatures from the sea: fishes, crabs, marine stars – as well as mermaids and merman. At the City hall’s back entrance’s port, and on the city hall’s rooftop, you will find walruses and polar bears. When asked about them during an interview in 1898, Nyrup explained that since the Danish Kingdom extends to the North Atlantic, Greenlandic species could have been as ornamental as lions and sphinxes, for a change.
Copenhagen Zoo
– Get close to swimming polar bears
Copenhagen’s Zoological Park features a 3.100 m2 area for polar bears known as The Arctic Ring. The Arctic Ring is designed to recreate Greenland’s summer landscape, with the same rocks and flora, and with two large pools for the bears to swim into. Start your journey in the outdoor area, where you will see the polar bears sitting or lying outside on the rocks, in the Greenlandic landscape, just a few meters from you. Walk further, and a ramp will take you downstairs, where you will be able to enjoy the view of the polar bears swimming and playing through the pool’s transparent wall, or through the 8 meters long underwater tunnel.
Greenland in Copenhagen – a guided walking tour
Why is it that Denmark, small and flat as a pancake, is connected to Greenland, the land of snow, ice and mountains? If you are curious to know about the long history of political, royal and cultural ties between Denmark and Greenland, as well as about the arctic trade, join this walking tour by Copenhagen This Way.
The tour begins in the picturesque area called Christianshavn from where many trade ships sailed towards Greenland. Along the harbour you’ll hear stories about the Viking expeditioneer Erik the Red, as well as the description of Copenhagen by two Greenlanders, Poq and Qiperoq, who were visiting the Capital in 1724. New Nordic food, which Copenhagen’s food scene is known for, is also Greenlandic; on this tour you’ll get a taste of “kvan” the holy ghost plant – a one of its kind specialty.
Warm up for your trip to Greenland and go kayaking in Copenhagen’s canals
Kayak tours in Copenhagen’s canals with Kayak Republic
The kayak, one of the strongest cultural symbols of Greenland, has been used as a means of transportation as well as a tool for hunting for more than 4000 years. Kayaks can be found everywhere in Greenland, and you might want to prepare yourself for a paddling adventure in the arctic with a session in Copenhagen’s. With its clean, picturesque canals, the Danish capital is the perfect place to start training your balance on water, by combining it with sightseeing and why not, with an ocean clean up.
Kayak Bar is a floating restaurant with live music, delicious seafood, and relaxed beach-bar style vibes in the city center of Copenhagen. From here, you can join kayak sightseeing tours through the canals, or rent a kayak – both sea kayak and sit on tops for the less experienced paddlers – if you prefer to paddle on your own.
Keeping the oceans clean and exploring the canals in a tandem kayak with Green Kayak
If you are feeling like giving a hand keeping the oceans clean, you can book a session with GreenKayak. GreenKayak is a Copenhagen based NGO which lends tandem kayaks to volunteers who are willing to join the fight against pollution. All you will have to do is book one of the green kayaks located in several locations by Copenhagen’s canals, and to collect the plastic which you might find in the sea while sightseeing. Thumbs up from the locals and an unforgettable experience are guaranteed.
Greenland Events in Copenhagen
There are many events about Greenland in Copenhagen but here are two you absolutely should visit if you have the chance:
Greenland in Tivoli
For over 40 years it has been a tradition for Greenlanders, and anyone who has an affiliation with Greenland, to meet together in the oldest amusement park in the world, Tivoli. Greenland’s largest cultural gathering outside of the country is a fun-filled two day festival where there is opportunity to experience music, food and purchase, art and crafts from Greenland. It’s usually held 31 July and 1 August of each year – not to be missed!
Arctic Festival
Held in the North Atlantic Wharf and Arctic Institute, the Arctic Festival highlights the West Nordic cultures of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The program during this weekend is wide ranging and includes talks from experts in the field of travelling, culture, geology, art music and dance. It’s usually held the last weekend of October.
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Visit Greenland
Contributor
Giuseppe Liverino
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