Danish Jewish Museum

The Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen presents 400 years of Jewish life in Denmark. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, the museum’s architecture reflects the Hebrew word ‘Mitzvah’, symbolizing good deeds and the rescue of Danish Jews during World War II. The museum offers exhibitions, events, and educational programs, serving as a focal point for research and cultural life within Danish Jewish history.

Planning your visit

The Danish Jewish Museum is small, and its architecture carries much of the meaning. Daniel Libeskind built it inside the vaulted brick boat-house of Christian IV's seventeenth-century Royal Library, and shaped the interior around the Hebrew word mitzvah — good deed — with sloping floors, angled walls and shifting light that make the visitor's own footing uncertain. Nothing is level.

The mitzvah in question is specific. In October 1943, when the German occupation authorities moved to deport Denmark's Jews, ordinary Danes organised to hide them and ferry them across the sound to neutral Sweden in fishing boats. Around 7,000 people, the overwhelming majority of the Danish Jewish population, survived as a result — a near-unique outcome in occupied Europe. The museum covers 400 years of Jewish life in Denmark, with that rescue at its centre.

It is compact, taking under an hour, and sits in the Royal Library Garden near Christiansborg.

Bookable options include entry tickets and guided tours of Copenhagen's Jewish quarter combined with the museum, which put the story back into the streets where it happened — the synagogue, the hiding places and the harbour. Current availability is listed below.