Events from the year 2011 in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Incumbents

* Monarch –

Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly ...

* Prime minister – Lars Løkke Rasmussen (until 3 October), Helle Thorning Schmidt

Events

January

* 10 January – Denmark and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

signs a defense agreement. * 13 January – Lene Espersen, party leader of the Danish Conservative Party, announces her resignation from the post after a period of intense criticism in the media and from fellow party members. * 14 January – Lars Barfoed is elected as new political leader of the Conservative party. * 19 January – Denmark starts the trial against the Somali man who attacked

Kurt Westergaard Kurt Westergaard (born Kurt Vestergaard; 13 July 1935 – 14 July 2021) was a Danish cartoonist. In 2005 he drew a cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, wearing a bomb in his turban as a part of the ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons, whic ...

February

* 24 February – A Danish family is kidnapped from their private yacht off the coast of

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

by Somali pirates.

March

* 13 March – By unanimous vote, Denmark's Parliament authorized direct military action by its air force to help enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1973, marking the only time so far in the state's history that military commitment was supported by full parliamentary unity. The

Royal Danish Air Force The Royal Danish Air Force () (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of the Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Armed Forces. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was made a separate service in 1950. I ...

is participating with six F-16AM fighters, one C-130J-30 Super Hercules military transport plane and the corresponding ground crews. Only four F-16s will be used for offensive operations, while the remaining two will act as reserves. The first airstrikes from Danish aircraft were carried out on 23 March with four aircraft making twelve sorties as part of

Operation Odyssey Dawn Operation Odyssey Dawn was the U.S. code name for the American role in the international military operation in Libya to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 during the initial period of 19–31 March 2011, which continued aft ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

reported in May 2011, that Danish F-16 fighters killed Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Arab Gaddafi.

April–June

* 14 April – Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary's twins are baptised at a ceremony in the

Church of Holmen The Holmen Church () is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having hosted the weddi ...

in Copenhagen and given the names Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander and Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda. * 26 April –

Bo Lidegaard Bo Lidegaard (born 23 January 1958 in Godthåb) is a Danish historian, public intellectual, and former responsible editor-in-chief for ''Politiken''. Bo Lidegaard worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1984-2005), was Ministerial Counselor an ...

is appointed as new editor-in-chief of the newspaper

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

. * 16 May –

Bella Sky Hotel The AC Hotel Bella Sky Copenhagen, formerly the Bella Sky Comwell Hotel, is a 4-star conference hotel adjacent to the Bella Convention and Congress Center in the Ørestad district of Copenhagen, Denmark. With 814 rooms, it is the largest hotel in ...

is inaugurated in

Ørestad Ørestad () is a developing city area in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the island of Amager. The area was developed using the new town concept, closely linked with the M1 (Copenhagen), M1 line of the Copenhagen Metro. Economically, income for the plan w ...

, Copenhagen. With 814 rooms, it becomes the largest hotel in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

. * 28 May –

Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson (; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scaled installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's experience. In 1995, ...

's artwork Your Rainbow on the top of the ARoS Museum of Art in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

is inaugurated. * 31 May – Lors Doukaiev, the would-be bomber from the

Hotel Jørgensen explosion The explosion at Hotel Jørgensen was a minor explosion inside of the discounts and allowances, discount hostel of the same name in central Copenhagen, Denmark. The explosion happened at 1:23 pm on 10 September 2010. No fatalities were recorded. ...

, is sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for last September's failed plan to send a letter bomb to

Jyllands-Posten (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies.Copenhagen Suborbitals Copenhagen Suborbitals is a crowd-funded human space program. It has flown six home-built rockets and capsules since 2011. The organization successfully launched its Nexø II rocket in the summer of 2018. Its stated goal is to have one of its me ...

, a private non-profit rocket group, makes their first successful full-scale test-launch of the HEAT 1X rocket from a self-built ramp off the coast of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...

. * 22 June – Denmark recognises the

National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. After rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the NTC governed Libya for a further ...

as the only legitimate representation of Libya.

July–September

* 2 July – A cloudburst hit parts of Zealand and the Greater Copenhagen area. *15 September – The

2011 Danish parliamentary election General elections were held in Denmark on 15 September 2011 to elect the 179 members of the Folketing. Of those 179, 175 members were elected in Denmark, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. The incumbent centre-right coalition led b ...

is held and leads to a majority for the opposition parties * 28 September – The 73-year-old listed K.B. Hallen event venue in Copenhagen is devastated by fire.

October–December

* 3 October – The Cabinet of Helle Thorning-Schmidt is presented at

Amalienborg Palace Amalienborg () is the official residence for the Danish royal family and is located in Copenhagen. Frederick VIII's palace complex has four identical Classical façades, effectively four palaces, with Rococo interiors, laid around an octagona ...

and

Helle Thorning-Schmidt Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to have held each p ...

takes office as the first ever female PM of Denmark.

Culture

Architecture

* 7 March –

Henning Larsen Architects Henning Larsen Architects is an international architectural firm based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1959 by Henning Larsen, it has around 750 employees. In 2008, it opened an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and in 2011, an office in Munich ...

' ''The Wave'' in

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality (''Municipalities of De ...

and C. F. Møller Architects' ''Darwin Center phase II'' extension of the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

in London are among the winners of 2011

Civic Trust Awards The Civic Trust Awards scheme is a British awards scheme to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. It was established in 1959, and is the longest-standing built environment awards scheme in Europe. The ...

. * 19 May – Danish architecture firms receive three out of eight RIBA European Awards when the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

announces the annual RIBA Award winners. Two of the awards go to Lundgaard & Tranberg and one goes to 3XN.

Film

* 16 January –

Susanne Bier Susanne Bier (; born 15 April 1960) is a Danish filmmaker. Bier is the first female director to collectively receive an Academy Award (Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Foreign Film), a Golden Globe Award, a European Film Award ...

's ''

In a Better World ''In a Better World'' (, "The Revenge") is a 2010 drama thriller film written by Anders Thomas Jensen and directed by Susanne Bier. The film stars Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, and Ulrich Thomsen in a story which takes place in small-town ...

'' (''Hævnen'') wins the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. * 20 February – The 64th Bodil Awards are held at the Bremen Theatre in Copenhagen. '' R'' wins the awards for Best Danish Film. * 27 February –

's ''

'' also wins an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for Best Foreign Language Film at the

83rd Academy Awards The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, be ...

. * 20 May –

Nicolas Winding Refn Nicolas Winding Refn (; born 29 September 1970) is a Danish film director, screenwriter, and producer. He directed the ''Pusher'' trilogy (1996–2005), the crime drama '' Bronson'' (2008), and the adventure film '' Valhalla Rising'' (2009). I ...

wins the Best Director Award at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. * 3 December – At the 24th European Film Awards, Denmark tops the list of countries with most nominations with 14 and wins several of the most prestigious awards: ** Best Film: ''

Melancholia Melancholia or melancholy (from ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval, and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly depressed mood, bodily complain ...

'' by

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...

** Best Director:

(''

'') ** European Achievement in World Cinema:

Mads Mikkelsen Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen (; born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. He rose to fame in Denmark as an actor for his roles such as Tonny in the first two films of the Pusher (film series), ''Pusher'' film trilogy (1996, 2004), Detective Sergea ...

** Best Cinematographer. Manuel Alberto Claro (''Melancholia'') ** Best Production Designer: Jette Lehmann ('' Melancholia'') * 31 December – Danish films sold 3.4 million tickets at the box office in Denmark in 2011, or 27% of the total ticket sale, with '' A Funny Man'' as the best selling Danish film on the home market with 471,819 admissions.

Gastronomy

* 26 January – Danish chef Rasmus Kofoed wins the

Bocuse d'Or The Bocuse d'Or (the ''Concours mondial de la cuisine'', World Cooking Contest) is a :wikt:biennial, biennial world chef championship. Named for the chef Paul Bocuse, the event takes place during two days near the end of January in Lyon, France, a ...

competition. * 16 March – René Redzepi's restaurant

Noma Noma, NoMa, or NOMA may refer to: Places * NoMa, the area North of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., US ** NoMa–Gallaudet U station, on Washington Metro * Noma, Florida, US * NOMA, Manchester, a redevelopment in England * Noma District, ...

in Copenhagen's

Christianshavn Christianshavn () is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of the city centre by the Inner Harbour, ...

neighbourhood is ranked as the best restaurant in the world for the second year in a row on the magazine ''

Restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

''s list of the

World's 50 Best Restaurants The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the UK media company William Reed, which originally appeared in the British magazine ''Restaurant'' in 2002. The list and awards are no longer directly related to ''Restaurant'', though th ...

Literature

Music

''See'' 2011 in Scandinavian music

Television

Sports

Badminton

* 20 February – Denmark wins gold at the

2011 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships The 2011 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships were held at the Sporthallen Zuid in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from February 15–20, and were organised by the Badminton Europe and the Nederlandse Badminton Bond. It was the 21st edition of th ...

by defeating Germany 3–1 in the final. * 8–13 March – Mathias Boe and

Carsten Mogensen Carsten Mogensen (born 24 July 1983) is a former badminton player from Denmark. He was the gold medalist at the Badminton at the 2015 European Games, 2015 European Games, two time European Badminton Championships, European champions winning in 2 ...

wins gold in Men's Double at the 2011 All England Super Series Premier. * 14 August

Peter Gade Peter Høeg Gade (born 14 December 1976 in Aalborg, Denmark)BWF World Ranking
Bwfbadminton ...

wins a bronze medal in men's single at the 2011 BWF World Championships.

Cycling

* Date unknown Michael Mørkøv (DEN) and Alex Rasmussen (DEN) win the

Six Days of Copenhagen The Six Days of Copenhagen is a six-day track cycling race held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event was first held in 1934. The event is held at the Ballerup Super Arena Ballerup Super Arena (formerly Siemens Arena) is a multi-purpose i ...

six-day track cycling race for the third year in a row. * 3 June –

Alex Rasmussen Alex Nicki Rasmussen (born 9 June 1984) is a Danish former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2016 for the , , , , and teams. Primarily specialising in track cycling, Rasmussen was also proficient in road rac ...

wins the 27th Philadelphia International Championship, the longest and most prestigious single day race in the United States. * 1925 September The

2011 UCI Road World Championships The 2011 UCI Road World Championships took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, over 19–25 September 2011. The event consisted of a cycling road race and a time trial for men, women, men under 23, and for the first time since 2004 the junior men and j ...

are held in Copenhagen.

Football

* 22 May – For the second year in a row,

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish association football, football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the to ...

wins the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

by defeating

FC Midtjylland Football Club Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they ...

in the final.

Golf

* 5 February –

Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn (born 18 February 1971) is a Danish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. He is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won fifteen tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. In 1997 he also b ...

wins

Qatar Masters The Qatar Masters is a European Tour golf tournament held at Doha Golf Club in Doha, Qatar. When founded in 1998, it was one of two European Tour events to be staged in the Arabian Peninsula, but was at one point, one of six. From 2005 to 2007 ...

on the

2011 European Tour The 2011 European Tour was the 40th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972. Schedule The following table lists official events during the 2011 season. Unofficial events The f ...

. * 28 August –

wins Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles and becomes Golfer of the Month in August. * 4 September –

wins

Omega European Masters The Omega European Masters is the Switzerland, Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was pr ...

on the 2009 European Tour.

Handball

* 30 January –

win silver at the

2011 World Men's Handball Championship The 2011 World Men's Handball Championship, the 22nd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Sweden from 13 to 30 January 2011. All matches were played in Malmö, Lund, Kristianstad, Gothenburg, Skövde, Jönköping, L ...

after being defeated 37–35 by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in final.

Motorsports

* 29 May –

Nicki Sørensen Nicki Sørensen (born 14 May 1975) is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer, and was directeur sportif of UCI Professional Continental team and . He competed in five consecutive editions of the Tour de France from 2001 to 2005. Ridin ...

finishes 2nd in the 2011 Bayern-Rundfahrt.

Sailing

* 11 December Emil Toft Nielsen and Simon Toft Nielsen win a bronze medal in 49er at the

2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships The 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships was held in Perth, Western Australia, this was the third edition of the ISAF Sailing World Championships. It is the world championships for all disciplines used at the upcoming Olympics. As it used to ...

Swimming

* 8 December—11 – With five gold medals, seven silver medals and two bronze medals, Denmark finishes as the second best country at the 2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships.

Births

* 8 January ** Prince Vincent, prince of Denmark ** Princess Josephine, princess of Denmark

Deaths

JanuaryMarch

* 1 January - Flemming Bamse Jørgensen, singer and actor (born 1947) * 23 January – Poul Volther, furniture designer (born 1923) * 27 January –

Tøger Seidenfaden Tøger Seidenfaden (28 April 1957 – 27 January 2011) was a Danish journalist and political scientist, and, from 1993 until his death, editor-in-chief of the broadsheet newspaper ''Politiken''. His father, Erik Seidenfaden, was also a journali ...

, journalist, editor-in-chief of

(born 1957) * 2 March – Erling Kroner, jazz trombonist, composer and bandleader (born 1943) * 9 March – Inge Sørensen, swimmer (born 1924)

AprilJune

* 6 April – Thøger Birkeland, author (born 1922) * 11 June -

Kurt Nielsen Kurt Nielsen (19 November 1930 – 11 June 2011) was a Danish tennis player. He was born in Copenhagen, and was the first Danish tennis player ever to have played in a men's singles final in a Grand Slam tournament. Nielsen reached the single ...

, tennis player (born 1930) * 27 June - Erling Olsen, politician (born 1927)

JulySeptember

* 13 August -

Ellen Winther Ellen Winther Lembourn (née Sørensen; 11 August 1933 – 13 August 2011) was a Danish opera singer, best known internationally for her participation in the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest. Winther was born in Århus. She trained as an opera sin ...

, opera singer and actress (born 1933) * 22 August – Jesper Klein, actor (born 1944) * 9 September - Esben Høilund Carlsen, film producer and director of Norsk Film * 11 September – Christian Bakkerud, racing driver (born 1984) * 27 September – Erik Wedersøe, actor (born 1938)

OctoberDecember

* 17 October -

Poul Glargaard Poul Glargaard, born Rasmussen (11 April 1942 – 17 October 2011) was a cinema of Denmark, Danish actor. He joined the Aarhus Theater in 1966 and the Aalborg Theater later, entering film in 1968. He has also appeared in numerous TV programm ...

, actor (born 1942) * 24 October - Margit Brandt, fashion designer (born 1945) * 2 November - Papa Bue, jazz trombonist and bandleader (born 1930) * 7 November - Lisbeth Movin, stage and film actress (born 1917) * 19 November - Karl Aage Præst, footballer (born 1922) * 1 December - Ragnhild Hveger, swimmer (born 1920)