Holger Danske Under Kronborg

The legend says Holger Danske sleeps in the casemates beneath Kronborg and will wake when Denmark is threatened. He first appears around 1060 in La Chanson de Roland, and it was H.C. Andersen who fixed the legend to Kronborg, in his fairy tale of 1846. A Danish resistance group in the Second World War took the name. Kronborg is in Helsingør, not Copenhagen.

StatusLegend, told as legend

First appearsAbout 1060, in La Chanson de Roland

Attached to Kronborg byH.C. Andersen, 1846

Where he is said to sleepThe castle casemates

Wakes whenDenmark is threatened

Where Kronborg isHelsingør, not Copenhagen

The story and its dates

A sleeping defender under a castle is old folklore, and this one has a paper trail. The figure turns up around 1060 in La Chanson de Roland, centuries before the castle he is now associated with existed. The link to Kronborg's casemates is Hans Christian Andersen's, made in a fairy tale published in 1846. So the legend is genuinely old and its address is recent, which is a distinction the tourist version usually loses.

What the name did next

A Danish resistance group in the Second World War called itself Holger Danske. That is the point at which a folk story stops being decorative: the legend said he wakes when the country is threatened, and in 1940 people used it as a working name. German troops had taken Kastellet in Copenhagen without resistance on 9 April 1940 — see Kastellet.

Getting there, and not from here

Kronborg is in Helsingør, on the coast north of the capital. It is a day trip out of Copenhagen, and none of the six walks bookable through this site goes there or claims to. If a page elsewhere implies you can take a Copenhagen ghost tour to Kronborg, it is wrong. What runs in this city is set out honestly on the walks page, and the castle question is on the Kronborg page. For legends people actually hear on a walk here, see Danish folklore creatures.

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Frequently asked questions

Who is Holger Danske?

A legendary defender said to sleep in Kronborg's casemates until Denmark is threatened. He first appears around 1060 in La Chanson de Roland.

Why is he connected to Kronborg?

Because H.C. Andersen placed him there in an 1846 fairy tale. The legend itself is far older than the castle association.

Can I visit him on a Copenhagen tour?

No. Kronborg is in Helsingør and none of the walks on this site goes there. See the Kronborg page.