History of Copenhagen - The 1900s

The 1900s

During World War II Copenhagen was occupied by German troops along with the rest of the country from April 9, 1940, until May 4, 1945. In August 1943, when the government's collaboration with the occupation forces collapsed, several ships were sunk in Copenhagen Harbour by the Royal Danish Navy to prevent them being used by the Germans. Operation Carthage (the bombardment of the Shellhouse, the headquarters of the Gestapo) took place on March 21, 1945, by British de Havilland Mosquito bombers. During this attack the French School at Frederiksberg was also mistakenly bombed resulting in the death of many children. On 8 May 1945 Copenhagen was officially liberated by British airborne troops who supervised the surrender of 250,000 German armed forces across Denmark of which near on 30,000 were situated around the capital.

The city has grown greatly since the war. In the 1970s, the so-called five-finger-plan provided commuter train links to the surrounding towns and suburbs.

In 1992 construction on the Copenhagen Metro and in 1993 development of a new city area, the Ørestad, began on the island of Amager. The metro underground train system opened for traffic in 2002.

Since the summer of 2000, the cities of Copenhagen and Malmö have been connected by a toll bridge, the Øresund Bridge, for both rail and road traffic. It was inaugurated in July 2000 by Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Margrethe II of Denmark. As a result, Copenhagen has become the centre of a larger metropolitan area spanning both nations. The construction of the bridge has brought about significant changes in the public transportation system and the extensive redevelopment of Amager, south of the main city. The bridge has not yet been as widely used by motorists as was originally hoped, likely due to the high road tolls, allegedly slowing the planned integration of the region. Train passengers, however, are plentiful and increasing in numbers. The lack of a commonly acceptable currency throughout the area is another hindrance to the integration of the region, even though a growing number of shops, restaurants etc., if not usually encouraged, accept payment with either nation's currency in the other country.

In December 2009 Copenhagen hosted the worldwide climate meeting COP15. When US President Barack Obama participated in the end of this meeting it was the fourth time an American President had visited Copenhagen during his term (Obama also visited Copenhagen in October 2009, George W. Bush in 2005 and Bill Clinton in the 1990s).