The history of Jews in Denmark goes back to the 1600s. Although there were very likely Jewish merchants, sailors, and among others, who entered Denmark during the Middle Ages, back in around the year 1000, when Denmark became the first Christian Kingdom until 1536, no efforts were made to establish a Jewish community. At present, the Jewish community in Denmark comprises about 6,000 persons.

In 1814, when Norway gained independence from Denmark, the general ban against Jews entering the country was "continued" in new Norwegian Constitution. The community's population peaked prior to the Holocaust at which time the Danish resistance movement (with the assistance of many ordinary Danish citizens) took part in a collective effort to evacuate about 8,000 Jews and their families from Denmark by sea to nearby neutral Sweden, an act which ensured the safety of almost all the Danish Jews.

Medieval Danish art contains depictions of Jews—visibly wearing pointed hats—but there is no evidence that any Jews actually lived in Denmark during that time. With the conclusion of the Danish Reformation in 1536, Jews along with Catholics were prohibited entry into Denmark.

The first known settlement on Danish territory was based on a royal dispensation. Industrious Christian IV founded Glückstadt on the river Elbe in today's German state of Schleswig-Holstein in 1616. When it initially threatened to founder, he decided in 1619 to allow Jewish merchant Albert Dionis to settle in the town. He thus hoped to ensure its success. This dispensation was extended to a few other Jews, and in 1628, their status was formalized by being promised protection, the right to hold private religious services, and maintain their own cemetery. Albert Dionis gained special status within the Danish royal court, apparently as a source of credit for ambitious projects. Gabriel Gomez, who also attained status, persuaded Frederik III to allow Sephardic Jews to reside in Denmark while conducting trade. At that time, Ashkenazi Jews, in contrast to the Sephardim, were forbidden to enter unless they were specifically granted letters of safe passage, and were subject to considerable fines if caught without the required documents; nevertheless, many of the Jews who settled in the kingdom in the coming years were Ashkenazi.

Following the costly Thirty Years' War, which created a fiscal crisis for the Danish crown, Frederik III proclaimed absolute monarchy in Denmark. To improve trade, the king encouraged Jewish immigration. The first Jewish community was founded in the newly established town of Fredericia in 1682, and in 1684 an Ashkenazi community was founded in Copenhagen.^{[citation needed]}

By 1780, there were approximately 1,600 Jews in Denmark, though all were admitted by special permission granted only on the basis of personal wealth. They were subject to social and economic discrimination, and for a brief period in 1782 they were forced to attend Lutheran services. But they were not required to live in ghettos and had a significant degree of self-governance.^{[citation needed]}

Jews began settling in the Danish West Indies in 1655, and by 1796 the first synagogue was inaugurated. In its heyday in the mid-19th century, the Jewish community made up half of the non-Black population. One of the earliest colonial governors, Gabriel Milan, was a Sephardic Jew.

As the Jewish enlightenment reached Denmark in the late 18th century, the king instituted a number of reforms to facilitate integration of Jewish subjects into the larger Danish society. Jews were allowed to join guilds, study at the university, buy real estate, and establish schools.