Denmark has no official language as neither the Constitution or other laws designate Danish as such. There are, moreover, no official minority languages in the country. However, Danish is considered the language of Denmark and it holds equal status with Faroese in the Faroe Islands. In Greenland, only Greenlandic is recognized as the official language, but public services are also required to be available in Danish. Denmark has furthermore ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and recognizes the German language as a minority language in Southern Jutland for its German minority.

Danish is the first language of 92% of the population, while Arabic, Dutch, English, German are each spoken as a first language by 1% of the population. English is spoken by 87% of the population overall, and German by 49%. Additionally, 14% of the population can converse in Swedish, and 11% in French.

German immigration to Denmark began in the 12th century as part of a northward migration from German-speaking regions. One of the earliest documented mentions of German immigrants is found in the writings of Saxo Grammaticus on German craftsmen in Roskilde around 1200. The 1286 murder of Eric V of Denmark, described in a poem by the German poet Rumelant, also reflects on the presence of Germans at the time. Immigration intensified with the rise of the Hanseatic League as coastal cities thrived and Copenhagen attracted Hanseatic merchants. German settlers integrated with locals, however place names like Tyskemannegade (now Vimmelskaftet) in Copenhagen indicate certain concentrated German communities. Motivations for German migration included economic opportunities, such as access to trade and employment. Even after the peak of Hanseatic influence, Denmark remained an attractive destination for German migrants seeking work or career advancement. Additionally, some migration was driven by factors like war or religious persecution. Between roughly 1100 and 1500, the German immigrants primarily spoke Low German, which later shifted to High German from the 16th century onward. The migration persisted, though with varying intensity, well into the 19th century, when rising nationalist tensions between Danes and Germans contributed to growing cultural resistance toward the German language and identity. From the early 14th century, Low German appeared alongside Latin in Danish royal correspondence and the King maintained a German chancery, staffed by clerical scribes trained in monastery schools, handling communication with German princes, cities, and duchies. These scribes maintained distinct Danish and German texts, avoiding mixed forms. The earliest Low German document written in Denmark, dates back to 12 November 1329. Major trading towns used German in administration due to extensive contact with Hanseatic cities. Guilds and crafts in these towns saw strong German influence from immigrant artisans. Name lists from guild records around 1400 include individuals identified as German immigrants by nicknames tied to places, trades, or traits. In Copenhagen, German residents lived in areas like Tyskemannegade and Hyskenstræde. As a legal language, Low German appeared in translations of Danish regional laws, such as Jyske Lov and Sjællandske Love, during the 14th and 15th centuries. These translations likely served German-speaking residents. By the mid-15th century, Low German was common in daily life, sharing roles with Danish and chanceries used both languages based on recipients. Moreover, guilds and crafts issued records in both. Laws were mostly Danish, but some translated for German speakers. Churches used both languages after the Reformation. Around 1540, Low German and High German coexisted with Danish Christian III and Queen Dorothea speaking Low German, while her handwritten notes mix Low German with the emerging High German used by chancery scribes. By the mid-16th century, High German replaced Low German in chanceries, becoming the prestige language. It spread as a spoken language among elites and the educated, though Low German persisted. High German gained prestige through German congregations, attended by both German elites and many Danish families. The first, St. Peter's Church, began in Copenhagen in 1575 with an attached school. In 1618, another German-speaking congregation formed in Christianshavn, using the German Church. By 1704, two more German-speaking congregations started at Garrison Church and Kastellet for mostly German-speaking soldiers. Services used High German, though members likely mixed High and Low German. These congregations grew rapidly, especially with refugees from the Thirty Years' War. By the late 17th century, religious minorities like Calvinists, Pietists, and Jews settled in free cities like Fredericia, using German as a common language. In 1689, Calvinists, supported by the Calvinist Queen Charlotte Amalie, formed a German-speaking congregation. In 1771, a Moravian congregation settled in Christiansfeld. Around 1700, about 20% of the population of Copenhagen spoke German.

In the 18th century, German immigration continued, with poor Palatinate farmers, known as Potato Germans recruited to cultivate heaths of Jutland. Influential German noble statesmen from the families of like Moltke, Reventlow, and Bernstorff served the absolute monarchy, launching projects in agriculture, forestry, and industry while supporting arts by inviting German experts and artists. Meanwhile, Enlightenment ideals fostered a self-confident Danish bourgeoisie, eager to claim high positions long held by German cosmopolitans who spoke German or French and often knew little Danish. These foreigners remained loyal to the Danish king despite language barriers. Danish intellectuals rallied to promote Danish language and history, reflecting growing national consciousness. In the 18th century, the writings of Ludvig Holberg and Peter Andreas Heiberg fueled anti-German sentiment by depicting German courtiers as arrogant, Danish-ignorant parasites. Moreover, Johann Friedrich Struensee issues orders in German and had no knowledge of Danish which only intensified hostility. After his fall, Juliana Maria and Ove Høegh-Guldberg prioritized Danish, culminating in the 1776 nativity law, restricting offices to those born in the monarchy. This drove many German families to Schleswig-Holstein, reducing German influence. Danish replaced German in the military in 1773 and in most German congregations Danish replaced German except in Sankt Petri. German publications dwindled, though crafts retained German due to cross-border traditions. Efforts to suppress German in the duchies via language decrees occurred between 1807 and 1851 which heightened Danish-German tensions.

Denmark became a linguistically uniform country after losing Schleswig-Holstein in 1864. The 1920 Schleswig reunification brought a German minority to Denmark, numbering between 15,000 and 20,000 people. This minority lived north of the new border, particularly in and around the towns of Tønder and Aabenraa. Between the two world wars, significant tensions arose between the German minority and the Danish majority population. These tensions increased as many in the minority supported Nazism. Following World War II, a severe legal process occurred as German institutions were shut down, and many individuals from the minority departed the region. In 1955, Denmark and Germany established the Bonn-Copenhagen declarations, which outlined rights and principles to protect the minorities on both sides of the border from discrimination and ideological control. Approximately two-thirds of the German minority speak Danish or South Jutlandic at home but use German as their cultural language. Although Denmark ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2000, which stipulates the right of the German minority to use their own forms of geographical names, no steps had been taken in this direction as of November 2008.

Outside the minority area German is used by members of St. Peter's parish in Copenhagen. 24 German kindergartens and 18 German schools are maintained by the German School and Language Association.

Interest in German language

Throughout the 20th century, especially after World War II, German lost ground to English, and German ceased to be a mandatory foreign language. Awareness of Germany, its culture, and its societal conditions has declined, with limited media encouragement due to underrepresentation of German-language TV channels compared to English-language ones. Negative attitudes toward Germany from earlier generations have also largely faded, yet motivation to learn the German language has as well.