Stork Fountain Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Stork Fountain at Amagertorv sits at the intersection of Stroget and Kobmagergade, making it one of the most central landmarks in Copenhagen. It was created as a gift to Crown Prince Frederik (later Frederik VIII) and Crown Princess Louise for their silver wedding anniversary in 1894.

Three storks stand atop the fountain, each poised to take flight in a different direction. Below them, a nine-sided stone basin surrounds a bronze bowl, with frogs perched on dock leaves spewing jets of water around the central pedestal, which is decorated with reliefs of aquatic plants.

There was a long-running debate about whether the birds were actually herons, not storks. In 2008, the Danish Ornithological Society settled the matter once and for all: they are indeed storks, just as the name suggests.

The fountain has generated one of Copenhagen's most charming traditions. Since 1950, newly graduated Danish midwives have celebrated their qualification by dancing, wading, and sometimes fully splashing in the fountain's basin. The tradition makes perfect sense when you think about it: storks deliver babies, and midwives deliver babies, so the fountain became their unofficial graduation venue.

Amagertorv itself is one of Copenhagen's oldest and most beautiful squares, and the Stork Fountain serves as its natural gathering point. Locals and visitors alike use it as a meeting spot, a place to rest, or simply a landmark to orient themselves in the city center.

A Questo quest through Copenhagen's historic heart uses landmarks like this one as waypoints, connecting the stories behind familiar sights into a journey of discovery.