Hans Egede Statue

This tribute to Hans Egede symbolizes the historical significance and cultural heritage and enduring legacy of the Danish-Norwegian missionary.

The placement of Hans Egede’s statue at a prominent location in Nuuk‘s Colonial Harbour neighborhood has called for controversy for the past 50 years. It stands on a small hill next to the red wooden Church of Our Saviour, facing south towards the Island of Hope, where he originally built his mission. Hans Egede came to Greenland and colonized the country in 1721. In the wake of the worldwide demonstrations for Black Lives Matter and against former colonizers, the statues of Hans Egede in Nuuk and Copenhagen were splashed with red, and the word “DECOLONIZE” was also written on them. However, following a local referendum, where the people of Nuuk voted to keep the statue in its current location, it has been decided not to move it to a less prominent place. The statue was erected 100 years ago following a Greenlandic initiative, so it was not placed in Nuuk by outsiders but by the citizens of Nuuk, thanking him for bringing Christianity to Greenland.