Qaqortoq

Qaqortoq means ‘white’ in Greenlandic. One explanation is that the river with the vast amounts of trout was well attended by gulls that made up an impressive white spectacle when people approached, and the many gulls took off. Another is that the old settlement was located on very light rocks (at the current reserve power plant).

History and geography of Qaqortoq

The area has in all likelihood been inhabited by the Norse, but the Danish name Julianehåb is in honour of widowed queen Juliane Marie (widow of King Frederik V) and was given by Norwegian merchant Anders Olsen at the founding of the colony in 1775.

From the beginning, the Danish mission was in competition with the Moravians to Christianise the population of the region. The Moravians settled in Imerissoq in 1774 and named their mission field Lichtenau.

Julianehåb soon became an important hub throughout the region for trade, mission and mineral extraction. Throughout the 19th century, the geology was mapped and small mines were started. It stopped in the early 1900s, but interest still exists. The colony established the test stations Nordprøven (now Narsaq) in 1830 and the Sydprøven (now Alluitsup Paa) in 1850.

Over the years, Tasersuaq (Storesøen) northwest of the town has been a favourite place of residence, with berries along the shore and trout in the lake. In the middle of the lake lies Allagarsivit (Kongestenen), where Anders Olsen engraved his name in 1777. Several royal monograms adorn the stone, albeit they have hardly ever been there. Tasersuaq is, then as now, the town’s primary drinking water supply.

In 1929, a sheep slaughterhouse was built for the autumn slaughtering; for the rest of the year, it served as a fish factory. The slaughterhouse introduced canned food to the local population, which was a major advance for food storage, which had otherwise traditionally been done by drying fish and meat. Every household received a tin opener, and the slaughterhouse distributed meat and fish recipes to the locals. The slaughterhouse soon became too small, moving to Narsaq in 1955.

Qaqortoq was and is characterised by the short river dividing the town in two. In colonial times, the Greenland houses were typically located on the western side of the river, the houses of the colony on the eastern side.

The town is located in a hollow facing the fjord south of the town. The location inside the fjord and the high mountains around the town provides good protection against foehn, northerly and westerly winds. The climate is mild, with an average of 7.5°C in summer and -0.1°C in winter. There is some precipitation (972 mm/year), most in autumn and least in spring.

Development and infrastructure of Qaqortoq

In the post-war years, the population of Qaqortoq increased. People from the settlements moved to the town to accommodate the need for labour in the factories and in the administration, just as the amendment of the Danish Constitutional Act in 1953 brought about a significant increase in Danish clerks who were to start a municipal administration. The town grew rapidly, primarily to the north and east. In 1938, there were 708 inhabitants, by 1960 the population had increased to 1,521.

To the north lies the district of Illoqarfittaaq (‘the new town’), originally dominated by classic blocks of flats built by the Greenland Technical Organisation (GTO) during the modernisation. Several multi-storey housing block and terraced houses came into being in the period leading up to the 1980s. Two run-down GTO housing blocks were redeveloped in 2021. The district also includes the sports arena from 1973 and the Sulisartut Højskoliat (folk high school) from 1977. The college took over the GTO’s barracks, which had been used by workmen from Denmark.

To the east are residential neighbourhoods with private houses between retirement homes, shops and administration buildings. In the 1960s, the housing development reached the hill towards Alleriisanngivit, and the town gradually advanced up the hill. In 1964, the Danish Princess Benedikte came to Qaqortoq and the road up the hill was named ‘Prinsesse Benediktesvej’. In 2011, the old gravel football field was renovated and Greenland’s first artificial turf field, inaugurated by FIFA’s then president, Sepp Blatter, was a reality.

The port area has a container terminal, a fish factory, a shipyard as well as the country’s only tannery, Great Greenland. At the beginning, the tannery was in private hands, but is owned today by the Government of Greenland. The primary focus is the procurement and tanning of sealskins, while the sewing room has been reduced to about 10 % of the size of previous times. The fish factory has had various owners in recent decades and has alternately processed cod, shrimp and pelagic species. To survive, the town’s yard invited several functions under the same roof and today also houses a contracting company.

The old port warehouse has served, among other things, as a trade office, post office, travel agency and now houses Innovation South Greenland (business development) and the office of UNESCO Kujataa.

Anders Olsensvej is the town’s main street with two supermarkets, town hall, self-government administration, bank, post office, hotel, settlement hall, church, restaurant and bar – and the old retirement home from 1953. The regional hospital in Qaqortoq has approximately 60 employees in two departments and accommodates 18 patients. The hospital has responsibility for all settlements in the municipality and health centres in Narsaq and Nanortalik.

Since 2008, Qaqortoq has been supplied with electricity from the Qorlortorsuaq hydropower plant about 45 km east of the town. The heat comes from a combination of waste incineration and a conventional cogeneration plant, supplemented by electric heating from Qorlortorsuaq. A waterworks located at the mouth of Tasersuaq Lake supplies the town’s drinking water. Electricity, water and heat are provided by Nukissiorfiit. The entire town is fully sewered with a few exceptions in small industrial areas on the outskirts of the town. Qaqortoq was one of the first towns to have a submarine cable, allowing Tussas (formerly Tele Post Greenland) to provide high-speed internet and telephony to the town.

Disko Line has daily connections with fast small boats to Narsarsuaq and Narsaq, and Air Greenland has several weekly connections to Narsarsuaq and Narsaq by helicopter and to Nanortalik a few times a week. Arctic Umiaq Line’s coastal passenger ship sails north each week. Air transport to the rest of the country is via Narsarsuaq, with Air Greenland typically having two-to-three weekly connections to Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq and in summer a weekly service to Copenhagen, just as Air Iceland operates Narsarsuaq in summer. Outside of the summer season, all passenger transport from Qaqortoq to abroad takes place across Kangerlussuaq. The Government of Greenland has decided to build a domestic airport in Qaqortoq with capacity for close overseas destinations, such as Iceland and Iqaluit in Canada. Funding for the airport finally fell into place in Inatsisartut (Parliament) towards the end of 2021. Royal Arctic Line arrives at Qaqortoq once a week, and from here there is connection by a small ship to the municipality’s settlements.

Distinctive character of Qaqortoq

The square in the historic part of Qaqortoq is the natural centre of the town, and the fountain in the middle of the square, established by master carpenter Pavia Høegh in 1930, is the town’s hallmark.

At the square is the old colonial manager’s building from 1804, where the colonial manager lived on the ground floor, while the Royal Greenland Trading Department Handel (KGH) for almost 100 years had its shop on the first floor. In the attic was KGH’s office until Qaqortoq Museum took over the building.

The small red building next to the museum, Qaqortup Katersugaasivia, is the old governant house from 1856. The governorships, the first step towards democracy in Greenland, were elected Greenlandic men who were allowed to discuss the future of the colony and the region. When home rule came in 1979, Greenland Premier Jonathan Motzfeldt decided to mark the event in the governor’s building.

The old brewhouse from 1871, which is now home of Kujataamiu Nutaaq, is also located at the square, and the major extension was KGH’s bakery from 1948. Today, a private company producing skin creams based on Greenlandic ingredients has taken over the building.

Beneath the former bakery is the old shop dating from 1900. The first building became too small for the needs, so already in 1901 came an extension that doubled the area of the shop. The colony shop moved in here – after nearly 100 years in the attic of the colonial manager’s residence.

On the east side of the river are the settlement hall from 1937 and the public bath from 1933 with facing walls clad with Igaliku sandstone.

The 1920s marked a period of change, with the building style moving from peat to wood, and self-build houses were erected in place of the 30 or so original peat houses.

Qaqortoq is the educational centre of the region, and in the ‘school neighbourhood’, west of the river are the Majoriaq educational consultancy, the high school, the primary school, the business school and the library of the old primary school from 1909. Between the school neighbourhood and Qapiarfiusaaq (Radiofjeldet) to the south is the town cemetery.

The Church of Our Savior along the west side of the river was erected in 1832 as assembly sets produced in Drammen in Norway. On Anders Olsensvej is the town’s new church, Gertrud Rask’s Kirke, erected in white concrete and consecrated in 1973.

Facing the coast is the old saltery from 1933, today a shop with fishing and hunting equipment. On a chute from the river to the saltery, hunters and fishermen could clean the catch of the day and sell it to the saltery. For the sale they received ‘annotations’ — the predecessor of money. For these annotations, one could, for example, go to the sales stall nextdoor and, carefully meted out from a board divided by lines, buy fish or meat. Therefore, sales points for freshly caught produce in Greenland are called ‘Brættet’ (the board).

In 1993‑1994, the local artist Aka Høegh made the art project Stone and Man. Here she invited artists from across the Nordic countries to design sculptures in rocks and freestanding stones around the town. It resulted in about 30 sculptures which give Qaqortoq a unique cultural expression. Aka Høegh has also decorated the chimney of the power plant, the old yard canteen and the high school aula.

For over 40 years, Qaqortoq has had solstice celebrations. Musicians, street entertainers, magicians and theatre actors have visited the town every year in the week leading up to Greenland’s National Day, coinciding with the longest day of the year.

Further reading

• Education
• Health and care
• Industry and labour market
• Infrastructure
• Kommune Kujalleq
• Museums of cultural history and heritage
• Nanortalik
• Narsaq
• Narsarsuaq
• Population and demographics
• Towns and settlements

Read more about the Municipalities and towns in Greenland