2012 in Denmark

Events from the year 2012 in the Denmark.

Incumbents

 * Monarch – Margrethe II
 * Prime minister – Helle Thorning Schmidt

Events

 * 1 January – Denmark takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for a six-month term.
 * 15 June – Same-sex marriage legalised in Denmark.

Architecture

 * 10 January – Bjarke Ingels Group's 8 House receives one of nine AIA Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects.
 * 2 March – Henning Larsen Architects' Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík and C. F. Møller Architects' Hospice Djursland receive two out of eight 2012 Civic Trust Awards given to projects outside the UK.
 * 23 March – 3XN's Stadshuis Nieuwegein is inaugurated in the Netherlands.
 * 29 May – COBE receives the Nykredit Architecture Prize at Nykredit's head office in Copenhagen.
 * 23 October – Henning Larsen receives the Praemium Imperiale Award for Architecture at a ceremony in Tokyo.

Film

 * 8 January – Lars von Trier's Melancholia is selected as the Best Film of 2011 by the US Society of Film Critics.
 * 29 January – At the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Mads Matthiesen wins the World Cinema Directing Award for his debut film Teddy Bear and the World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary goes to Lars Skree for his work on the Danish documentary Putin's Kiss.
 * 12 February – Nicolas Winding Refn's film Drive is nominated for Best Film at the 65th British Academy Film Awards but the award goes to The Artist.
 * 18 February – At the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, the Danish period drama A Royal Affair takes two prizes when Nickolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg wins a Silver Bear for Best Script and Mikkel Boe Følgsgaard wins a Silver Bear for Best Actor.
 * 3 March – The 65th Bodil Awards are held in the Bremen Theatre in Copenhagen, Melancholia wins the award for Best Danish Film of the previous year.
 * 16–27 May – 2012 Cannes Film Festival: Thomas Vinterberg's film The Hunt premiers in competition and the Danish animated student film Slug Invasion is part of the Cinéfoundation program.
 * 25 May – The Hunt win the Cannes Film Festival.
 * 27 May – Mads Mikkelsen wins the award for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in The Hunt.
 * 1 December – Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm wins the award for Best Screenwriter at the 25th European Film Awards.

Media

 * 10 February – Laerke Posselt wins the award for Best Portrait at the 2012 World Press Photo Contest for her portrait of the Iranian-born Danish actress Mellica Mehraban taken while she apprenticed at Politiken. Jan Dagø from Jyllands-Posten wins 3rd prize in the People in the News (Stories) category for a photo series from the Tahrir Square in Cairo.
 * 24 April – Borgen and The Killing (season two) are two of the three nominees for Best International YV Series when the nominations for the 2012 British Academy Television Awards are announced.
 * 27 May – Borgen wins the award for Best International TV Series at the 2012 British Academy Television Awards.

Sport

 * 27 July – 12 August – Denmark at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Badminton

 * 16–21 April – With three gold medals, two silver medals and four bronze medals, Denmark finishes as the best nation at the 2012 European Badminton Championships.

Cycling

 * 7 February – Marc Hester (DEN) and Iljo Keisse (BEL) win the Six Days of Copenhagen six-day track cycling race.
 * 5 May – 2012 Giro d'Italia begins in Herning, Denmark.
 * 17 May – Lars Bak wins the 12th stage of 2012 Giro d'Italia.

Football

 * 17 May – FC Copenhagen wins the 2011–12 Danish Cup by defeating AC Horsens 1–0 in the 2012 Danish Cup Final.
 * 23 May – FC Nordsjælland wins the 2011–12 Danish Superliga by defeating AC Horsens 3–0 in Farum Park after passing FC Copenhagen in the table in the previous round.

Golf

 * 1 April – Thorbjørn Olesen wins Sicilian Open on the 2012 European Tour.

Handball

 * 29 January – Denmark wins the 2012 European Men's Handball Championship after defeating Serbia in the final.
 * 1 March – Mikkel Hansen is named the World's Best Handball Player by the IHF after receiving 31% of the votes.

Motorsports

 * 14 July – Denmark wins the 2012 Speedway World Cup.

Other

 * 28 February – Frans Nielsen reaches 300 matches in NHL for New York Islanders in a match against Washington Capitals.

Births

 * 24 January – Countess Athena of Monpezat

January–March

 * 1 January – Anders Frandsen, singer and television presenter (born 1960)
 * 15 January – Ib Spang Olsen, writer and illustrator (born 1921)
 * 6 February – Erik Reitzel, engineer (born 1941)
 * 19 March
 * Marianne Grøndahl, photographer (born 1938)
 * Hanne Borchsenius, film actress (born 1935)
 * 22 March – Kirsten Passer, film actress (born 1930)

April–June

 * 16 April – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, shipping magnate (born 1913)
 * 6 May – Jan Trøjborg, politician (born 1955)

July–September

 * 29 July – John Stampe, footballer (born 1957)
 * 11 August – Henning Moritzen, actor (born 1928)
 * 2 September – Le Klint, designer (born 1920)
 * 21 September – Sven Hazel, author (born 1917)

October–December

 * 8 October – John Tchicai, saxophonist and composer (born 1936)
 * 22 December – Mira Wanting, film actress (born 1978)