Hårbølle

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Hårbølle is a small harbour village on the Danish island of Møn, about 5 km south of Store Damme. It’s in Fanefjord parish, Vordingborg Municipality. Today it’s a popular harbour for pleasure boats and a summer house resort because of its sandy beaches.

The area goes back to prehistoric times, with late Stone Age flint daggers and a Bronze Age grave found nearby. The first written mention is from the early 1500s, but the village was probably founded in the 11th century after the Wends were defeated and forests were cleared. Early inhabitants likely came from Damme to raise cattle or work in forestry. A riding school opened in 1727, and a school in 1885. The harbour used to have steamship routes to Bogø, Stubbekøbing and Masnedsund, with rail links to Copenhagen.

Hårbølle became an official village in 1769, with about 20 farmers and 15 other house owners. By the late 1800s it had two general stores (one stayed open until around 1960) and a dairy from 1909 to 1943. The Hårbølle Stone Mines opened in 1901 and are now known as Daneflint; they are the largest local employer, quarrying stones from land and sea nearby.

In 2011 a new Hårbølle Dairy was started by Per Sørup, making handmade cheeses and other dairy products for Danish fine restaurants such as Noma, Geranium, Alchemist and Frederiksminde.