The people behind Dansk Cottage
Dansk Cottage means far more to us than just a house. It's a project close to our hearts – a love letter to Ærø, the special island that has accompanied us for many years and has long since become a place we keep coming back to, quite literally.
We are Arndt and Jan and we live in Hamburg. Professionally, we actually come from completely different worlds – our everyday work originally had very little to do with holiday-home rentals, architecture or tourism.
Arndt works full-time as an SAP consultant in IT. And as if the Dansk Cottage project weren't big enough already, he also built this website himself on the side: concept, content, design and technical implementation are 100 percent his own work – created mostly in the evenings and on many weekends.
That's part of Dansk Cottage for us too. A lot of it isn't simply bought in or handed off to someone else, but thought through, tried out and implemented ourselves. Step by step. With a lot of time, sometimes patience too – but above all with enthusiasm.
Maybe that's exactly why Dansk Cottage has become what it is today: not a coolly calculated project, but something born from an idea, from genuine connection, and with a great deal of passion.
We've known and loved Ærø for many years through sailing. Our boat “Felix” has now been moored in Søby for four years. Because of that, Ærø has long since become more than just a destination for us – the island is a fixed part of our lives.
We've lain in the harbour countless times, experienced the island from the water, by bike and on foot, met people, discovered restaurants, enjoyed summer evenings, and again and again felt that special feeling: something here is different. Maybe it's the calm. Maybe the light. Maybe the openness, the nature, the small places, the closeness to the sea, or the particular kind of people. Probably it's all of it together.
At some point, this love for the island turned into the wish to create a place of our own on Ærø. A place where we could bring together everything we love ourselves: Scandinavian design, natural materials, good food, cosiness, quality, beautiful materials, and that special feeling of being at ease from the very first moment. That's how Dansk Cottage came about.
We didn't want to build an ordinary holiday home. It mattered to us that every detail was chosen with care – from the materials to the furniture, the lighting and the kitchen, right through to the sauna, the terrace and the garden. We searched for a lot of things, compared them, discarded some and decided on others again. Not because everything has to be perfect, but because it has to feel right to us.
A really important part of that, for us, is the theme of enjoyment. For Arndt, cooking has been a great passion for many years – not just a hobby, but something that brings together creativity, joy and people. Whether for two people or a bigger group: good food means community, time together and enjoyment to us.
This passion for cooking even took Arndt, in spring 2026, onto the well-known ZDF show “Die Küchenschlacht” for several days. A special experience that fits very well with what cooking means to him: trying things out, creating, enjoying, and making other people happy with good food.
Cooking is simply part of sailing for us too. In a small space, some of the loveliest evenings happen: chopping vegetables together, a glass of wine, good conversation, and in the end a meal you remember for a long time.
Jan has his very own culinary passion too: making graved salmon. Jan owns the Hamburg-based Hamburger Fischwerker manufactory, where extraordinary salmon variations are created with a lot of handwork, creativity and a fine sense for flavour.
The fact that Ærø has long had a firm place in our hearts shows even there: Jan dedicated a creation of his own to the island – the “Graved Lachs Ærø”. A salmon that, to us, tastes a little like the island: with roasted walnuts, aquavit, fennel and fine lemon zest. Nordic, aromatic, fresh and special – just like how we experience Ærø.
For us, that's more than just a product. It's a small culinary tribute to the island that has given us so much over the years.
Because we like to share this passion with our guests, it's meant to be a concrete part of the welcome at Dansk Cottage: new guests will find a small selection of different Graved Lachs flavours from Hamburger Fischwerker waiting for them in the freezer, free of charge – along with a good Ærø beer.
Simply as a small welcome gift from us. Not as a big extra, but as a personal gesture: arrive, unpack, maybe enjoy something special on the very first evening, and get a first, small taste of what we ourselves associate with Ærø – good food, Nordic flavours, hospitality and enjoyment.
This shared love of cooking, good ingredients and mindful enjoyment should be tangible at Dansk Cottage too. That's why we placed great importance on a kitchen where you can't just cook somehow, but really enjoy doing it: for long breakfasts, cooking together, raclette evenings, fondue, fresh oranges in the morning, good coffee, and maybe, one day, the odd dish you try for the very first time on holiday.
For us, a holiday home is special when you don't feel like you're staying in holiday accommodation, but genuinely feel at home for a while. That's exactly the feeling we want to give our guests.
Dansk Cottage should be a place where you open the door in the morning and feel the fresh air of Ærø. Where you head to the sauna after a long day at the beach. Where you sit on the terrace in summer, cook together, laugh, and don't want the evening to end too soon. And a place you might one day look back on and say: we'd love to go there again.
We're not doing this project because it's our job. We're doing it because it brings us joy.
Dansk Cottage is our love letter to Ærø. And we're really looking forward to sharing this special place with our guests soon.
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