What Elk Horn is known for
Elk Horn is an Iowa town of 601 people at the 2020 census, and it is known for the Danish Windmill: a mill built in Denmark in 1848, just north of Nørre Snede, that arrived in pieces in 1976 and was rebuilt by more than 300 local volunteers. The windmill describes itself as the only working Danish windmill in the United States.
The land before Danish settlement
Western Iowa, which includes Shelby County, was ceded in an 1830 treaty by a group of tribes that included the Missouria, Omaha and Otoe. The Potawatomi and Winnebago, removed into Iowa only a short time before, were removed again and had left the state by 1846 and 1848, respectively. Danish immigrants began settling Elk Horn and neighboring Kimballton in the 1870s, and in 1878 Kristian Ostergaard founded the Elk Horn Hojskole, the first Danish folk school in America.
An idea from a trip overseas
The folk school moved to Blair, Nebraska, in 1896. Elk Horn was platted in 1901 and incorporated in 1910, and its population peaked at 746 in 1980, while Shelby County fell from 17,932 in 1900 to 11,746 in 2020. In 1975 Harvey Sornson, as the windmill’s site names him, came home from a trip overseas with the idea of bringing an authentic windmill to Elk Horn; an independent Iowa history account calls him Henry Sornson, a local farmer. The Danish Mill Corporation, the nonprofit that operates the windmill, was established in 1975.
Bought, shipped and rebuilt
The windmill’s site says the community rallied around the project, raising funds, and one account itemizes $11,000 to buy the mill, $14,000 to dismantle it and $8,000 to ship it. The disassembled mill arrived in Elk Horn on February 4, 1976, a year before Denmark banned windmill exports, and more than 300 local volunteers rebuilt it with no professional help. Its grounds also hold Bedstemor’s House, built in 1908, and VikingHjem, a replica of a Viking-age dwelling from about 900 CE.
A museum, a festival and what the sites leave out
In 1983 a Danish American Heritage Society committee chose Elk Horn and Kimballton for a Danish immigrant museum, and that July the Elk Horn Lutheran Church donated 20 acres. The museum opened in June 1994 and, as the Museum of Danish America, holds more than 35,000 artifacts. Tivoli Fest is held every Memorial Day weekend, and the 2026 festival was the 46th annual Tivoli Fest, also marking the 50th anniversary of the windmill’s arrival.
The claim to be the only working Danish windmill in the country rests partly on timing, since Denmark stopped windmill exports in 1977. The windmill’s and the museum’s own sites do not mention the Missouria, Omaha, Otoe, Potawatomi or Winnebago.
Questions people ask about Elk Horn
Why is there a Danish windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa?
Danish immigrants settled Elk Horn and neighboring Kimballton from the 1870s. In 1975 a resident, Harvey Sornson by the windmill's own account, came home from a trip overseas with the idea of bringing an authentic windmill to Elk Horn. The mill, built in Denmark in 1848, arrived in pieces on February 4, 1976.
Is it the only working Danish windmill in the United States?
The Danish Windmill describes itself as the only working Danish windmill in the United States. That claim rests partly on timing: Denmark banned the export of windmills in 1977, after Elk Horn's mill had already left the country.
Who rebuilt the Elk Horn windmill?
More than 300 local volunteers rebuilt the mill, with no professional help, after its pieces arrived in Elk Horn on February 4, 1976. The Danish Mill Corporation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 1975, operates the windmill.
What is the Museum of Danish America?
A museum of Danish immigrant heritage in Elk Horn, first called the Danish Immigrant Museum. It broke ground in 1988, opened to the public in June 1994 and took its present name on October 11, 2013. Its permanent collection holds more than 35,000 artifacts.
When is Tivoli Fest in Elk Horn?
Every Memorial Day weekend. Tivoli Fest, Elk Horn and Kimballton's Danish heritage festival, features traditional Danish foods such as aebleskiver and smorrebrod, folk dancing, Viking battle reenactments, a parade and fireworks. The 2026 festival, held May 22 to 24, was the 46th and marked 50 years since the windmill's arrival.