Danish Export

Danish Export (Dansk Eksport) is a heirloom field tomato developed around 1881-1891 by a danish gardener named Mathias Kristensen (1854-1923). He ran a successful market garden / seed farm on the island Amager, then just outside the city of Copenhagen, Denmark.

The variety produces a good amount of medium sized bright red tomatoes (60-110g) with firm flesh and a slightly globe shape.

The flavour is sweet and juicy with a classic tomato taste. It is a great slicer in salads, sandwiches etc. The sweetness is said to be enhanced when processed into sauces, salsas, or cooked dishes.

The plants fruit well even in cooler climates. They can be grown in sheltered areas outdoors or under cover.

The vines get heavy when fruiting and the plant needs to be supported by a stake. Side shoots also need to be removed.

Additional information
Most sources say Dansk Export is older than 1912 but that they don’t know how much or who created it. This is because the oldest commonly known reference is in the 2nd edition of “Nordisk Illustreret Havebrugsleksikon” (Nordic Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture) published in 1910-12.

We could not find the 2nd edition to read what is written there. However, the 3rd edition from 1920 is available online via Project Runeberg. This is what is said about Dansk Export:

“Dansk Export and Amager Torv tomatoes are excellent early varieties […]. They have arisen through selection in the tomato fields here near Copenhagen. The first is probably the most beautiful in colour and also the earliest, but Amager Torv is the most fruitful and the shape of the fruits is very uniform and regular, smooth, round, and firm in the flesh. These two varieties can certainly be said to be the best for Danish conditions in open-field cultivation.”

While hard to find, there are in fact more clues about the origin available online.

Clue 1. The Danish seed saving association “Landsforeningen Frøsamlerne”  claim that the variety was developed by the gardener Mathias Kristensenen around 1880 from imported seeds. Mathias lived on the island Amager, then just outside of Copenhagen which matches the 1910-12 reference.

Clue 2. An article from a local historical association of the area backs up the claim. They say Mathias Kristensenen was very successful and bought the farm “Ny Kastrupgård”. They also note that he imported tomato seeds to create a field tomato suitable for the Nordic climate which he called Dansk Export.

Clue 3 The last piece of the puzzle is an article written by Mathias son, Oluf Kristensen, about the Kristensen family history. Oluf recalls that his father was one of the first in Denmark to be interested in field tomatoes. Mathias therefore had to import tomato seeds from Ernst Benary’s seed company in Erfurt, Germany. He bought most of the available tomato varieties and proceeded to grow them in a field at home. He saved seeds from the best performing plants which eventually became a variety he called “Dansk Eksport”. This quickly became popular and came to dominate the commercial tomato market in Denmark. Other sources confirm that the variety was in wide use in the Nordics until around 1950-1960.

There are digital copies of some of Benary’s old catalogues available online that makes it possible for us to get a glimpse of what Mathias might have seen and bought, e.g. this copy from 1885.