ocean just east of the drying grounds.
Unfortunately, the influx of fishermen made hard on the fishing, and several families could not catch enough fish to both sustain a living and pay the taxes. In 1632, only 18 families were left. This stabilized the conditions somewhat, and in 1682, the number was up to 30, according to the records of Christian V. A new problem was present, though. The shifting sand would bury boats and nets, and had to be shoveled away, delaying the real work somewhat. Part of the eastern side of the town was even deserted as a few houses had gradually been buried under dunes.
South of the town was Nellerupgård, the local manor, home to Carl Christian Lembach and Catrine Marie Milan (a descendant of Gabriel Milan) in the late 18th century. They owned most of the land in the area, especially after extracting "their" parts of the common pasture, letting the common citizens get the furthermost areas.
During the 1810s and 20s, the city expanded a lot, and many new houses were built in the eastern area that had once been abandoned. A real harbor was built in 1873, where the drying ground had been. This meant larger ships and thus more jobs, making more people move to the town. In 1890, the town was at 865 households, 112 of which were fishermen.
The outer harbor was finished in 1902, and Gilleleje continued to thrive on its fishing until 1941 when the Germans occupied Denmark. Like most other Danes at the time, the Gillelejere were against the oppression and helped the Jews by hiding them various places in the town. However, on October 2, 1943, the Gestapo set out to capture all Danish Jews. The Jews in Gilleleje were hid on the church-loft, and the fishermen prepared for taking them across the sound to Sweden in their cutters. They could not leave immediately, though, because of the German patrols in the street. After several days of hiding, an informer let the Germans know where the roughly 75 Jews were hiding, and
