since 1887, until their removal to the new Glyptotek founded by him in the Vestre Boulevard.
The quarter of Christianshavn is that portion of the city which skirts the harbour to the south, and lies within the fortifications. It contains the Vor Frelsers Kirke (Church of Our Saviour), dedicated in 1696, with a curious steeple 282 ft. high, ascended by an external spiral staircase. The lower part of the altar is composed of Italian marble, with a representation of Christ’s sufferings in the garden of Gethsemane; and the organ is considered the finest in Copenhagen. The city does not extend much farther south, though the Amagerbro quarter lies without the walls. The island of Amager is fertile, producing vegetables for the markets of the capital. It was peopled by a Dutch colony planted by Christian II. in 1516, and many old peculiarities of dress, manners and languages are retained.
The environs of Copenhagen to the north and west are interesting, and the country, both along the coast northward and inland westward is pleasant, though in no way remarkable. The railway along the coast northward passes the seaside resorts of Klampenborg (6 m.) and Skodsborg (10 m.). Near Klampenborg is the Dyrehave (Deer park) or Skoven (the forest), a beautiful forest of beeches. The Zealand Northern railway passes Lyngby, on the lake of the same name, a favourite summer residence, and Hilleröd (21 m.), a considerable town, capital of the amt (county) of Frederiksberg, and close to the palace of Frederiksberg. This was erected in 1602–1620 by Christian IV., embodying two towers of an earlier building, and partly occupying islands in a small lake. It suffered seriously from fire in 1859, but was carefully restored under the direction of F. Meldahl. It contains a national historical museum, including furniture and pictures. The palace church is an interesting medley of Gothic and Renaissance detail. The villa of Hvidöre was acquired by Queen Alexandra in 1907.
Among the literary and scientific associations of Copenhagen may be mentioned the Danish Royal Society, founded in 1742, for the advancement of the sciences of mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy, &c., by the publication of papers and essays; the Royal Antiquarian Society, founded in 1825, for diffusing a knowledge of Northern and Icelandic archaeology; the Society for the Promotion of Danish Literature, for the publication of works chiefly connected with the history of Danish literature; the Natural Philosophy Society; the Royal Agricultural Society; the Danish Church History Society; the Industrial Association, founded in 1838; the Royal Geographical Society, established in 1876; and several musical and other societies. The Academy of Arts was founded by Frederick V. in 1754 for the instruction of artists, and for disseminating a taste for the fine arts among manufacturers and operatives. Attached to it are schools for the study of architecture, ornamental drawing and modelling. An Art Union was founded in 1826, and a musical conservatorium in 1870 under the direction of the composers N. W. Gade and J. P. E. Hartmann.
Among educational institutions, other than the university, may be mentioned the veterinary and agricultural college, established in 1773 and adopted by the state in 1776, the military academy and the school of navigation. Technical instruction is provided by the polytechnic school (1829), which is a state institution, and the school of the Technical Society, which, though a private foundation, enjoys public subvention. The schools which prepare for the university, &c., are nearly all private, but are all under the control of the state. Elementary instruction is mostly provided by the communal schools.
The churches already mentioned belong to the national Lutheran Church; the most important of those belonging to other denominations are the Reformed church, founded in 1688, and rebuilt in 1731, the Catholic church of St Ansgarius, consecrated in 1842, and the Jewish synagogue in Krystalgade, which dates from 1853. Of the monastic buildings of medieval Copenhagen various traces are preserved in the present nomenclature of the streets. The Franciscan establishment gives its name to the Graabrödretorv or Grey Friars’ market; and St Clara’s Monastery, the largest of all, which was founded by Queen Christina, is still commemorated by the Klareboder or Clara buildings, near the present post-office. The Duebrödre Kloster occupied the site of the hospital of the Holy Ghost.
Among the hospitals of Copenhagen, besides many modern institutions, there may be mentioned Frederick’s hospital, erected in 1752–1757 by Frederick V., the Communal Hospital, erected in 1859–1863, on the eastern side of the Sortedamssö, the general hospital in Ameliegade, founded in 1769, and the garrison hospital, in Rigensgade, established in 1816 by Frederick VI. After the cholera epidemic of 1853, which carried off more than 4000 of the inhabitants, the medical association built several ranges of workmen’s houses, and their example was followed by various private capitalists, among whom may be mentioned the Classen trustees, whose buildings occupy an open site on the western outskirts of the city.
Copenhagen is by far the most important commercial town in Denmark, and exemplifies the steady increase in the trade of the country. The harbour is mainly comprised in the narrow strait between the outer Sound and its inlet the Kalvebod or Kallebo Strand. The trading capabilities were aided by the construction in 1894 of the Frihavn (free port) at the northern extremity of the town, well supplied with warehouses and other conveniences. It is connected with the main railway station by means of a circular railway, while a short branch connects it with the ordinary custom-house quay. The commercial harbour is separated from the harbour for warships (Orlogshavn) by a barrier. The sea approaches are guarded by ten coast batteries besides the old citadel. The Middelgrund is a powerful defensive work completed in 1896 and most of the rest are modern. The landward defences of Copenhagen, it may be added, were left unprovided for after the Napoleonic wars until the patriotism of Danish women, who subscribed sufficient funds for the first fort, shamed parliament into granting the necessary money for others (1886–1895). Copenhagen is not an industrial town. The manufactures carried on are mostly only such as exist in every large town, and the export of manufactured goods is inconsiderable. The royal china factory is celebrated for models of Thorvaldsen’s works in biscuit china. The only very large establishment is one for the construction of iron steamers, engines, &c., but some factories have been erected within the area of the free port for the purpose of working up imported raw materials duty free.
History.—Copenhagen (i.e. Merchant’s Harbour, originally simply Havn, latinized as Hafnia) is first mentioned in history in 1043. It was then only a fishing village, and remained so until about the middle of the 12th century, when Valdemar I. presented that part of the island to Axel Hvide, renowned in Danish history as Absalon (q.v.), bishop of Roskilde, and afterwards archbishop of Lund. In 1167 this prelate erected a castle on the spot where the Christiansborg palace now stands, and the building was called after him Axel-huus. The settlement gradually became a great resort for merchants, and thus acquired the name which, in a corrupted form, it still bears, of Kaupmannahöfn, Kjöbmannshavn, or Portus Mercatorum as it is translated by Saxo Grammaticus. In 1186, Bishop Absalon bestowed the castle and village, with the lands of Amager, on the see of Roskilde; but, as the place grew in importance, the Danish kings became anxious to regain it, and in 1245 King Eric IV. drove out Bishop Niels Stigson. On the king’s death (1250), however, Bishop Jacob Erlandsen obtained the town, and, in 1254, gave to the burghers their first municipal privileges, which were confirmed by Pope Urban III. in 1286. In the charter of 1254, while there is mention of a communitas capable of making a compact with the bishop, there is nothing said of any trade or craft gilds. These are, indeed, expressly prohibited in the later charter of Bishop Johann Kvag (1294); and the distinctive character of the constitution of Copenhagen during the middle ages consisted in the absence of the free gild system, and the right of any burgher to pursue a craft under license from the Vogt (advocatus) of the overlord and the city authorities. Later on, gilds were established, in spite of the prohibition of the old charters; but they were strictly subordinate
