Church of Our Lady (Copenhagen)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For Church of Our Lady in Aarhus see Church of Our Lady (Aarhus)

Church of Our Lady seen from Rundetårn.

The Church of Our Lady (Danish: Vor Frue Kirke) is the cathedral of Copenhagen. It is situated on Vor Frue Plads and next to the main building of the University of Copenhagen.

The present day version of the church was designed by the architect Christian Frederik Hansen in the neoclassical style and was completed in 1829.

1 The present church
2 History
3 Royal events in the church
4 Broadcasts
5 External links

[edit] The present church

Statues by Bertel Thorvaldsen depicting Jesus and the Apostles

The building measures 83 m in length and 33 m in width. The interior of the nave is 60 m long and over 25 m from floor to ceiling. With all galleries open, the church can seat more than 1100 people. The tower is 60 m high and houses the four church bells (Stormklokken weighs 4 tons and is the largest bell in Denmark. The smallest bell in the tower, used at morning service among other occasions, is the oldest bell in the country, dating from 1490 and taken from Antvorskov Klosterkirke).

The pediment is decorated with bronzes of Jesus and the Apostles. The interior is likewise decorated with the twelve apostles, Jesus and an angel, all in Italian marble. All of these sculptures were completed in Rome by the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.

In the aisles, a bronze bust of Bertel Thorvaldsen, modelled by Herman Wilhelm Bissen, is on display along with many portraits of bishops and deans.

[edit] History

The spire of the Church of Our Lady on fire in 1807 as painted by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg. (Rundetårn and the Trinitatis complex is seen to the left of the Church of Our Lady.)

Construction of the Cathedral began in 1256. According to the official guide book, the nave was completed in 1304 followed by completion of the choir in 1388. Due to a lack of money, the great central tower was not built until the late 16th century.

The medieval cathedral (Vor Frue Kirke--Our Lady's Church) along with a large portion of the rest of the city burned down at the Copenhagen Fire of 1728. It was reconstructed in 1738 but in the early 19th Century it fell victim to the bombardments of the Battle of Copenhagen (1807) and burnt following a Congreve rocket attack by the British fleet commanded by Admiral James Gambier.

At this point, Denmark's finest architect, Christian Frederik Hansen, redesigned the cathedral along with the city magistrate (off of Nytorv, a few blocks away) in the neoclassical style and due to lack of ressources he incorporated elements of the original design and surviving wall structure.

Major renovation organized by Professor Vilhelm Wohlert in 1977-79 removed various additions that had accrued in the interior of the church over the years. A new large central organ was completed in 1995, with a choir organ added in 2002.

[edit] Royal events in the church

1363 - The wedding of Margaret I of Denmark and Håkon VI of Norway
October 28, 1449 - The crowning and marriage of king Christian I of Denmark and queen Dorothea of Brandenburg.
1536? - The crowning of king Christian III of Denmark.
1559 - The crowning of king Frederick II of Denmark.
August 17, 1596 - The crowning of king Christian IV of Denmark.
1648 - The crowning of king Frederick III of Denmark.
May 14, 2004 - The wedding of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark and Mary Elizabeth Donaldson

[edit] Broadcasts

Danmarks Radio broadcasts a morning act of worship from the cathedral every day except Sundays between 8.07 and 8.30 local time, and makes a recording of the latest transmission available via the internet [1].