Assistens Cemetery (Copenhagen)
Details | |
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Established | 1760 |
Location | Nørrebro, Copenhagen |
Country | Denmark |
Size | 25 hectares |
Website | www.assistens.dk |
Assistens Cemetery (Danish: Assistens Kirkegård) in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the burial site of many Danish notables as well as an important greenspace in the Nørrebro district. Inaugurated in 1760, it was originally a burial site for the poor laid out to relieve the crowded graveyards inside the walled city, but during the Golden Age in the first half of the 19th century it became fashionable and many leading figures of the epoch, such as Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, and Christen Købke are all buried here.
Late in the 19th century, as Assistens Cemetery had itself become crowded, a number of new cemeteries were established around Copenhagen, including Vestre Cemetery, but through the 20th century, it continued to attract notable people. Among the latter are the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr and a number of American jazz musicians who settled in Copenhagen during the 1950s and 1960s, including Ben Webster and Kenny Drew.
An assistenskirkegård (meaning "assistance cemetery") is originally a generic term in Danish, used to refer to cemeteries which were laid out to assist existing burial sites, usually those located in urban settings in connection with churches, and therefore a number of cemeteries by the same name are found around Denmark.
The cemetery is one of five run by Copenhagen Municipality; the other cemeteries are Vestre Cemetery, , , and Bispebjerg Cemetery.
History[]
Background[]
In Medieval times intramural interment was the rule although outdoor graveyards gradually became more common. In 1666 the Naval Holmen Cemetery was moved from its original location at Holmen Church to a site outside the Eastern City Gate as the first burial facility to be located outside the city.[1]
An outbreak of plague in 1711 which killed an estimated 23,000 citizens put the existing burial sites under so much pressure that up to five coffins were sometimes buried on top of each other. This led to the establishment of five new cemeteries on the periphery of the city, but just inside the city walls, while the military Garrison Cemetery was relocated to a site next to that of Holmen Cemetery.
Establishment of the new cemetery[]
In the 1750s the situation deteriorated even further and in a letter of 2 May 1757 the City Council proposed to the Chancellery that a large new cemetery be built for the city's parishes outside the city walls. After some negotiations it was decided to place it outside the Northern City Gate and on 26 May 1757 the new facility was founded by Royal charter. The new cemetery was inaugurated on 6 November 1760. It was enclosed by a wall built by Philip de Lange.[1]
Originally the cemetery was intended as a burial ground for paupers. In 1785 an affluent citizen, astronomic writer and First Secretary of the War Chancellery Johan Samuel Augustin, made specific requests to be interred at the cemetery, in his codicil stating that "Mein Begräbnis soll auf dem Armen-Kirchhofe vor dem Norderthor seyn, wesfalls ich sehon mit Mr. Simon, der dort Gräber ist, gesprochen habe".[1] He was soon followed by other leading figures from the elite and the cemetery soon developed into the most fashionable burial ground of the city.
A popular excursion spot[]
Around that time, excursions to the cemetery with picnic baskets and tea became a popular activity among common citizens of Copenhagen. In his account of a visit to Copenhagen in 1827, the Swedish poet Karl August Nicander fondly remembers Assistens Cemetery:[1]
In order to enjoy another softer, quieter celebration, I walked out one evening through Nørre Port (the North Gate) to the so-called Assistens Cemetery. It is certainly one of the most beautiful graveyards in Europe. Leafy trees, dark paths, bright open flowery expanses, temples shaded by poplars, marble tombs overhung by weeping willows, and urns or crosses wrapped in swathes of roses, fragrance and bird song, all transform this place of death into a little paradise.[2]
— Karl August Nicander
The excursions sometimes evolved into rowdy gatherings and legislation was passed to prevent this. A commission established in 1805 issued instructions which prohibited the consumption of food or drink as well as music or any other kind of cheerful behaviour in the cemetery. The gravediggers, who lived on the premises, were to enforce these restrictions but they seem to have taken their duties lightly. Legislation from 1813 prohibited them to sell alcohol to visitors to the cemetery. Despite all these efforts, the desired peace and quiet was a long time in coming. For particularly grand funerals, crowds of spectators would gather, and people would festoon the cemetery walls to get a better view. To reduce numbers of visitors, there was talk of introducing admission fees, but this was never carried out.[3]
Assistens Cemetery today[]
The cemetery is still serving its original purpose as a burial ground but is also a popular tourist attraction, as well as the largest and most important green space in the inner part of the Nørrebro district.
It is divided into sections. The oldest part is Section A and features the graves of Søren Kierkegaard and the painter Christen Købke among others. Section D is dedicated to religious minorities, containing Roman Catholic and Reformed graves as well as Russian graves. Section E is the section which originally served under Church of Our Lady.[1]
Herman Stilling Museum[]
In 2003 an old horse stable in a corner of Assistens Cemetery was converted into a small museum dedicated to writer and artist , a native to the Nørrebro area and mainly known for painting trolls. Apart from the permanent exhibition, the museum also contains an exhibition space for special exhibitions, a picture workshop for children and young people, and a café.[4]
Notable interments[]
- Kjeld Abell
- Nicolai Abildgaard
- Peter Adler Alberti
- Sophie Alberti
- Hans Christian Andersen (buried at the Collin family grave, but the stone was moved to another graveyard in 1914, Frederiksberg Ældre Kirkegård)
- Carl Christoffer Georg Andræ
- Christian Arntzen
- Johan Samuel Augustin
- Peter Georg Bang
- Hans Heinrich Baumgarten
- Andreas Peter Berggreen
- H. W. Bissen
- Andreas Bodenhoff
- Christian Bohr
- Harald Bohr
- Niels Bohr
- Richard Bently Boone
- Ludvig Bødtcher
- Etta Cameron
- Karen Caspersen
- Andreas Clemmensen
- Christoph Cloëtta
- Ferdinand Didrichsen
- Kenny Drew
- William Frederik Duntzfelt
- C.W. Eckersberg
- Erling Eckersberg
- Jakob Ejersbo
- Peter Elfelt
- Otto Evens
- Peter Faber (Danish telegraph specialist)
- Johan Georg Forchhammer
- Hermann Ernst Freund
- Johannes Frederik Frølich
- Ludvig Gade
- Vincenzo Galeotti
- Peter Gemzøe
- Emanuel Gregers
- Søren Gyldendal
- Hugo Gyldmark
- Andreas Hallander
- Christian Hansen
- Dagmar Hansen
- Frantz Johannes Hansen
- Niels Jacob Hansen
- Rasmus Harboe
- C. F. Harsdorff
- Otto Haslund
- Mathilde Malling Hauschultz
- Anker Heegaard
- Henry Heerup
- Betty Hennings
- Henrik Hertz
- Georg Hilker
- N. P. Hillebrandt
- Søren Hjorth
- Holger-Madsen
- C. F. E. Horneman
- Emil Horneman
- Jens Wilken Hornemann
- Valdemar Ingemann
- Birger Jensen
- Frederik Jensen
- Ejner Johansson
- Jens Juel
- Finn Juhl
- Pia Juul
- Karen Jønsson
- Henriette Jørgensen
- Eugen Jørgensen
- Søren Kierkegaard
- August Klein
- Charlotte Klein
- Vilhelm Klein
- Jørgen Hansen Koch
- Thomas Koppel
- Hans Ernst Krøyer
- Henrik Nikolai Krøyer
- Friedrich Kuhlau
- Christen Købke
- Julius Lange
- Jørn Larsen
- Bianco Luno
- Poul de Løvenørn
- Johan Nicolai Madvig
- Finnur Magnússon
- Peter Malberg
- Sonja Ferlov Mancoba
- Anne Marie "madam" Mangor
- Wilhelm Marstrand
- Hans Lassen Martensen
- Lauritz Melchior
- Axel Meyer
- Kate Mundt
- Adam Müller
- Poul Martin Møller
- Valdemar Møller
- Franz Nachtegall
- Niels Sigfred Nebelong
- Niels Neergaard
- Martin Andersen Nexø
- (no longer exists)
- Henriette Nielsen
- Johan Nilsson
- Rasmus Nyerup
- Carl Otto
- Joseph Owen
- Holger Simon Paulli
- Vilhelm Pedersen
- Anna Petersen
- Knud Arne Petersen
- Johan Martin Quist
- Rasmus Rask
- Lauritz Rasmussen
- Louise Ravn-Hansen
- Svend Rindom
- Natasja Saad
- Emilie Sannom
- Jens August Schade
- Claus Schall
- Hans Scherfig
- Peter von Scholten
- Johan Adam Schwartz
- Clara Schønfeld
- Giuseppe Siboni
- Joakim Skovgaard
- P.C. Skovgaard
- Petrine Sonne
- Japetus Steenstrup
- Johannes Steenstrup
- Ernst Wilhelm Stibolt
- Johanne Stockmarr
- Edvard Storm
- Michael Strunge
- Viggo Stuckenberg
- Christian Sørensen
- Thorvald Sørensen
- Emma Thomsen
- Magdalene Thoresen
- Jens Jørgen Thorsen
- Vilhelm Topsøe
- Dan Turèll
- Vilhelm Tvede
- Nils Ufer
- Georg Ulmer
- Georges Ulmer
- Jens Vahl
- Martin Vahl (1749-1804)
- Frederik Vermehren
- Martha Wærn (1741–1812). philanthropist
- Eugen Warming
- Ben Webster
- Clemens Weller
- Caspar Wessel
- Johannes Wiedewelt
- William Christopher Zeise
- Josephine Zinck
- Marie Zinck
- Hans Christian Ørsted
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e "Assistens Kirkegård". Selskabet for Københavns Historie. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
- ^ Translation from Danish by Wikipedia editor Ipigott.
- ^ "10. Assistens Kirkegaard". Golden Days. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
- ^ "Herman Stilling Museum". Realdania. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Assistenskirkegården. |
- Assistens Cemetery's website (in Danish only)
- Copenhagen's cemeteries main site (in Danish only)
- Folder about Assistens Cemetery in English (PDF format)
- Assistens Cemetery at Find A Grave
- Chapel
- CWGC: Odense (Assistens) Cemetery
Coordinates: 55°41′28″N 12°32′58″E / 55.69111°N 12.54944°E
- 1760 establishments in Denmark
- Cemeteries in Copenhagen
- Listed buildings and structures in Nørrebro
- Lutheran cemeteries
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Denmark
- Burials at Assistens Cemetery (Copenhagen)