Welcome to the second instalment on this series dedicated to the Danish capital city, Copenhagen. This week I'm concentrating on the area around the star shaped fortress known as the Kastellet, built on the 17th century and located on the north side on the city centre just by the sea.
Kastelskirken inside the Kastellet, Copenhagen, Denmark
Barracks inside Kastellet, Copenhagen, Denmark
If you see the Kastellet fortress from the air it is shaped like an almost perfect five point star, surrounded by a moat filled with water. Although no longer of strategic importance to the defence of the city, the buildings inside the ramparts are still in use to this day, like the barracks shown above.
'Vore Faldne' in memory of the Danes fallen on WWII, Copenhagen, Denmark
Inside the fortress you will also find Kastelskirken, literally the castle church, a baroque style building constructed in 1704 that has no signs of being a house of worship except for the cross on the weather railing. Also peculiar to this church is the detention building located at the back,built in 1725.
The Rows (Danish: Stokkene) are six two-storey terraces which were originally built by Henrik Ruise as barracks for the soldiers based at the Citadel. The dorms measured four by four metres and contained two triple beds, a small table and two benches. The Mansard roofs are not part of the original design but date from 1768 when the rows were altered.
The Citadel is still as an active military area that belongs to the Danish Defence Ministry. Military activity in the area includes use by the Chief of Staff, the Danish Home Guard (Hjemmeværnet), Military Intelligence (Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste), the Judge Advocate Corps (Forsvarets Auditørkorps), and the Royal Garrison Library.
The green space surrounding the Kastellet is known as the Churchillparken, has a long history as a green space but received its current name in 1965 to commemorate Winston Churchill and the British assistance in the liberation of Denmark during World War II. Besides busts and statues remembering the casualties of the WWII like the 'Vore Faldne' you can also find the striking valkyrie statue. A female figure in Norse mythology who chooses who will die and battle and brings her chosen to Valhalla, an afterlife hall of the slain. It was designed by Stephan Sinding and executed in Paris in 1908.
Valkyrie statue in the gardens around Kastellet, Copenhagen, Denmark
St. Alban's Church viewed from the Kastellet, Copenhagen, Denmark
Bronze statues in the park outside St. Alban's Church, Copenhagen, Denmark
St. Alban's Church, locally often referred to simply as the English Church, is an Anglican church in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It was built from 1885 to 1887 for the growing English congregation in the city. Designed by Arthur Blomfield as a traditional English parish church in the Gothic Revival style, it is in a peaceful park setting at the end of Amaliegade in the northern part of the city centre, next to the citadel Kastellet and the Gefion Fountain and Langelinie.
Nordre Toldbod pier, Copenhagen, Denmark
The waterside area right next to the Kastellet is dominated by the Shipping Company Maersk, a Danish business conglomerate, the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the world. Their head office is located here in a building that struck me as being very familiar. Having worked on the building they own, and built, in London, the architecture is more than familiar with the building being an almost exact copy, except for the number of floors. The same window pattern can be seen in both buildings, something you can see for yourself next time you're in the Aldgate area of London.
Reflections on the Maersk building, Copenhagen, Denmark
the Dirch Maersk bell, Copenhagen, Denmark
Gefion Fountain by the Kastellet, Copenhagen, Denmark
The Gefion Fountain (Danish: Gefionspringvandet) features a large-scale group of animal figures being driven by the Norse goddess Gefjon. It is located in Nordre Toldbod area next to Kastellet and immediately south of Langelinie. It is the largest monument in Copenhagen and used as a wishing well. The fountain was donated to the city of Copenhagen by the Carlsberg Foundation on the occasion of the brewery’s 50-year anniversary.
The fountain depicts the mythical story of the creation of the island of Zealand on which Copenhagen is located. The legend appears in Ragnarsdrápa, a 9th-century Skaldic poem recorded in the 13th century Prose Edda, and in Ynglinga saga as recorded in Snorri Sturluson's 13th century Heimskringla. According to Ynglinga saga, the Swedish king Gylfi promised Gefjun the territory she could plow in a night. She turned her four sons into oxen, and the territory they plowed out of the earth was then thrown into the Danish sea between Scania and the island of Fyn.
It was designed by Danish artist Anders Bundgaard, who sculpted the naturalistic figures 1897-99. The basins and decorations were completed in 1908.
This week I'll leave you with another panoramic view from the Kastellet mounds, overlooking the fountain, the church and the Maersk buildings, taken on a very sunny afternoon. This was one of my favourite areas of the city, although always filled with tourists that flock to the diminutive 'Little Mermaid' statue located just a few meters north from where the photo was taken, and then forget to explore the rest of the area.
Next week I'll be showing what a wonderful time you can have when spending an evening at the Tivoli.Until then,
Keep wandering this rock of ours.
Looking south from the Kastellet walls, Copenhagen, Denmark