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The Domes, Towers, and Spires of Copenhagen

by Dorte Fogh

The view from the roof café of Post & Tele Museum is magnificent. Both in clear weather and in ordinary Danish fog you can see most of the famous towers of Copenhagen. To the north you see from the left:


The Church of our Lady
The original church burned down during the British bombard-ment in 1801, but in 1829 the city’s new cathedral designed by C.F. Hansen in neoclassic style was inaugurated.

Saint Petri Church
The elegant rococo spire from1756-57 is designed for the church of the German Community by Johannes Boye Junge.

The Round Tower of Trinitatis Church
The famous Round Tower was built in 1637-42. King Christian the 4th was the entrepreneur and Jorg Scheffel from Bern the master builder. The tower, which measures 15 m in diameter and is about 36 m tall, is built up around a hollow core. The 209 m long spiral staircase led to an observatory which was closed down in 1861. The tower was erected as a part of Trinitatis Church, the ceiling of which housed the university library until 1861. The superstructure to the east was put up after the conflagration of Copenhagen in 1728 and contains the church bells.

The Reformed Church
The church designed by Heinrich Brockham was inaugurated in 1689. The octagonal superstructure with two lanterns was, however, not added until 1731. It is the church of the Ger-man and French Reformed Community.

Mercury
To the east right opposite the café you can see Julius Schroe-der’s sculpture of Mercury by from 1865 which originally be-longed to a department store called Messen [The Fair]. Mercury, also known as Hermes, is the tutelary deity of trade and communication and thereby also of Post & Tele Museum at whose entrance he is pointing his wand.

Saint Paul’s Church
The parish church of Nyboder designed by J.E. Gnudtzmann was built in 1873.

The Marble Church
Although the foundation stone of this church with the official name Frederik’s Church was laid in 1749, it was only finished in 1894. Nikolai Eigtved made the original design, but it was Ferdinand Meldahl who completed the work commissioned by C. F. Tietgen. The dome is patterned on St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

The Spire of the Church of the Holy Spirit
From the café’s large window to the south – or even better from the terrace – you can see the tall spire of the Church of the Holy Spirit to the far right. Even though the Hospital of the Holy Spirit was founded about 1295, the church tower was not erected until 1582-94. It burned down, however, at the conflagration of Copenhagen in 1728 and only in 1878-80 did H.B. Storck recreate the present spire in connection with an extensive restoration.

The Tower of Christiansborg Palace
Thorvald Jorgensen re-erected Christiansborg Palace in 1906-12 in neo-baroque style after the second Christiansborg Palace had been destroyed by fire in 1884. The tower is 85 m tall.

The Dome of Christiansborgs Slotskirke
After the first Christiansborg Palace had burned down in 1794, C.F. Hansen rebuilt the palace church which was inaugurated in 1826. In the middle of the roof is a dome with a copper roof on a low tambour with no windows. The dome has a circular window at the top which gives the church room a divine light. The church was restored after a dramatic fire in 1992.

Christian’s Church in Christianshavn
The beautiful rococo church originally erected for the German community is designed by the famous architect Niels Eigtved who died before the building activities got started his son-in-law, the architect G.D. Anthon, was put in charge of the building. The 70 m tall spire was completed in 1769.

The Famous Dragon Spire of the Stock Exchange
King Christian the 4th had the Stock Exchange built by the brothers Lorenz and Hans van Steenwinckel. The unusual spire is designed by Ludvig Heidritter and made of wood coated with lead. Four dragons guard the riches of the building, each with their attention concentrated on one corner of the world. Their intertwined tails, which symbolize the four dangerous oceans, bear three gilded crowns, three buttons, and a weather vane. The first Danish post office was assigned a place in the Stock Exchange when Christian the 4th established the postal service on 24th December 1624, just 11 days after the inauguration of the building.

St. Nicolas Church
In1909 brewer Carl Jacobsen donated a new spire for St. Nicolas Church designed by H. C. Amberg instead of the one that had burned in i 1795. In the 19th century the fire brigade stayed in the tower which was the only thing left of the original church. Today it is used by Copenhagen Municipality for art exhibitions.

The Most Elegant Baroque Spire
The spire of the Church of Our Saviour from 1752 is designed by Laurids de Thura (1706-1759) on the baroque church built by Lambert van Haven (1630-1695) which was inaugurated in 1694. It was patterned on the spire of the University Church in Rome from 1661 by Francesco Borromini. Like the Round Tower it is one of the most fascinating towers in the country and it spirals dynamically upward to the height of 71.4 m. On top of it our Saviour is standing on the globe.

Among the few towers and spires of Copenhagen that are not visible from Café Hovedtelegrafen are Martin Nyrop’s Town Hall from 1905 and Anton Rosen’s Palace Hotel from 1910. They can, however, be seen from the museum’s assembly hall when special exhibitions are being shown.

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