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35°F / 2°C
(Passing Clouds. Chilly.)
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Throughout history Copenhageners have never really got to like the idea of living in a big city. Noise, traffic, tall buildings, busy businessmen and displays of great wealth are all generally frowned upon. Most people live outside the city in small independent suburbs nourishing a provincial feel rather than any connection to the Capital. In the city itself, traffic is curbed as much as possible and limits on building height are strictly enforced. But while the Inner City is always buzzing with activity and crammed with people, efforts are constantly made to make it more of a cosmopolitan haven than the busy centre of a great metropolis. Little refuges are found everywhere from idyllic town squares like Gråbrødretorv, Nytorv and Gammeltorv, to the many parks surrounding the old city centre. And indeed, Copenhageners have proved exceptionally successful in creating some of the world’s finest, most extraordinary and enchanting city sanctuaries—of which the following are only a few.
Sanctuaries
Most famous of the institutionalised sanctuaries is Tivoli, the old, world-famous amusement park right in the middle of town, with some 100,000 lamps glowing and providing magic among the flower arrangements, antique roller-coasters, classy restaurants and many fine performances of music, dance and theatre.
Also Christiania is an institution and a sanctuary, even if it seems to be the very contradiction of Tivoli. It is decidedly anti-establishment and was long considered rebel territory, having numerous clashes with the police. It is also walled in, surprisingly peaceful and with no apparent connection to the city (nor, indeed, to the country, EU or NATO, as is stated at the entrance). The area was squatted by hippies in the early 1970s and has remained untouched by the government ever since.
Further out on Christianshavn is Holmen, another sanctuary, this one for film students, architects and like-minded people who work and study in the former naval base.
A very unusual sanctuary is Assistens Kirkegård, a cemetry that hosts such local celebrities as Hans Christian Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard, as well as many others—and simultaneously serves as a public park offering picnic opportunities among the gravestones.
Of the city’s many parks, the most enchanting is Frederiksberg Have with Frederiksberg Palace which offers the opportunity to rent little boats in the summer and paddle into your loved one’s heart. Others are Kongens Have, where Inner City trendies meet for picnics, spontaneous games of football and nude sunbathing or the Botanical Gardens with their overwhelming number of exotic flowers, trees and plants.
Art
Contemporary
Patrons of modern art will find the two most important museums located outside town in spectacular natural settings. To the north, in Humlebæk, Louisiana offers brilliant exhibitions as does its smaller southern counterpart, Arken in Ishøj.
In the city itself, large exhibition spaces for contemporary art include Charlottenborg, the refurbished church Nikolaj, Kunstforeningen (Danish Society of Arts) and Den Frie (Independent Artists’ Exhibitions). Also, The National Museum of Art has a strong permanent collection in its impressive new wing.
A brief international boat or car trip will take you to Malmö, Sweden, where Rooseum Centre for Contemporary Art and Malmö City Art Gallery are among that country’s finest centres of contemporary art.
For gallery-hopping in Copenhagen, the most rewarding area is traditionally Frederiksstaden, especially Bredgade and the area behind Hotel D’Angleterre by Kongens Nytorv. Recently, some of the more daring galleries, such as Nikolai Wallner and Nils Stærk have moved en masse to Islands Brygge hopeful of starting a trend that can only do good to this desolated area.
Pre-War
The National Museum of Arts collection and enormous building are not just ‘state-of-the-art’, but also the state’s museum of art. In English it is either called the National Museum of Art or the Danish National Gallery. While it has no real obligation to lead in the avant-garde, it has one of the world’s best and most extensive collection of Scandinavian painters from all ages.
For European masterpieces New Carlsberg Glyptotek holds a varied and rich private collection that also includes an excellent Egyptian department. It also has had a recent extension built that is an architectural masterpiece—as have The National Museum of Art, the Royal Library on Slotsholmen, and Louisiana.
Den Hirschprungske Samling, right across from The National Museum of Art in Østre Anlæg, is another beautiful private collection specialising in what is often referred to as the Golden Age of Danish painting including the famous Skagen—painters such as Krøyer and Hammershøj.
Thorvaldsen's Museum is the country’s first public art museum, a monument to sculptor Thorvaldsen. It opened in 1848 and is still an impressive sanctuary.
History
The entire Inner City of Copenhagen is in itself of historical interest, as it seems to have remained relatively untouched by the last couple of centuries. The history of the city can further be studied at the picturesque Copenhagen City Museum on Vesterbrogade. The history of the nation is told at The National Museum, Denmark’s main museum of cultural history with unrivalled exhibitions of ancient art and handcrafts covering all of the nation’s history and geography, including Greenland, the Faroe Islands and most of Scandinavia. Anyone with interest in Norse mythology, Vikings and early Nordic history should also visit the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, the working village of Lejre and the National Museum of Brede; each within an hour of the city.
Back in Copenhagen the Royal Danish Chronological Collection at Rosenborg Castle and Amalienborg show the history of the world’s oldest royal family through their sometimes very amusing belongings and extravagant furniture. To contrast with this, the Workers' Museum has, as a permanent display, a depiction of working-class life in the 1930s and 1950s. Georg Jensen Museum displays the unique works of the famous silversmith, as well as antique Royal Copenhagen porcelain. The Carlsberg Museum has everything you need to know and taste about brewing beer. The Resistance Museum sheds light on the underground liberation movement during the German occupation in WWII. The Geological Museum captures other underground movements.
Important castles outside the city include Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød and Kronborg in Elsinore as the largest and most impressive.
The amazing twin-towered church of Roskilde, Denmark's capital before the founding of Copenhagen, is among the finest and oldest in the world and duly listed under UNESCO’s World Heritage Programme.
Performing Arts
Royal Theatre is home to one of world’s leading ballet companies, the Royal Danish Ballet, with regular shows on the Old Stage. The national Opera and Theatre companies also call the Royal Theatre their home while also performing elsewhere in the city. New Theatre, Nørrebro Theatre, and Østre Gasværk often show big-budget musicals. A majority of popular theatres are located on Frederiksberg Allee.
Music
Performances of classical music of the highest quality can be attended at Danish National Radio Concert Hall, Tivoli Concert Hall, Den Anden Opera, and the Royal Theatre.
Helligåndskirken, Holmens Kirke, Trinitatis Kirke as well as many other city churches regularly have organ concerts on weekdays.
The best jazz venue in Copenhagen is Copenhagen Jazzhouse.
Most important venues for contemporary rock and electronic music are Pumpehuset, Vega, Stengade 30, Rust, Loppen, Amager Bio, and Stereo Bar.
Film
Copenhagen is a city of movie-lovers, and for the connoisseur Cinemateket in Filmhuset, Gloria, Posthusteatret, Grand, Husets Biograf and Vester Vov Vov; all offer rare and high-quality screenings. Mainstream cinemas have for a long time been centred around the Town Hall Square and Vesterport Station, with the giant complexes Scala, Dagmar, Palads and Imperial showing Hollywood productions and the like. However, competition has come from the German CinemaxX Fisketorvet chain at the shopping centre Fisketorvet Shopping Center, with its opening of 10 THX theatres and Northern Europe's largest silver screen. Tycho Brahe Planetariet shows you breathtaking images of space as well as IMAX-screenings and a 3D IMAX movie. Østerbro’s Park shows belated premieres and classics at discount prices.
All showings are in the original language with Danish subtitles, except animation-movies for children (in fact, dubbing is considered so blasphemous that actors will be dismissed from the Actors’ Union if caught dubbing a major motion picture). For Danish films with English subtitles see Vester Vov Vov, and Cinemateket.
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