Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/375

Rh COPENHAGEN 345 statue of Moses by Bissen, and on the other a statue of David by Jerichan. In a niche behind the altar stands a colossal marble statue of our Saviour, and marble statues of the twelve apostles adorn both sides of the church. Nearly opposite the Frue Kirke is St Peter s Church, built i.i a quasi-Gothic style, with a spire 260 feet high, and appropriated since 1585 as a parish church for the German residents in Copenhagen. The round tower of Trinity Church is 115 feet high, and is considered to be unique in Europe. It was constructed from a plan of Tycho Brahe s favourite disciple Longomontanus, and was formerly used as an observatory. It is ascended by a broad inclined spiral way, up which Peter the Great is said to have driven in a carriage and four. The Church of our Saviour in Christianshavn, dedicated in 1696, has a curious steeple 300 feet high, ascended by an external spiral staircase. The lower part of the altar is composed of Italian marble, with a representation of Christ s sufferings in the garden of Gethsemane ; and the organ is considered the finest in Copenhagen. The Marble Church, intended to have been an edifice of great extent and magnificence, was commenced in the reign of Frederick V., but after twenty years was left unfinished. The Holmens Kirke, or church for the royal navy, originally erected as an anchor-smithy by Frederick II., but consecrated by Christian IV., is remarkable for a chapel containing the tombs of the great admirals Niels Juel and Tordenskjold. The churches above mentioned belong to the national Lutheran Church ; the most important of those belonging to other denominations are the Reformed church, founded in 1688, and rebuilt in 1731, the Catholic church of St Ansgarius, consecrated in 1842, and the Jewish synagogue in Krystalgads, which dates from 1853. Of the monastic buildings of mediaeval Copenhagen Various traces are preserved in the present nomenclature of the streets. The Franciscan establishment gives its name to the Graabrodretorv or Grey Friars market ; and St Clara s Monastery, the largest oif all, which was founded by Queen Christina, is still commemorated by the Klareboder or Clara buildings, near the present post-office. The Duebrodre Kloster occupied the site of the hospital of the Holy Ghost. Hospitals. Among the hospitals of Copenhagen the most important are Frederick s Hospital, erected in 1752-57 by Frederick V., with accommodation for 600 patients ; the Communal Hospital, erected in 1859-63, on the eastern side of the Sortedamsso, with room for 850; the General Hospital in Amalia Street, founded in 1769; the Garrison Hospital, in Rigens Gade or Empire Street, established in 1816 by Frederick VI. ; a children s hospital in the same street dating from 1849 ; and a maternity hospital with a school of midwifery. The lunatic asylum for Copenhagen is situated at Roskilde. Of the numerous benevolent institutions in the city it is sufficient to mention Barton Hospital, dedicated by its founder, Christian I., to the Holy Ghost, with accommodation for 508 inmates ; Abel Kathrine s Buildings for 24 poor women; the Copenhagen Invalids Home, erected in 1857-59; an orphan asylum, dating from 1727 ; a blind asylum, erected in 1811 by a private society ; a deaf and dumb asylum, founded in 1807; and an asylum for imbeciles, established in 1855. The Jewish community has several important institutions of its own. After the cholera epidemic of 1853 the medical association built several ranges of workmen s houses, and their example has been followed by various private capitalists, among whom may be mentioned the Classen trustees, whose buildings occupy an open site on the western outskirts of the city. Tlteatres. The principal theatre is the Royal, on Kongens Nytorv, a beautiful edifice of modern erection on the site of a former building of the same name which dates from 1748. Statues of Holberg and Oehlenschlager, the former by Stein and the latter by Bissen, keep watch on either side of the entrance, and the front is crowned by a group by King, representing Apollo and Pegasus and the fountain of Hippocrene. The royal court theatre is elegantly fitted up, and can accommodate about 800 spectators. The Vesterbro Theatre, outside the western gate, is seated for about 1 400 persons. The casino, built in 1846, is used as a theatre, and is capable of containing about 2300 spectators ; while the small saloon in the same building, seated for from 600 to 700 persons, is visually let for concerts and similar entertainments. The Tivoli Gardens, immediately beyond the western gate, form the favourite place of resort in the summer evenings. The amusements include concerts, pantomime?, gymnastic feats, and other performances. A freemasons lodge was founded in 1870, the building being erected after the designs of Tvede. In the neighbourhood of the city there are numerous places of public resort, the most important being Frederiksberg, with its royal palace, its park, and its zoological gardens, about a mile and a half from the old west gate, and the Dyrehave about six miles to the north, with its fine forest of beech and oak. Trade. Copenhagen is becoming more and more the commercial centre of Denmark ; its local industries and its foreign trade are both making rapid advances. At the commencement of 1872, 500 merchant vessels of about 51,000 tons burden belonged to the port. The harbour is large and commodious, and by the aid of canals, large vessels can come almost to the centre of the town. The entrance is commanded by the powerful batteries c.f Trekroner, Provesten, and Sextus. The principal imports are timber, pitch, and tar, chiefly from Norway and Sweden ; flax, hemp, masts, sailcloth, and cordage from Russia ; tobacco from America ; wines and brandy from France ; coal, earthenware, iron, steel, and salt from England ; and West India produce. The principal exports are corn, rape-seed, butter, cheese, beef, pork, horses, cattle, wool, hides, skins, bones, and grain-spirits. There are extensive cloth and calico factories, foundries, and iron-works, as well as breweries, distilleries, tanneries, sugar-refineries, lime-works, and tobacco-factories. Piano fortes, clocks, watches, surgical and mathematical instru ments, and porcelain are among its other productions. The royal China factory is celebrated for its models of Thorwaldsen s works in biscuit China. Among institutions for the furthering of commerce, the most important besides the Exchange are the National Bank, with a capital of 2,190,000, the Private Bank, the Industrial, the Agricul tural, and the Commercial. A large Industrial Exhibition was held in 1872 ; and the building, which is situated at the western side of the town near the railway station, is intended to be permanent. The population of Copenhagen in 1769 was 92,571; in 1801, 100,975; in 1834, 119,292 ; in 1840, 120,819 ; in 1845, 126,787 ; in 1850, 129,695; in 1860, 155,143; and in 1870, 184,291. In the last year the number of females was 96,965, and that of males 89,326 ; there were 3145 Jews, 1092 Catholics, 220 Baptists, and 172 Mormons. Including the suburbs, the population in 1876 was estimated at 233,000. History. The first mention of Copenhagen in Danish history belongs to the year 1027, when the kings of Norway and Sweden took advantage of the absence of Canute in England to attack his kingdom. It is called merely the Hofn or Haven ; and it was still only a fishing village about the middle of the 12th century, when Yaldemar I. presented that part of the island to Axel Hvide, re nowned iu Danish history as Absolon, bishop of Roskilde, and afterwards archbishop of Lund. In 1165, or shortly after, this prelate erected a castle on the spot where the Christiansborg palaco now stands, and the building was called after him Axel-huus. The settlement gradually becaro* a great resort for merchants, and thua VI. 44