COPENHAGEN - JUNE 1981

A CHARMING CAPITAL FOR CHARMING PEOPLE


Feeling at home in cold Scandinavia is not an easy task. However, in the usually warm company of these southern Scandinavian, there is a Mediterranean feeling in the air to be enjoyed!
The capital of Denmark, located on the eastern shore of the island of Zealand and since 2000 linked by the long Øresund bridge/tunnel to the Swedish town of Malmö, was founded around 1000 by Sweyn I Forkbeard and his son Canute the Great. Roughly with the same population of Lisbon, a bit more than one million people, it is the largest city in the country. Hans Christian Andersen was not born in Copenhagen (he was born in Odense, on April 2, 1805), but many famous people you may not even suspect were Copenhageners: Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), generally recognized as the father of what was to become Existentialism (Jean-Paul Sartre, and the others...); Niels Bohr (1885-1962), 1922 Nobel Prize in physics, with essential contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, had the element bohrium named in his honor; Karen von Blixen-Finecke (also 1885-1962), neé Dinesen, the author of «Out of Africa», and of the stories which gave birth to the film «Babette's Feast»; Jørn Utzon (1918-) known for the Sydney Opera House; Jakob Nielsen (1957-) author of "Hypertext and Hypermedia", published in 1990 and a leading authority on web usability; and
Jacob Jacobsen (1811-1887) mostly known as J. C. Jacobsen. No idea? Just think that's due to him that you're drinking Carlsberg beer!!!



"THE LITTLE MERMAID - Hans Christian Andersen wrote the story (1836) of the young mermaid in love with a human prince, and with a strong desire to gain a human soul. A statue to remember it (1.25 meter high and about 175 kg) was created by Edward Eriksen, and unveiled on 23 August 1913 in the harbour of Copenhagen. After that date, it has been vandalised several times, but always restored"


"THE GEFION FOUNTAIN, donated to the city of Copenhagen by the Carlsberg Foundation, was designed by Anders Bundgård, and built in 1908. Instead of being installed at the square in front of the City Hall palace, it was built on the harbour front. The fountain depicts the mythical story of the creation of the island of Zealand"


"AMALIENBORG PALACE, founded by King Frederik V, is the winter home of the Danish royal family. It consists of four rococo palaces around an octagonal square, and is the centre of Frederiksstad, a district also built by Frederik V to commemorate the 300 year jubilee of the Oldenburg family's ascent to the throne"



"ROSENBORG PALACE was built in 1606 in the Dutch Renaissance style as a country summerhouse. It acquired its present condition by the year 1624. No longer a royal residence, it houses a museum, and is open to the public"


"NYHAVN (New Port), built by King Christian V and home to Hans Christian Andersen for some years, is filled with bars and restaurants and, thus a very popular area for both locals and tourists. In Spring and Summer people seat outdoors and Danish girls show their beauty. In Autumn some guys still sit outside drinking beer, however with a blanket over their legs. Wise!"


"CHRISTIANBORG PALACE on Slotsholmen (the site of the castle built by the Bishop Absalon of Roskilde in the twelfth century) in central Copenhagen is the home of three powers: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. It's probably the only building in the world where this happens"




"STROGET - The longest pedestrian shopping area in the world is a collection of streets between City Hall Square on the west side and the King's New Square on the east end. With the famous Danish design around, it is a very dangerous place for wallets and credit cards"




"CITY HALL, a nice palace located in a vast square in the centre of town, is the seat of the city government"




"TIVOLI GARDENS have a well deserved reputation as an amusement park since 1843 when they first opened to the public. At the very center of Copenhagen, with Central Railway Station at the eastern side, and the City Hall at the western side — both dating from around 1900 - it is one of the oldest amusement park in the world. In 1981 it opened on May 1st, and closed on September 30th. In 2006, it will open on April 12th. A must!"