KøbenhanskeMotiver_1587-1807

Christiansholm can be seen on the far right. In this picture a warship is being rigged, and behind it we see the rest of the dismantled navy. The picture gives us a good impres­ sion of the lively traffic in the harbour.

13 4 THE CHERRY W ALK c. 1800 On either side of the rampart between Vesterport (the western gate) and Langebro bridge there were prome­ nades. The inner one was called the Philosophy walk, the outer one, whose entrance we see here, the Cherry walk. Originally it was an exclusive promenade, to which only a few privileged had a key. On the right the enormous walls of Vesterport push into the ramparts while the Store Kongen wind mill crowns the bastion in the background. To-day this is where the Town Hall Square is. 1 3 5 NICOLAI CHURCH AFTER THE FIRE 17 9 5 The great city fire 17 9 5 was fatal to the Nicolai Church. Already on the first day of the fire the whole building was burnt down to the ground so that only walls and tower were left - the latter more or less unharmed. Soon the con­ gregation asked Peter Meyn to design a new church in the same place, but the authorities had other plans. In 1800 a Royal decree commanded that all religious activities should be discontinued and the ruin demolished. This did not happen until 1 8 1 7 when the crumbling walls began falling down. Only the tower was permitted to remain. For more than 20 years this ruin lay abandoned in the heart of the city among new houses thus constituting a truly romantic motif for the painters of that time. In this view we see playing children and housewives doing their laundry. The present church was (with the exception of the tower) built during the first World War, the spire, however, is from 1 9 1 0 . Reproduced p. 82 . 13 6 THE BATTLE OF COPENHAGEN APRIL 2 , 18 0 1 In reply to Denmark's entering the League of Neutrality together with Russia, Sweden and Prussia, England sent down a large fleet through the Sound. Copenhagen pre­ pared for war, but they did not succeed in getting ready the dismantled ships. On April 2 nd, the English, under Admiral Parker, reached the Roadstead of Copenhagen,

132 THE LIBERTY M EMOR IAL c. 1 7 9 7 In memory of the great agricultural reforms - and espe­ cially the abolition of adscription 178 8 - a group of citi­ zens decided in 1 7 9 1 to erect a memorial in the shape of an obelisk. Many artists, among them the sculptors J. Wiedewelt, A . Weidenhaupt, and N. Dajon, contributed to the work, but the main credit is due to the director of the Academy of Fine Arts, N. A . Abildgaard. After some hesitation it was decided to put up the memorial in a cir­ cular square outside Vesterport (the western gate), where the foundation stone was laid in the summer of 1 7 9 2 . The arrangement of the figures in this picture is not in accord­ ance with the final one, for which reason the drawing can be dated to 1 7 9 7 - before the sculptures were placed on the memorial. A fence surrounds the monument, because the authorities were afraid that owing to the situation far outside the city it might be destroyed - indeed, they con­ sidered posting a sentry. In the background on the left the spire of St. Petri and on the other side Vesterport. Reproduced p. 80 . 133 THE ESPLANADE c . 180 0 178 1-8 5 trees were planted on the territory between the moat at the Citadel and Toldbodvej, and here a promenade for the citziens was laid out. It stretched from the entrance of the Custom House area to Østerport (the eastern gate) and was called the Esplanade. It is here seen from the pre­ sent Grønningen with the Citadel on the left. The large building at the centre of the etching is no. 76 in Bredgade. It was built 1 7 5 4 - 5 7 and still exists. To the right of it part of the north pavilion belonging to the Frederiks Hos­

pital can be seen. Reproduced p. 8 1 .

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