This church has a beautiful altarpiece depicting Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, a massive pipe organ supported by two elephants, and the largest carillon in northern Europe. But the most impressive feature is the spire with its external staircase. We climbed to the top, where we had wonderful views of the city:
We also climbed the Rundetårn (Round Tower). This features a 7.5 turn spiral ramp inside the tower leading to an observatory on top. It is attached to a chapel, not visible in this photo:
We saw the royal guards marching through the streets for the changing of the guard ceremony at Amalienborg Palace:
Note the bicyclist in the photo above. There were a lot of bicycles in Copenhagen.We took a harbor tour, and saw many interesting sights including the Black Diamond (Royal Library):
The most famous landmark in Copenhagen, especially from a boat tour, is The Little Mermaid. Alas, it was absent. It had been sent to China for display in the Danish pavilion at the Worlds Fair in Shanghai. That fair ended 31 October 2010 and at the time we were in Denmark the statue was in transit back to Copenhagen. But we saw a replica in the sculpture garden at the Carlsberg Visitors Centre:
Carlsberg Beer was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1847. He built his brewery on a hill (berg) on the outskirts of Copenhagen and named it after his 5-year old son Carl.In 1909 Carl Jacobsen, then the owner of Carlsberg Beer, was inspired by a ballet based on the 1837 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen to commission The Little Mermaid statue and donate it to the city of Copenhagen.
In addition to H. C. Andersen, other famous Danes include Tycho Brahe, Søren Kierkegaard and Niels Bohr. (There are numerous posts on this blog that mention Niels Bohr!)
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1 comment:
Now I've finally seen two important things in Copenhagen that you've mentioned:
- I've finally seen the changing of the guard at the palace. It's very precise, but not as big as the one in London. I think maybe it's bigger when the queen is home.
- And I've seen the little mermaid! She was very pretty covered in snow. I was often told she'd be smaller than expected...so I actually thought she was quite big.
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