Blågårds Plads ( lit. "Blue Manor Square") is a

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

attached to Blågårdsgade, a side street to

Nørrebrogade Nørrebrogade is the principal shopping street of the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from The Lakes in the southeast to Nørrebro station in the northwest, linking Frederiksborggade and Queen Louise's Bridge with Frederikssun ...

in the

Nørrebro Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current Nørreport station ...

district of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. It is a popular venue for events and various activities in the summer time.

History

The square takes its name from a country estate, ''

Blågård Blågård, also Blaagaard or Blågård Slot, was a royal country house near The Lakes, Copenhagen, Peblinge Sø in what is now the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Built in 1706 by Prince Charles of Denmark, in 1780 it was converted into ...

'' (English: Blue Manor), which was established at the site by

Christoffer Gabel Christoffer Gabel (6 January 1617 – 13 October 1673) was a Danish statesman. Biography He was born on 6 January 1617 at Glückstadt.Bruun (2008), p.110Bricka (1891), p.512 His father, Wulbern or Waldemar Gabel, originally a cartographer and ...

in the middle of the 17th century on the grounds of a former brickyard. Later owners included

Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, Count of Laurvig (20 July 1638 – 17 April 1704) was Governor-general of Norway (''Stattholdere i Norge'') from 1664–1699. He was the leading general in Norway during the Scanian War, whose Norwegian leg is conventio ...

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and

Peter von Scholten Peter Carl Frederik von Scholten (17 May 1784 – 26 January 1854) was Governor-General of the Danish West Indies from 1827 to 1848. Early life and education He was born in Vestervig, Thy, Denmark as the son of captain Casimir Wilhelm von Sch ...

In 1827 the owner obtained a licence from King Frederick VI to convert the property into an iron foundry. From 1852 to 1889, Copenhagen's old fortification ring was gradually decommissioned and the area began to undergo rapid urbanisation, becoming one of the densest and poorest parts of the city. The foundry's highly polluting activities posed a severe health hazard and the neighbourhood became known as the ''Black

Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...

'' (Danish: ''Den Sorte Firkant''). In 1898 the City acquired the property to turn it into a public space. The first square was laid out in 1902, enclosed by two rows of large-leaved Linden trees. In the 1980s, the old buildings on two sides of the square were demolished and replaced by new houses.

Buildings

Blågård Church is located on the north side of the square. It was built in 1926 to a design by Andreas Clemmensen and Johan Nielsen, replacing a temporary church by

Martin Nyrop Martin Nyrop (11 November 1849 18 May 1921) was a Danish architect. Early life and education Nyrop was born on 11 November 1849 at Holmsland, Ringkøbing, the son of parish priest Christopher Nyrop (1805–1879) and Helene Ahlmann (1807–1874). ...

from 1905. The church is flanked by two buildings from circa 1900. The buildings on the two other sides are from the early 1980s.

Kai Nielsen sculptures

The space is dominated by 22 granite figures integrated into a low granite wall enclosing a depressed, rectangular section in the centre of the square. Designed by sculptor Kai Nielsen in collaboration with the architect Ivar Bentsen, they depict people plying a trade—a tailor, a cooper, a barber, and a baker etc.—all in the company of a toddler. In the corners stand larger figure groups depicting playing children.

Blågårds Plads today

With a community centre, a library and several popular cafés, Blågårds Plads is a focal point for the life of the surrounding neighbourhood, which is still known as the Black Square. The depressed central section serves as a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

pitch in summer and features an ice-skating rink in winter. The street gang known as

Loyal to Familia Loyal to Familia is a Danish street gang. Origins Loyal to Familia was established in Nørrebro in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2013. In the summer of 2017, the gang had a membership of 225. Prohibition In August 2017, the Minister of Justice Sø ...

(LTF) was founded around Blågårds Plads in 2013. They became entangled in a violent gang conflict with their rivals, Brothas, situated in Mjølnerparken, during 2017.

References

External links

Pictures
of Kai Nielsen's statues
Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blagards Plads Squares in Copenhagen Streets in Nørrebro Listed buildings and structures in Nørrebro 1902 establishments in Denmark