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The Copenhagen
Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
Headquarters building ( da, Københavns Politigård) is located on Polititorvet southwest of the centre 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. Designed by
Hack Kampmann Hack Kampmann (6 September 1856 – 27 June 1920) was a Danish architect, Royal Inspector of Listed State Buildings in Jutland and professor at the architecture department of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus, ...
and Aage Rafn in 1924 in the Neoclassical style, often referred to as
Nordic Classicism Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930. Until a resurgence of interest for the period during the 1980s (marked by several scholarly ...
, it was completed in 1924.


Background

Until late in the 19th century, the area around today's Police Headquarters was part of Kalvebod Beach. After the quayside had been established, construction began on the
Glyptotek Glyptotek or Glyptothek may refer to: * Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark * Glyptothek, an art museum in Munich, Germany * '' Glyptothek (album)'', an album by Scottish musician Momus Momus (; Ancient Greek: Îœá¿¶Î¼Î¿Ï ...
and Vestre Hospital. In 1906, a street plan was drawn up for the area which at the time was known as the Rysensteen Quarter. It was decided in 1916 that the state and
Copenhagen Municipality Copenhagen Municipality ( da, Københavns Kommune), also known in English as the Municipality of Copenhagen, located in the Capital Region of Denmark, is the largest of the four municipalities that constitute the City of Copenhagen (), the other ...
should together construct a building there for the Copenhagen police which had until then been headquartered in the
Copenhagen Court House The Copenhagen Court House ( da, Københavns Domhus) is a historic building located on Nytorv in Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally built as a combined city hall and courthouse, it now serves as the seat of the District Court of Copenhagen. Inaugura ...
on
Nytorv Nytorv ( English: New Square or New Market) is a public square in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjoining Gammeltorv it forms a common space, today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone. The square is dominated by the imposi ...
. Hack Kampmann (1856–1920) was commissioned to design the building in the summer of 1918. Work on the foundations began in August of that year with 3,816 reinforced concrete piles. He was assisted in the work by several other architects including Aage Rafn (1890–1953) and
Holger Jacobsen Holger Jacobsen (30 October 1876 – 27 March 1960) was a Danish architect. His best known work is Stærekassen, an extension to the Royal Danish Theatre on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. Biography Holger Jacobsen was born on 30 October 1876 in ...
and his son Hans Jørgen Kampmann. Rafn exerted considerable influence on the design of the building. Hack Kampmann, who died in June 1920, did not live to see the completion of his building in early 1924.


Architecture

The building is said to be the last example of Neoclassical architecture in Northern Europe. It typically juxtaposes squares and circles, light and darkness and the horizontal with the vertical. Its interior is inspired by the
Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...
of southern Europe and by
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
decorations. There are also features based on Roman craftsmanship and on
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
. The outside of the building is intentionally austere, intensifying the attraction of the colourful, well-formed features inside, including dark
terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...
flooring and oversized door and window frames so meticulously crafted. The round courtyard, in width, is surrounded by a colonnade consisting of 44
Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...
columns. The small square-shaped courtyard, dominated by eight colossal pillars, contains a sculpture of the "Snake Killer" (''Slangedræberen'') by
Einar Utzon-Frank Aksel (Axel) Einar (Ejnar) Utzon-Frank (30 March 1888 – 15 July 1955) was a Danish sculptor and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. During his lifetime, he produced many sculptures, some of which stand as public monuments. ...
. Rafn was inspired by the warehouses of London's dockland in designing the building's facade. When it opened in 1924, the building was a masterpiece of its genre. It was nonetheless the subject of considerable criticism by those who felt it was an anachronistic symbol of power at a time when Functionalism was becoming the style of the times.


Cultural references

* The building is used as a location in many of the ''
Olsen-banden The ''Olsen Gang'' ( da, Olsen-banden, no, Olsenbanden, german: Die Olsenbande) is a Danish comedy film series created by Danish director Erik Balling and special effects expert Henning Bahs about the eponymous fictional criminal gang. The gang's ...
'' films, including '' The Olsen Gang'' and ''
The Olsen Gang in a Fix ''The Olsen Gang in a Fix'' ( da, Olsen-banden på spanden) is a 1969 Danish comedy film directed by Erik Balling and starring Ove Sprogøe. The film was the second in the ''Olsen-banden''-series. Plot After yet another unsuccessful robbery Ego ...
'' (1:24:57). * The building is also one of the main film locations in the critically acclaimed Danish-Swedish TV police crime series '' Bron/Broen'', which was first broadcast in 2011, in which it actually "plays itself" as the Copenhagen Police Headquarters. Other Danish police crime series set in Copenhagen that regularly feature
establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...
s of the building also include the acclaimed series '' The Killing'' (2007–2012). The music video for
Laid Back Laid Back is a Danish electronic music duo group from Copenhagen, formed in 1979. The duo consists of John Guldberg (vocals, guitar, bass) and Tim Stahl (vocals, keyboards, drums, bass). They are best known for the hits "Sunshine Reggae" and " ...
's song "
White Horse A white horse is born predominantly white and stays white throughout its life. A white horse has mostly pink skin under its hair coat, and may have brown, blue, or hazel eyes. "True white" horses, especially those that carry one of the dominant ...
" was also mostly filmed in the courtyard of the building.


See also

* Danish Police Museum


References


External links


Images
on arkitekturbilleder.dk
PDF
about the building
Renderings
in the
Danish National Art Library The Danish National Art Library is the national research library for architecture, art history, visual arts and museology in Denmark. It was founded in 1754 as part of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and has been located at Charlottenborg' ...

More renderings
in the
Danish National Art Library The Danish National Art Library is the national research library for architecture, art history, visual arts and museology in Denmark. It was founded in 1754 as part of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and has been located at Charlottenborg' ...
{{coord, 55.6707, 12.5722, type:landmark_region:DK, display=title Police headquarters Local government buildings in Copenhagen Listed government buildings in Copenhagen Government buildings completed in 1924 Neoclassical architecture in Copenhagen Hack Kampmann buildings Headquarters in Denmark