Enghaveparken is a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

in the Vesterbro 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 was laid out in the late 1920s to cater for the citizens of the expanding city. The park is completely closed off while undergoing comprehensive renovations June 2018-December 2019. The park is designed in the

Neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...

. It has grassy lawns, flower beds and contains a

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an orname ...

, a playground and facilities for sports as well as barbecuing.

History

In the late 19th century, the Royal Danish Horticultural Society established 478 allotments in "Dronningens Enghave" at the site where Enghaveparken lies today. In the 1920s the allotments were moved and the small public park Enghaven was laid out under the direction of City Architect

Poul Holsøe Poul is a Danish language, Danish masculine given name. It is the Danish cognate of the name Paul (name), Paul. Poul may refer to: People *Poul Andersen (resistance member), Poul Andersen (1922–2006), Danish printer *Poul Anderson (1926–2001 ...

, who also designed the red-brick social housing which was built at the same time and borders the park on three sides. Tredje Natur has won a competition to redesign the park.

Layout and features

The slightly rectangular park is divided into six spaces: a water garden, a rose garden, a perennial garden, a sports section, a playground and a 'meeting place'.

Basin and fountain

Along its central axis, in front of the main entrance which faces

Enghavevej Enghavevej is a major street in the Vesterbro and Kongens Enghave districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from Vesterbrogade in the north to Sydhavns Plads in the south, linking Kingosgade with Sydhavnsgade and Borgbjergsvej. History 18th and ...

, there is a gravel area centred on a square basin with a fountain. It is popular with ducks and

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern ...

which come from a colony on a small island in close by

Frederiksberg Park Frederiksberg Gardens (Danish: Frederiksberg Have) is one of the largest and most attractive greenspaces in Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjacent Søndermarken it forms a green area of 64 hectares at the western edge of Inner Copenhagen. ...

Bandstand

At the extreme far end of the central axis, opposite the main entrance, stands a

. It was designed by later famous Danish

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

architect and designer

Arne Jacobsen Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA () 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural functionalism and for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple we ...

who spend his two first years after leaving architecture school working at Poul Holsøe's office. It is one of his only Neoclassical works. A year later he opened his own practice and built his first Modernist building. The bandstand is decorated with figure reliefs by Aage Nielsen-Edwin, depicting '' Apollo and the Nine Muses''.

Sculptures

In front of the main entrance stands the statue ''Venus med Æblet'' (''Venus with the apple'') by Kai Nielsen. The tight budget only allowed for this single piece of art at the time of the inauguration. Nielsen was popular with the Danish Neoclassical movement of the time, his work for instance dominates Carl Petersen's Faaborg Museum, the first major building of the movement. In 1933,

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. U ...

's statue ''Ungdom'' (''Youth'') was added.

Activities

The park is popular with locals for sunbathing or picnicking. It also has facilities for skater hockey,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

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 ...

and

pétanque Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, , also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls, and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls ...

. The bandstand is frequently used for

open-air concert A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or ho ...

References

External links

Enghaveparken
on Google maps
Enghavevej

Venus med æblet
{{Copenhagen parks Vesterbro, Copenhagen Parks in Copenhagen