Freemasons' Hall ( da, Ordenens Stamhus) located on

Blegdamsvej Blegdamsvej is a street in Copenhagen, Denmark, connecting Sankt Hans Torv in Nørrebro to Trianglen in Østerbro. The busy artery Fredensgade separates the Nørrebro and Østerbro sections of the street from each other. The north side of the stre ...

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 ...

Østerbro Østerbro () (literally, "Eastern Bridge") is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located clo ...

district,

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 ...

, is the headquarters of the

Danish Order of Freemasons The Danish Order of Freemasons ( da, Den Danske Frimurerorden, abbr.: ''DDFO''), in English also known as the Grand Lodge of Denmark, is a governing body of some Masonic Lodges in Denmark. The Danish Order of Freemasons was founded on 16 November ...

and a meeting place for the

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

s in the Copenhagen area.

History

The Danish Order of Freemasons had moved between various addresses and at the beginning of the 20th century was based in

Klerkegade Klerkegade ( lit. "Clergy Street") is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. The street runs from Borgergade in the east to Rigensgade in the west, passing Adelgade and Kronprinsessegade on the way. History Klerkegade originates in the 1649 ...

in Copenhagen. When the municipal authorities in Copenhagen sold off a strip of land along

, previously part of the park

Fælledparken The park Fælledparken in Copenhagen, Denmark, was created 1906–1914 by landscape architect Edvard Glæsel in cooperation with the Copenhagen Municipality on the commons (Danish: ''fælled'') previously named ''Nørrefælled'' and ''Østerfæl ...

, the Danish Order of Freemasons acquired a piece of land. In 1920, a competition was held among its architect members for the design of a new headquarters.

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). ...

, architect of

Copenhagen City Hall Copenhagen City Hall ( da, Københavns Rådhus) is the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council as well as the Lord mayor of the Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. The building is situated on City Hall Square in central Copenhagen. Architect ...

and himself a Freemason, sat on the panel of judges. The winning entry was submitted by Holger Rasmussen, a relatively unknown Danish architect who had mainly designed modest buildings for

Danish State Railways DSB, an abbreviation of ''Danske Statsbaner'' (, ''Danish State Railways''), is the largest Danish train operating company, and the largest in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, goo ...

. The Freemasons' Hall was of a different stature entirely. The Freemasons' Hall was built from 1923 to 1927. The cornerstone was laid on 3 June 1924 by

Christian X of Denmark Christian X ( da, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 to his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, in the form of a personal union rather ...

, who was himself a Freemason.

Architecture

Built to a rather austere Neoclassical design, the Freemasons' Hall is a large grey block. The front toward Blegdamsvej is dominated by an over-dimensioned entrance section flanked by two monumental columns, which are 16 metres tall and weigh 72 tons each. The building is typical of its time. Reacting to an excess of detail in

Historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...

, Neoclassicism had made a comeback in

Danish architecture Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

in about 1915 and lasted until the mid-1930s. Another example of the style is

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, ...

Copenhagen Police Headquarters The Copenhagen Police Headquarters building ( da, Københavns Politigård) is located on Polititorvet southwest of the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. Designed by Hack Kampmann and Aage Rafn in 1924 in the Neoclassical style, often referred to as ...

from 1924. The Freemasons' Hall has 13,515 square metres of floor space and approximately 335 rooms. It is 19.5 metres tall and has six main floors, two of which are below ground.

References

{{Authority control Masonic buildings completed in 1927 Neoclassical architecture in Copenhagen