Metropolitanskolen ("The Metropolitan School") was a school in

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 ...

founded in 1209 by the Bishop , and for centuries one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

History

The school was founded in 1209 next to the Church of Our Lady built at the same time by Peder Sunesen, Bishop of Roskilde, and was named "The School of Our Lady" (''Vor Frue Skole'') or the "Cathedral School" (''Domskolen''). In 1802 it was renamed The Latin Cathedral School of Copenhagen (''Kjøbenhavns Latinske Cathedralskole''), but this caused problems since there was already one Cathedral School in the bishopric, that in Roskilde. So in 1817 it was renamed The Metropolitan School (''Metropolitanskolen''). In 1728 the building burned and was reconstructed in its current form. In 1838 the school left its original building on Vor Frue Plads, to move to a larger building in Struenseegade on Nørrebro, the original building was taken over by the University of Copenhagen. In 2010, one year after its 800 anniversary, the school was united with another school to form Gefion Gymnasium. During its years of functioning hundreds of prominent Danes graduated from the school, and it acquired iconic status as the school portrayed in

Hans Scherfig Hans Scherfig (April 8, 1905 – January 28, 1979) was a renowned Danish writer and artist. His most famous works of literature include ''Stolen Spring'', ''Frydenholm'', ''Idealists'', and ''The Scorpion'', the last of which was published in ov ...

's famous novel, ''"

Stolen Spring ''The Stolen Spring'' (, The Neglected Spring) is a Danish novel by Hans Scherfig, first published in 1940. It has been described as "part murder mystery, part social criticism" by The Review of Contemporary Fiction. ''The Stolen Springs main ...

"'' (''Det Forsømte Forår'').

Notable alumni

*1984 -

Mads Mikkelsen Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen, (; born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. Originally a gymnast and dancer, he rose to fame in Denmark as an actor for his roles such as Tonny in the first two films of the ''Pusher'' film trilogy (1996, 2004), Det ...

, actor *1985 -

Lars Mikkelsen Lars Dittmann Mikkelsen (born 6 May 1964) is a Danish actor. He has played Copenhagen mayoral election candidate Troels Hartmann in the drama series ''The Killing (Danish TV series), The Killing'', List of Sherlock characters#Charles Augustus Ma ...

, actor *1933 -

Svend Asmussen Svend Asmussen (28 February 1916 – 7 February 2017) was a Danish jazz violinist, known as "The Fiddling Viking". A Swing style virtuoso, he played and recorded with many of the other jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and S ...

, jazz violinist *1923 - K. E. Løgstrup, theologian *1910 -

Kaj Birket-Smith Kaj Birket-Smith (20 January 1893 – 28 October 1977) was a Danish philologist and anthropologist. He specialized in studying the habits and language of the Inuit and Eyak. He was a member of Knud Rasmussen's 1921 Thule expedition. In 1940, he ...

, philologist and anthropologist *1889 -

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 ...

, King of Denmark *1865 -

Holger Drachmann Holger Henrik Herholdt Drachmann (9 October 1846 – 14 January 1908) was a Danish poet, dramatist and painter. He was a member of the Skagen artistic colony and became a figure of the Scandinavian Modern Breakthrough Movement. Early yea ...

, poet and painter

References

{{Coord, 55.6892, N, 12.5456, E, source:wikidata, display=title Schools in Copenhagen Listed educational buildings in Copenhagen Gymnasiums in Copenhagen School buildings completed in 1815 Christian Frederik Hansen buildings