St. Anne's Church, Copenhagen
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St. Anne's Church ( Danish: Sankt Annæ Kirke) is a
Roman-Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
church in Sundby on
Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...
in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. It is located just off
Amagerbrogade Amagerbrogade is the main shopping street and thoroughfare of the part of Copenhagen, Denmark that is located on the island of Amager. It begins at the end of the causeway which connects Amager to Christianshavn and the city centre on the other si ...
, next to
Eberts Villaby Eberts Villaby (literally "Ebert's Villa Town") is an enclave of late 19th-century detached houses situated just off Amagerbrogade in the otherwise more dense Sundby district on Amager in Copenhagen, Denmark. History The development takes its n ...
. The church is closely affiliated with the nearby St. Ann's School.


History

The church traces its history back to 1897 when a house on Christian II's Vej in
Eberts Villaby Eberts Villaby (literally "Ebert's Villa Town") is an enclave of late 19th-century detached houses situated just off Amagerbrogade in the otherwise more dense Sundby district on Amager in Copenhagen, Denmark. History The development takes its n ...
, which had recently been completed by a local developer, came into use as the first Catholic place of worship on Amager in modern times. Known as St. Anne's Chapel (Danish: Sankt Annæ Kapel), it was used for church service on Sundays and as a Catholic school on weekdays. The chapel was in 1903 replaced by a proper church building, St. Anne's Church. It was built in connection with the Grey Nun's establishment of
St. Elizabeth's Hospital St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Southeast Washington, D.C. operated by the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health. The hospital opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for the Insane, the first federal ...
which opened on the other side of the street two years later. The architect of the church was Emil Jørgensen who also designed the hospital and Sønderbro Pharmacy which opened next to hospital in 1904. When St. Anne's Church became too small for the growing population on Amager, it was decided to replace it with a larger one. The old building was demolished in 1935, and the foundation stone for its replacement, which was designed by Sven Risom, was set by Bishop Josef Brems on 19 November 1936. The church was consecrated on 26 March 1938.


Architecture

The church is built in red brick in a
National Romantic Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
style. It is 29 metres long ( 95 feet ) and 18 metres wide ( 59 feet ). Its twin towers stand at 24.5 metres ( 80 feet ). It seats 400.


Interior and fittings

The altarpiece consists of four paintings, depicting four key events in Jesus's life on earth: The Birth of Christ, the Last Supper, at the Foot of the Cross and Christ's Ascension. The paintings as well as the large crucifix were created by the artist Wilhelm Wils and installed in 1954. Dating from 1946,
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Our Mother of Perpetual Succour (), colloquially known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine art, Byzantine ico ...
's altar was created by the sculptor Axel Theilmann. The icon was created by Birgitte West as an exact copy of the original icon in Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Rome. The central image is surrounded by six reliefs representing the Annunciation, Jesus' birth, the
Marriage at Cana The wedding at Cana (also called the marriage at Cana, wedding feast at Cana or marriage feast at Cana) is a story in the Gospel of John at which the first miracle of Jesus, miracle attributed to Jesus takes place. In the Gospel account, Jesus ...
, the Pieta and the Assumption. They are executed by the sculptor Wedel-Schmidt and were inaugurated on 1 May 1947. An inscription reads: "In 1944/45, as the war came closer to Denmark, leaving everybody frightened, St. Anne's congregation promised to raise this altar in honor of God and his holy Mother, the perpetual Help." In connection with the 300-year commemoration of the scientist
Nicolas Steno Niels Steensen (; Latinized to Nicolas Steno or Nicolaus Stenonius; 1 January 1638 – 25 November 1686 ) was a Danish scientist, a pioneer in both anatomy and geology who became a Catholic bishop in his later years. He has been beatified ...
's birth in 1938, two silver candlesticks with the scientist's coat of arms were donated to the church. The font was originally installed in the first St. Anne's church in 1903. It is carved in Bremers sandstone to a design by the architect Emil Jorgensen.


Service

Services are held at different times of the day in Danish, English and Polish.


St. Ann's School

St. Ann's School is now located at Otto Ruds Vej 7. The bilingual school has about 500 students (Grade 0-10) and a staff of about 40 teachers. The school logo features a Viking ship carrying an image of the church on its sail.


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Anne's Cathedral Art Nouveau architecture in Copenhagen Art Nouveau church buildings in Denmark Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen National Romantic architecture in Copenhagen Roman Catholic churches completed in 1938 Roman Catholic churches in Copenhagen 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Denmark