St. Mathew's Church (
Danish
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 ance ...
: Sankt Mathæus Kirke) is the oldest and largest church 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 is located at the corner of Mathæusgade and
Valdemarsgade and was completed in 1880 to design by city architect
Ludvig Fenger.
History
The decommissioning of Copenhagen's
Bastioned Fortifications was a gradual and prolonged process. When a law in 1868 finally relinquished ownership of the fortifications and lifted the restrictions in the area immediately outside them, new residential districts sprang up outside the four former city gates which had been dismantled in 1868–69. This was also the case with Vesterbro outside the former
Western City Gate
The Western City Gate ( sr, Западна капија Београда, Zapadna kapija Beograda), also known as the Genex Tower ( sr, Кула Генекс, Kula Geneks) is a 36-story skyscraper in Belgrade, Serbia, which was designed in 1977 b ...
which developed into a crowded and poor working-class neighbourhood.
Constructed between 1879 and 1880, St. Matthew's Church was the first church to be built in the area. At that time the parish had around 2,000 inhabitants. Its architect was
Ludvig Fenger who had just completed
St. James' Church in
Østerbro.
Up until the mid-1890s, St. Matthew's remained the only church in Vesterbro. At the turn of the 20th century the population had grown to about 7,000.
Architecture
Like many other Danish buildings of its time, St. Matthew's Church is inspired by North Italian
Romanesque brick architecture.
A distinctive feature of the exterior is the many
pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...
s along the
eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
as well as on the corners of the tower and at the base of the spire.
[
]
Interior
Most of the inventory is designed by Ludvig Fenger, including the organ case. The organ works were created by ''A. H. Busch & Sønner'' in 1880. The altarpiece
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...
is a mural painted directly on the wall behind the altar by Henrik Olrik
Ole Henrik Benedictus Olrik (24 May 1830 – 2 January 1890) was a Danish painter, sculptor and applied artist.
Early life and education
Henrik Olrik, born in Copenhagen, was son of customs inspector Henrik Johan Ludvig Olrik and Benedicte Marti ...
depicting the Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
.[
]
Gallery
Image:Matthæuskirken old image.png, 19th century engraving
Image:Sankt_Matthaeus_Kirke_Copenhagen_altarpiece_detail1.jpg, Altarpiece
Image:Sankt_Matthaeus_Kirke_Copenhagen_interior_wide.jpg, Interior
Image:Sankt_Matthaeus_Kirke_Copenhagen_organ_HDR.jpg, Organ
Image:Sankt_Matthaeus_Kirke_Copenhagen_font.jpg, Font
File:St. Matthew's Church - Vesterbro 01.jpg,
See also
* St. John's Church, Copenhagen
St. John's Church (Danish: St. Johannes Kirke) is a church located next to Sankt Hans Torv in the heart of the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Opened in 1861, it was the first church to be built outside the city's old fortification rin ...
* Jesus Church, Valby
The Jesus Church (Danish: ''Jesuskirken'') is a church situated just off Valby Langgade in the Valby district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was commissioned by second-generation Carlsberg brewer Carl Jacobsen and designed by Vilhelm Dahlerup. Noted ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthew's Church, Copenhagen
Lutheran churches in Copenhagen
Churches in the Diocese of Copenhagen
Churches completed in 1880
19th-century Church of Denmark churches
Vesterbro, Copenhagen