Holger Jacobsen (30 October 1876 – 27 March 1960) was a Danish architect. His best known work is

Stærekassen Stærekassen ( lit. "The Starling Nest Box"), also known as Ny Scene (English: New Stage) is a theatre building annexed to the Royal Danish Theatre on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen, Denmark. It opened in 1931 to serve a dual purpose as an additio ...

, an extension to the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...

Kongens Nytorv Kongens Nytorv ( lit. "The King's New Square") is a public square in Copenhagen, Denmark, centrally located at the end of the pedestrian street Strøget. The largest square of the city, it was laid out by Christian V in 1670 in connection wit ...

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 a ...

Biography

Holger Jacobsen was born on 30 October 1876 in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

. He apprenticed as a carpenter and furthered his studies at Odense Technical School before attending the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dan ...

from 1898 to 1905 where he was a pupil of

Hans Jørgen Holm Hans Jørgen Holm (9 May 1835 – 22 July 1916) was a Danish architect. A pupil of Johan Daniel Herholdt, he became a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and a leading Danish proponent of the National Romantic style. Biograph ...

for whom he also worked as an assistant. After his graduation he worked abroad for a couple of years, and was influenced by the

Mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ital ...

and

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means ...

which he saw in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Another source of inspiration was

Vilhelm Wanscher Vilhelm is a masculine given name, the Scandinavian form of William and Wilhelm. Notable people with the name include: * Vilhelm Ahlmann (1852-1928), Danish-Swedish architect * Vilhelm Andersen (1864–1953), Danish author, literary historian and ...

's lectures on

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was ins ...

. He later described himself as the "last Italian in Danish architecture". Jacobsen had his breakthrough with Bispebjerg Crematorium which was built from 1905 to 1906. Another early work was

Taastrup New Church Taastrup () is a Danish railway town or/and suburb of Copenhagen - 15 km west of the capital's city centre, and formerly the administrative seat of Høje-Taastrup Municipality, Region Hovedstaden. It takes its name from the village of Taa ...

(1907) which was inspired by the architecture of northern Italy but in its details and interiors shows

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

influences. He also undertook the rebuilding of the Circus Building in

after it was devastated by fire in 1914 and led the completion of the new

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 ...

(1922–24) after

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, ...

's death. In 1925, Jacobsen published a proposal for an extension to the

which had been suffering from lack of space ever since its inauguration in 1874. He was rewarded with the C. F. Hansen Medal the same year and when an architectural competition was held he won it with a modified entry which included two extra stories with facilities for the new National Danish Broadcasting Company. The building, which became known as the Nesting Box, was met with strong criticism, especially by

Poul Henningsen Poul Henningsen (9 September 1894 – 31 January 1967) was a Danish author, critic, architect, and designer. In Denmark, where he often is referred to simply as PH, he was one of the leading figures of the cultural life of Denmark between the Worl ...

and his consorts in the influential magazine Critical Review. From its opening in 1931, it was also challenged in terms of functionality. His later works consists of mainly residential and some office buildings.

Selected buildings

* Missionshus, Reerslev (1906) * Bispebjerg Crematory, Nispebjerg, Copenhagen (1906–07, extended in 1905-06 and 1932–34) *

Taastrup Taastrup () is a Danish railway town or/and suburb of Copenhagen - 15 km west of the capital's city centre, and formerly the administrative seat of Høje-Taastrup Municipality, Region Hovedstaden. It takes its name from the village of T ...

(1907) * Forstædernes Bank, Glostrup (1907) * East Chapel,

Vestre Cemetery Vestre Cemetery ( da, Vestre Kirkegård, meaning "Western Cemetery") is located in a large park setting in the Kongens Enghave district of Copenhagen, Denmark. With its 54 hectares it is the largest cemetery in Denmark. The cemetery is landscape ...

, Copenhagen (1912–13) * Circus Building (rebuilding), Copenhagen (1914) * Community house, Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen (1915) * Office building (alteration), Assistens Cemetery, Copenhagen (1916) * Hunting lodge, Glimminge, Sweden (1917) * Public housing, Birups Allé/Mågevej, Copenhagen (1918) * Own summer house,

Gilleleje Gilleleje () is a fishing town and seaside resort on the north coast of the peninsula North Zealand, Denmark. The town is located at the northernmost point of the island of Zealand. It is one of the main towns of the Gribskov municipality in Re ...

(1919) * Chapel and crematory, Sundby Cemetery, Copenhagen (1924) * Own house, 6 Rosbæksvej, Copenhagen (1926) * Villa, 1 Ceresvej

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

, Copenhagen (1928) *

, Copenhagen (1828–31, listed in 1995) * Aarhus Privatbank, Århus (1930)

Gallery

Image:Bispebjerg Kirkegård 2005-02.jpg, Bispebjerg Crematory, Copenhagen, 1906 Image:Taastrup Nykirke Denmark 3.jpg,

(1907) Image:Stærekassen, Copenhagen 2010.jpg,

, Copenhagen (1931)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobsen, Holger Danish architects Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni People from Odense 1876 births 1960 deaths Recipients of the C.F. Hansen Medal

Biography

Selected buildings

Gallery

See also

References