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,

References

External links