Sundby 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 a ...

: Sundby Kirke) is a

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...

parish church located on

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 ...

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 ...

. Completed in 1870 to designs by

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 ...

, it is the oldest church on the northern part of

Amager Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...

History

In the middle of the 19th century, Sundby still belonged to the parish of

Tårnby Tårnby () is a town in Denmark, the seat of Tårnby Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark. It is located approximately south of central Copenhagen on the island of Amager. Neighbouring settlements include the Copenhagen suburb of Sundb ...

but the old village church there was located almost five kilometres away. A local committee was therefore established in 1868 to raise money for the construction of a new church, charging the architect

with its design. Construction began in 1869 and the new church was consecrated in 1870. Nathanael's Parish was disjoined from Sundby Parish in 1899. The church was refurbished by Frederik Zeuthen and Cai Bertelsen in 1963.

Architecture

The church has a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

plan and is built in red brick to a Neo-Romanseque design. The roof is topped by an octagonal

flèche Flèche or Fleche may refer to: *Flèche (architecture), a type of church spire *Flèche (cycling), a team cycling competition *Flèche (fencing), an aggressive offensive fencing technique *Flèche (fortification) A flèche ( Fr. for "arrow") is ...

. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

faces north-east. Decorations include corner leseness and round arched friezes on the gables. A

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

was built at the nave's south-west gable in 1941. Its tympanum and bronze door were designed by the artist Max Andersen. The bronze door was installed in 1974 to mark the 100th anniversary of the church. The tympanum's relief is identical to the one above the entrance of Absalon Church on

Sønder Boulevard Sønder Boulevard ( lit. "South Boulevard") is a boulevard in the Vesterbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark, whose broad central reserve has been turned into a linear park with various facilities for sports and other activities. It runs from Halmt ...

. The six reliefs on the bronze door show scenes associated with the

Passion of Christ In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

Interior

Sundby Cemetery

Sundby Cemetery (Danish: Sundby Kirkegård) was established in 1872 at a site a little to the south of the church and is the main cemetery for Amager. It consists of an old and a modern section, located on either side of Kastrupvej, with a combined area of 10 hectares. The old section will be decommissioned in 2020.

References

External links

Official website
*
Concerts in the church
{{Copenhagen churches Lutheran churches in Copenhagen Churches completed in 1870 1870 establishments in Denmark Churches in the Diocese of Copenhagen