The former Courthouse and Jail () in

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

, Denmark, was designed by

Hans Christian Amberg Hans Christian Amberg, sometimes H. C. Amberg (8 April 1749 – 30 January 1815) was a Danish lexicographer. He was born in Elsinore as a son of goldsmith Lars Amberg, a Norwegian immigrant to Denmark. He was a brother of educator Herman Amberg ...

and completed in 1892 on the city's central square. At the time, Esbjerg had only 4,000 inhabitants but ten years later it had grown to around 13,000.

History and architecture

The red-brick building with

stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...

's, round-arched windows and a tower reaching in height resembles a medieval castle. Built in the imposing

Historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

style, it owes its existence to the rapidly expanding local population who had purchased the land and pressed for permission to build a courthouse since the 1870s. Hans Christian Amberg who designed the building is remembered principally for his work on

Ribe Cathedral Ribe Cathedral or Our Lady Maria Cathedral ( or ''Vor Frue Maria Domkirke'') is located in the ancient city of Ribe, on the west coast of southern Jutland, Denmark. It was founded in the Viking Age as the first Christian church in Denmark by Ansgar ...

. The courthouse is one of the few buildings he designed from scratch, most of his work being devoted to restoration. The building also housed the meeting room for the municipal council as well as the legal authorities and the police department. The premises were however too small for the city's requirements and by 1960 the municipal authorities had offices at 13 different locations in the city centre. Work finally began on the construction of a new town hall in 1967 although the Courthouse Building remained in use until the end of 1970. In 2002, the municipal authorities once again moved into the building when the newly restored wedding hall above the main entrance came into use. In 2010,

Realdania Realdania is a private association in Denmark which supports projects in architecture and planning. It was established in 2000 following the sale of Realkredit Danmark to Danske Bank, when a fund of approximately 20 billion kroner (EUR 2.7 billio ...

purchased the dilapidated building in order to undertake renovation and refurbishment. The work was completed in August 2013 providing premises suitable for weddings as well as for the needs of the municipal tourist office and the social services. Esbjerg's mayor, Johnny Søtrup, commented: "The building was an important component in the story of Esbjerg's development. A building from and for the citizens of Esbjerg... We look forward to developing activities in it for the benefit of our city, citizens and visitors."

References

{{Esbjerg Buildings and structures in Esbjerg Listed buildings and structures in Esbjerg Municipality Tourist attractions in Esbjerg Municipality Courthouses in Denmark Government buildings completed in 1892