Køge Town Hall is located in the central town square of
Køge
Køge (, older spelling ''Kjøge'') is a Danish seaport on the coast of Køge Bugt (''Bay of Køge'') 39 km southwest of Copenhagen. It is the principal town and seat of Køge Municipality, Region Sjælland (Zealand), Denmark. In 2025, the ...
,
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. The building dates from the 16th century but was adapted in the
Neoclassical style in 1903.
History
The town hall was built in about 1552 when the citizens of Køge were granted permission from
Christian III
Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...
to use building materials from the abandoned Greyfriers monastery in Vestergade for the construction of a town hall on condition that it contained granary and custom office. It was built in the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
style and had a frieze with reliefs from
Statius von Düren
Publius Papinius Statius (Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; , ; ) was a Latin poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, the ''Sil ...
's workshop in
Lübeck
Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...
under the windows on the first floor.
The town hall was extended northwards in 1570. It was completely rebuilt in 1903. It was listed in 1918.
Køge Municipality grew significantly in the
1970 Danish Municipal Reform
The 1970 Danish Municipal Reform was an extensive administrative reform in Denmark which on 1 April 1970 reduced the number of Danish municipalities from 1,098 to 277 and the number of counties from 25 to 14. The reform also abolished the last le ...
and an architectural competition was launched for the expansion of the town hall. It was won by Arkitektgruppen Aarhus (now
Arkitema Architects
Arkitema Architects is a Danish architectural firm headquartered in Aarhus, with branch offices in Copenhagen, Malmö, Stockholm and Oslo. Arkitema Architects was founded in 1969 in Aarhus, and nowadays has about 400 employees with its main activ ...
) and was their first major project.
Building
The old,
Neoclassical town hall building has a simple yellow facade tipped by a
triangular pediment. Two of Statius von Düren's terracotta reliefs from the Renaissance town hall flank the main entrance. The building contains the assembly hall and the mayor's office.
The modern extension consists of two long, glazed rear wings flanking a glass-covered alleyway which continues all the way to
Køge station. Citizen-oriented functions are concentrated in the ground floors while there is administration on the first floor. The north wing overlooks the garden of
Køge Museum
Køge Museum is a local history museum in Køge, Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a co ...
to the north. It has an exhibition space in the ground floor.
References
External links
Køge KommuneOld designbased on examination in 1905
{{coord, 55.45655, 12.18283, format=dms, type:landmark_region:DK, display=title
Listed buildings and structures in Køge Municipality
Listed city and town halls in Denmark