The Royal Library Garden ( Danish: Det Kongelige Biblioteks Have), often referred to simply as the Library Garden, is a small, somewhat hidden garden between the Royal Library, the

Tøjhus Museum The Danish War Museum ( Danish: Krigsmuseet) is a museum of military history and arms on Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Christian IV's Arsenal (Danish: Tøjhuset), from which it takes its former name. On 1 July 2018 ...

, ChristianIV's Supply Depot and

Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace (, ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament (), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme Court of Denmark. Also ...

Slotsholmen Slotsholmen (English language, English: The Castle Islet) is an island in the harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, and part of Copenhagen Indre By, Inner City. The name is taken from the successive castles and palaces located on the island since Absal ...

in central

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by 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 ...

. It has a reputation for being one of the most tranquil spots in the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

. The garden has a shallow water basin with a

water feature In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, jeux d'eau, pools, ponds, rills, artificial waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity ...

in the middle, blooming flower beds and large shady trees. It is accessible from the courtyard at Christiansborg's show grounds.

History

The Library Garden is located on top of the former site of

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is the longest in Scandinavian history. A member of the H ...

s old Naval Harbour. The harbour was flanked by an

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

—now housing the

—and a supply depot, both completed in 1694, and was connected to the main harbour by a narrow canal. Later the Navy was moved to Holmens Kanal and the old harbour was filled in 1867. The garden was designed in 1920 by landscape gardener Jens Peder Andersen and Christiansborg's architect Thorvald Jørgensen. As a reminder of its maritime past, a small pond has been retained in the middle of the gardens and an old mooring ring of the type used by ships in the 17th and 18th centuries has been built into the masonry at the end of the gardens.

Features

Basin and water sculpture

The garden has a shallow pool at its centre. In the middle of it stands an eight-metre-high copper sculpture which spouts out cascades of water on the hour. Designed by scultpror Mogens Møller, it was a gift from the Ny Carlsberg Foundation to the Royal Library on the occasion of the opening of its extension, the Black Diamond, located on the waterfront on the other side of the old library building.

Kierkegaard sculpture

A 1918 bronze statue of

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

by sculptor

Louis Hasselriis Louis Hasselriis (12 January 1844 – 20 May 1912) was a Danish sculptor known for his public statuary. Early life and education Hasselriis was born in Hillerød, the son of Herman Edvard Louis H (1815–1907) and Sophie Frederikke Schondel ( ...

is located in the middle of the gardens. Kierkegaard appears absorbed in his own thoughts with his gaze directed towards a point on the other side of the wall where his fiancée,

Regine Olsen Regine Schlegel (née Olsen; 23 January 1822 – 18 March 1904) was a Danish woman who was engaged to the philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard from September 1840 to October 1841. Biography Early years and engagement to Kierkegaard O ...

, is said to have lived.

Vegetation

The wide variety of flowers in the gardens change with the seasons. Visitors can enjoy the view from rows of benches in the shade of the trees or from others out in the sun along the wall between the gardens and the yard to the Danish National Archives. Column plinths from the old Christiansborg serve as epergnes in the four grassy corner pieces and the principal axis through the gardens creates a link between the yard to the Danish National Archives and the main entrance to the Royal Library.

Gallery

Image:Royal Library Garden Cph.jpg, View towards Christiansborg Image:Royal Danish Library Garden - arch.jpg, The arched entrance Image:Royal Danish Library Garden - building.jpg, One of two identical and symmetrically placed pavilions