St. Luke's Church ( Danish: Sankt Lukas Kirke) is a

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church ( , or unofficially ; ), sometimes called the Church of Denmark, is the established, state-supported church in Denmark. The supreme secular authority of the church is composed of ...

church located in the

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

district of

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 ...

. Completed in 1897 to the design of

Valdemar Koch Otto Valdemar Koch (20 October 1852 – 24 February 1902) was a Danish architect and local politician. He designed a number of churches in Copenhagen. Early life and education Valdemar Koch was born in the parish of Sønder Kirkeby on the isl ...

, who also built several other churches in Copenhagen around that time, it is the second-oldest church in Frederiksberg.

History

By the late 19th century, the population of Frederiksberg parish had grown to about 60,000 inhabitants. In 1892, a temporary church was therefore consecrated in the former gym hall of a local

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

to relieve the pressure on

Frederiksberg Church Frederiksberg Church (Danish language, Danish: Frederiksberg Kirke) is the oldest church building in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Completed in 1734, it was built to an unusual octagonal design in Baroque architecture, Baroque ...

and the young Harald Ostenfeld, later

Bishop of Zealand The Diocese of Zealand (Danish: ''Sjællands Stift'') was a Lutheranism, Lutheran diocese in Denmark that existed from 1537 to 1922. The diocese had been formed in 1537 following the Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein, Reformation of Denm ...

, was instituted as its first pastor. At the same time it was decided to divide Frederiksberg into four parishes with St. Luke’s Church as the first of the three new churches to be built. The architect

was charged with the commission. He had already designed two churches in Copenhagen, Kapernaum Church in

Nørrebro Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current N ...

and Zion's Church in

Østerbro Østerbro () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located close to present-day ...

. Ground was broken on 26 April 1896 and the new church was consecrated on 29 May 1897 with Ostenfeld as pastor. The construction costs amounted to DKK 75–80,000. The church was expanded with a porch in 1964 which was replaced in 1995 by one designed by the firm Per Gents.

Architecture

St. Luke's is built in

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style. It stands on a granite plinth, and is built in red brick with ornamental bands. The reliefs and sculptures by

Thomas Bærentzen Thomas Vilhelm Bærentzen (1869-1936) was a Danish sculptor. He created the large relief above the main entrance of Odense Theatre in Odense, as well as reliefs on a number of churches. He was for a while married to the writer Emma Bærentzen i ...

are in light-coloured stone. There is a

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 defensive work *, ships of ...

at the west end of the building.

Interior

The

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed interior opens into an arcade leading to the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

at the eastern end. The rich interior decorations are partly made to Koch's own design and include "paradise flowers" which can be found in all of Koch’s churches in Copenhagen. Other decorations include a repetition of

Joakim Skovgaard Joakim Frederik Skovgaard (18 November 1856 – 9 March 1933) was a Danish painter. He is remembered above all for the frescos which decorate Viborg Cathedral. Biography Born in Copenhagen, from an early age he was trained in drawing and paintin ...

’s annunciation scene from Church of the Holy Ghost around the entrance doors, as well as a relief by Thomas Bærentzen entitled ''The Suffering Mankind''. On the walls above the windows there are fluttering angels and citations from the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

painted by

Carl Budtz Møller Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

in 1910.

Furnishings

* The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter 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 or sculpture, ...

is painted by Frans Schwartz and entitled ''Christ who reveals himself to his disciples''. * The altar table is a reconstruction from 1984 based on old oil paintings and photographs. * The crucifix to the right of the altarpiece is executed in bog oak by Johannes Kragh and is a donation from 1929. * The

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

is carved in granite from drawings by Valdemar Koch.

St. Luke's Church today

The church is a parish church within the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luke's Church, Copenhagen Buildings and structures in Frederiksberg Municipality Churches completed in 1897 Churches in the Diocese of Copenhagen Lutheran churches in Copenhagen 19th-century Church of Denmark churches