St. Mathew's Church ( Danish: Sankt Mathæus Kirke) is the oldest and largest church in the Vesterbro 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 ...

. It is located at the corner of Mathæusgade and Valdemarsgade and was completed in 1880 to design by city architect

Ludvig Fenger Ludvig Peter Fenger (7 July 1833 – 9 March 1905) was a Danish architect. He was a proponent of the Historicist style, and from 1886 to 1904 he held the title of City Architect in Copenhagen. Among his works are several churches, the Centr ...

History

Background

The decommissioning of Copenhagen's Bastioned Fortifications was a gradual and prolonged process. When a law in 1868 finally relinquished ownership of the fortifications and lifted the restrictions in the area immediately outside them, new residential districts sprang up outside the four former city gates which had been dismantled in 1868–69. This was also the case with Vesterbro outside the former Western City Gate which developed into a crowded and poor working-class neighbourhood.

Construction

Constructed between 1879 and 1880, St. Matthew's Church was the first church to be built in the area. At that time the parish had around 2,000 inhabitants. Its architect was

who had just completed St. James' 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 ...

. The building was constructed by master mason Vilhelm Køhler (1839-1802).

Later history

Up until the mid-1890s, St. Matthew's remained the only church in Vesterbro. At the turn of the 20th century the population had grown to about 7,000.

Architecture

Like many other Danish buildings of its time, St. Matthew's Church is inspired by North Italian Romanesque brick architecture. A distinctive feature of the exterior is the many

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...

s along the

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

as well as on the corners of the tower and at the base of the spire.

Interior

Most of the inventory is designed by Ludvig Fenger, including the organ case. The organ works were created by ''A. H. Busch & Sønner'' in 1880. 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 a mural painted directly on the wall behind the altar by

Henrik Olrik Ole Henrik Benedictus Olrik (24 May 1830 – 2 January 1890) was a Danish painter, sculptor and applied artist. Early life and education Henrik Olrik, born in Copenhagen, was son of customs inspector Henrik Johan Ludvig Olrik and Benedicte Mart ...

depicting the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is th ...

Gallery

Image:Sankt_Matthaeus_Kirke_Copenhagen_interior_wide.jpg, Interior Image:Sankt Matthaeus Kirke Copenhagen altarpiece.jpg, Altar and Altarpiece, full view Image:Sankt_Matthaeus_Kirke_Copenhagen_altarpiece_detail1.jpg, Altarpiece Image:Sankt_Matthaeus_Kirke_Copenhagen_organ_HDR.jpg, Organ Image:Sankt_Matthaeus_Kirke_Copenhagen_font.jpg, Font File:St. Matthew's Church - Vesterbro 01.jpg,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthew's Church, Copenhagen Churches completed in 1880 Churches in the Diocese of Copenhagen Lutheran churches in Copenhagen 19th-century Church of Denmark churches Vesterbro, Copenhagen