Vestre Cemetery ( da, Vestre Kirkegård, meaning "Western Cemetery") is located in a large park setting in the

Kongens Enghave Kongens Enghave ("king's meadow"), commonly known as Sydhavnen ("south harbour") or the postal district of 2450 Copenhagen SV (southwest) is a district in southern Copenhagen. While its core is a largely pre-WWII former working class district, it ...

district of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. With its 54

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s it is the largest

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

in Denmark. The cemetery is landscaped and serves as an important open space, in which people take a stroll, and look at the old graves and monuments. It is located southwest of the

city center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

, between the Enghave, Sydhavn, Sjælør and

Valby Valby () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, and has a mixture of different types of housing. This includes apartment blocks, terraced housing, areas with single ...

train stations on Copenhagen's

S-train The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

system, and right next to the historic Carlsberg neighbourhood. The cemetery is one of five run by Copenhagen municipality. The other cemeteries are Assistens Cemetery, Brønshøj Cemetery, Sundby Cemetery, and

Bispebjerg Cemetery Bispebjerg Cemetery ( Danish: Bispebjerg Kirkegård), established in 1903 on the moderately graded north slope of Bispebjerg Hill, is the newest of five municipal cemeteries in Copenhagen, Denmark. The main entrance to the cemetery is located nex ...

. The cemetery has a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

section, and next to that is a Jewish cemetery (the Jewish Western Cemetery).

History

Vestre Kirkegård was opened on 2 November 1870 to accommodate an urgent need for adequate burial places for the growing population of Copenhagen. Assistens Cemetery, till then the main cemetery of the city, had long been unable to cope with the increasing number of burials.

Hans Jørgen Holm Hans Jørgen Holm (9 May 1835 – 22 July 1916) was a Danish architect. A pupil of Johan Daniel Herholdt, he became a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and a leading Danish proponent of the National Romantic style. Biograph ...

, who was the resident architect for the Copenhagen Burial Services, in collaboration with landscape architect Edvard Glæsel (1858–1915) and city engineer Charles Ambt were responsible for the overall planning and landscaping of the new cemetery. First a burial place for the poor, Vestre Kirkegaard became the principal burial place of Copenhagen during the 1990s.

The setting

The cemetery is noted for its scenery, offers a maze of dense groves, open lawns, winding paths, hedges, overgrown

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

s, monuments, tree-lined avenues, ponds and other

garden feature Garden features are physical elements, both natural and manmade, used in garden design. * Artificial waterfall * Avenue *Aviary *Bog garden *Borrowed scenery *Bosquet * Broderie * Belvedere * Chashitsu (tea house) * Chōzubachi (basin) * Deck *D ...

s. Many graves have distinctive gravestones, sculptures or large mausoleums and are eclectically placed. The cemetery's grounds have a variety of trees with many rare species and is a haven to birds and small mammals.

Buildings

Almost all the buildings in the grounds have been designed by

or Holger Jacobsen who succeeded him as resident architect for the Copenhagen Burial Services. Holm designed both the North Chapel and South Chapel (1906) as well as an office building the gate at the main entrance. It is unclear who were responsible for the design of the former inspector's house just inside the main entrance. The East Chapel was inaugurated in 1914 to a design by Holger Jacobsen but only remained in use until 1926.

The Crossroads Project

The Crossroads Project (Danish: Stjernevejsprojektet), designed b
Schønher Landskab
is a landscape project centred on the remains of the West Chapel, now serving as a

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

for contemplation. It was created in 2003 after Copenhagen Municipality arranged a competition for the regeneration of an area characterized by the abandoned South Chapel of the cemetery and

elm tree Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nort ...

s dead from

Dutch elm disease Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...

. The complex is intended to serve a dual purpose both relating to the location's function as a burial place and as an open space and meeting place in the city, for those seeking peace and silence. The complex consists of two intersecting

axes Axes, plural of '' axe'' and of '' axis'', may refer to * ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane * a possibly still empty plot (graphics) See also * Axess (disambiguation) *Axxess (disambiguation) Axxess may refer to ...

with the former Southern Chapel in its centre. The chapel was partly demolished, leaving only the central part as an open pavilion-like domed structure. The building is partly overgrown by

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

. The surrounding garden spaces of the two axes, creating a

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

, are confined by tall yew hedges and have a grass surface. Embedded in the lawns of the cross arms are narrow, rust coloured paths made of oxidized iron plates, flanked by rows by

cherry tree A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

s. At the end of each cross arm is a 9 metre tall rust coloured iron arch. The design of the project is inspired by

Bramante Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style ...

's Tempietto in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and the Baroque gardens of Villa Gori in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

. The latter is characterized by the garden being contained in the two axes of the garden, instead of the axes being the connecting feature of the surrounding gardens as is normally the case.

Monuments and artworks

Just inside the main entrance is Arne Bang's bronze statue ''En Falden'' ("''A Fallen''), which was installed in 1942 to commemorate the Danish soldiers that were killed when Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany on 9 April 1940. In the North Chapel's courtyard garden are two reliefs by the artist Henrik Starcke, ''Death'' and ''Resurrection'', which were installed in 1949. They were a gift from the Albertina Foundation. Nineteen British former prisoners of war released at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, homeward bound, died at Copenhagen around New Year 1919. Among them were a Canadian, an Indian and an Australian from Tasmania. Each has a

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...

headstone and a fine memorial, given by the Danes, was unveiled in their honour in 1920. There are also buried three British casualties from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In the Faroese section is a monument created by the painter

Elof Risebye Elof Christian Risebye (3 April 1892 – 11 July 1961) was a Danish painter. He became known as the "painter of grief" (''sorgens maler'') for his paintings of coffins and corpses in the 1930s. Biography Born in the Frederiksberg district of Co ...

. The monument in the Greenlandic section 19 is from 1963 and was designed by the sculptor Jan Buhl.

Interments

Among the notables interred at the cemetery are political and business leaders, philosophers, artists, and musicians: *

Carl Aller Carl Julius Aller (25 November 1845 - 23 August 1926) was a Danish publisher of the late 19th and early 20th century and founder of Aller Media, the largest publisher of weekly magazines in the Nordic countries and still controlled by the Aller f ...

(1845–1926), publisher, founder of

Aller Media Aller Media is a magazine publisher in the Nordic countries, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. It publishes ''Elle'', ''Cafe'', ''Familie Journalen'', '' Femina'', ''Allers'' and ''Se og Hør''. History Aller Media was founded in Copenhagen ...

Laura Aller Laura Christiane Aller née Bierring (1849–1917) was a Danish business woman and a pioneering magazine publisher. She first helped her husband Carl Aller to develop his photolithographic method of image production to establish a magazine contain ...

(1849–1917), pioneering editor and magazine publisher *

Hans Niels Andersen Hans Niels Andersen (10 September 1852 – 30 December 1937) was a Danish shipping magnate, businessman, diplomat and founder of the East Asiatic Company. Early life Born into a working-class family in Nakskov, he trained as a shipbuilder befor ...

(1852–1937), businessman, founder of East Asiatic Company *

Herman Bang Herman Joachim Bang (20 April 1857 – 29 January 1912) was a Danish journalist and author, one of the men of the Modern Breakthrough. Biography Bang was born in Asserballe, on the small Danish island of Als, the son of a South Jutlandic vicar ...

(1857–1912), writer *

Vilhelm Buhl Vilhelm Buhl (16 October 1881 – 18 December 1954) was Prime Minister of Denmark from 4 May 1942 to 9 November 1942 as head of the ''Unity Government'' (the Cabinet of Vilhelm Buhl I) during the German occupation of Denmark of World War II, unti ...

(1881–1954), political leader,

Social Democrat Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

Prime Minister of Denmark The prime minister of Denmark ( da, Danmarks statsminister, fo, Forsætisráðharri, kl, Ministeriuneq) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Island ...

Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen (born Anne Marie Brodersen; 21 June 1863 – 21 February 1945) was a Danish sculptor. Her preferred themes were domestic animals and people, with an intense, naturalistic portrayal of movements and sentiments. She al ...

(1863–1945), sculptor * Emmy Drachmann (1854–1928), novelist *

Edvard Eriksen Edvard Eriksen (10 March 1876 – 12 January 1959) was a Danish–Icelandic sculptor. Biography He apprenticed as a wood carver, after which he trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts between 1894 and 1899. Eriksen's most famous work i ...

(1876–1959), sculptor, most famous for the statue of the

Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...

Jørgen Pedersen Gram Jørgen Pedersen Gram (27 June 1850 – 29 April 1916) was a Danish actuary and mathematician who was born in Nustrup, Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark and died in Copenhagen, Denmark. Important papers of his include ''On series expansions determi ...

(1850–1916), mathematician *

Gustav Adolph Hagemann Gustav Adolph Hagemann (16 May 1842 – 26 April 1916) was a Danish engineer and businessman. He was chief technical officer of the Danish Sugar Factories from 1872 to 1897 and then served as chairman of the board until 1916. He owned several su ...

(1842–1916), engineer and businessman *

Vilhelm Hammershøi Vilhelm Hammershøi (), often anglicised as Vilhelm Hammershoi (15 May 186413 February 1916), was a Danish painter. He is known for his poetic, subdued portraits and interiors.Souren Melikian,Hammershoi's decade of brilliance, before banality set ...

(1864–1916), painter * Karen Hannover (1872–1943), ceramist * Hans Christian Hansen (1906–1960), political leader, Social Democrat Prime Minister *

Hans Hedtoft Hans Hedtoft Hansen (21 April 1903 – 29 January 1955) was a Danish politician of the Social Democrats who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1947 to 1950 and again from 1953 until his death in 1955. He also served as the first President ...

(1903–1955), political leader, Social Democrat *

Per Hækkerup Per Hækkerup (25 December 1915 – 13 March 1979) was a Danish Social Democratic politician, who served as Foreign Minister of Denmark from 1962 to 1966. Hækkerup, the son of Hans Kristian Hækkerup, a politician, was active in politics from ...

(1915–1979), political leader, Social Democrat *

Arthur Jensen Arthur Robert Jensen (August 24, 1923 – October 22, 2012) was an American psychologist and writer. He was a professor of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jensen was known for his work in psychometrics an ...

(1897–1981), actor *

August Jerndorff August Andreas Jerndorff (25 January 1846 – 28 July 1906) was a Danish painter who is best known for his portraits. Biography August Jarndorff was born in Oldenburg in Lower Saxony. His parents were Just Ulrik Jerndorff (1806-1847), painter ...

(1846–1906), painter *

Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists". Biography Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, U ...

(1923–1986), American jazz trumpeter *

Viggo Kampmann Olfert Viggo Fischer Kampmann (; 21 July 1910 – 3 June 1976) was a Danish politician who served as the leader of the Danish Social Democrats and Prime Minister of Denmark from 1960 to 1962. He formed his first cabinet just prior to the 1960 el ...

(1910–1975), political leader, Social Democrat Prime Minister * Julie Marstrand (1882–1943), sculptor * Asta Nielsen (1881–1972), film actress *

Dagmar Olrik Dagmar Olrik (1860–1932) was a Danish painter and tapestry artist. She is remembered for her weaving and tapestry work, in particular for decorating a room in Copenhagen's City Hall with tapestries based on cartoons of Nordic mythology created ...

(1860–1932), artist *

Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he ...

(1865–1931), composer *

Jens Otto Krag Jens Otto Krag (; 15 September 1914 – 22 June 1978) was a Danish politician who served as prime minister of Denmark from 1962 to 1968 and from 1971 to 1972, and as leader of the Social Democrats from 1962 to 1972. He was president of the Nord ...

(1914–1978), political leader, Social Democrat Prime Minister *

Julius Petersen Julius Peter Christian Petersen (16 June 1839, Sorø, West Zealand – 5 August 1910, Copenhagen) was a Danish mathematician. His contributions to the field of mathematics led to the birth of graph theory. Biography Petersen's interests i ...

(1839–1910), mathematician * Julie Ramsing (1871–1954), philanthropist *

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studie ...

(1879–1933), polar explorer and anthropologist * Carl Rohl-Smith (1848–1900), Danish-American sculptor *

Thorvald Stauning Thorvald August Marinus Stauning (; 26 October 1873 in Copenhagen – 3 May 1942) was the first social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark. He served as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1926 and again from 1929 until his death in 1942. Under Stauni ...

(1873–1942), political leader, first Social Democrat Prime Minister *

Hermann Baagøe Storck Hermann Baagøe Storck (18 February 1839 – 4 December 1922) was a Danish architect and heraldist. As an architect, he is mainly known for the restoration of historic buildings. Among his own designs, his building for the Hirschsprung Collec ...

(1839–1922), architect and heraldic artist *

Hjalmar Söderberg Hjalmar Emil Fredrik Söderberg (2 July 1869 – 14 October 1941) was a Swedish novelist, short story writer, playwright and journalist. His works often deal with melancholy and lovelorn characters, and offer a rich portrayal of contemporary Stoc ...

(1869–1941), Swedish author *

Ed Thigpen Edmund Leonard Thigpen (December 28, 1930 – January 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965. Thigpen also performed with the Billy Taylor trio from 1956 to 1959. Biograp ...

(1930–2010), American jazz drummer *

Laurits Tuxen Laurits Regner Tuxen (9 December 1853 – 21 November 1927) was a Danish painter and sculptor specialising in figure painting. He was also associated with the Skagen Painters. He was the first head of Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler, an art school ...

(1853–1927), sculptor, painter * Clara Wæver (1855–1930), embroiderer * Liva Weel (1897–1952), singer, actress * Carlo Wieth (1885–1943), actor *

Kristian Zahrtmann Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann, known as Kristian Zahrtmann, (31 March 1843 – 22 June 1917) was a Denmark, Danish Painting, painter. He was a part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and ...

(1843–1917), painter

Cultural references

In ''Nordisk Foraar'' (1911, "''Nordic Spring''"), Johannes V. Jensen refers to Vestre Kirkegård as the fairest park in Copenhagen, "taller, more elegant than the city centre" (”Jeg gaar ud på Vestre Kirkegaard en Formiddag og finder mig til Rette./ Det er den smukkeste Park vi har, her er højere end inde i Byen, friere,/ og de unge Træer staar i Luftningen ude fra Søen og gror, svulmer af Frodighed”).

References

External links

Pamphlet
with map of the cemetery
British Commonwealth War Graves at Vestre Cemetery

CWGC: Copenhagen western cemetery

Source
{{coord, 55, 39, 28, N, 12, 31, 45, E, source:dawiki_region:DK_type:landmark, display=title Cemeteries in Copenhagen Lutheran cemeteries Parks in Copenhagen Tourist attractions in Copenhagen Kongens Enghave 1870 establishments in Denmark Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Denmark