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Assistens Cemetery (Copenhagen)

Cemetery in Copenhagen, Denmark

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Established in 1760, the cemetery was originally a burial ground for the poor, laid out to relieve the crowded graveyards inside the city walls, but during the Golden Age, in the first half of the 19th century, it became fashionable, and many leading figures of the epoch, including Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, and Christen Købke are buried here.

Late in the 19th century, as Assistens Cemetery had itself become crowded, a number of new cemeteries were established around Copenhagen, including the Vestre Cemetery, but through the 20th century, it continued to attract notable people. Among the latter are the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr and a number of American jazz musicians who settled in Copenhagen during the 1950s and 1960s, including Ben Webster and Kenny Drew.

An assistenskirkegård (meaning 'auxiliary cemetery') is originally a generic term in Danish, used to refer to cemeteries which were laid out to assist existing burial sites, usually those located in urban settings in connection with churches, and therefore a number of cemeteries of the same name are found around Denmark.

The cemetery is one of five now run by Copenhagen Municipality; the other four are Vestre Cemetery, Brønshøj Cemetery, Sundby Cemetery, and Bispebjerg Cemetery.

History

Background

In the Middle Ages, entombment within buildings was the general rule in Denmark, although outdoor graveyards gradually became more common. In 1666, the Royal Danish Navy's Holmen Cemetery was moved from its original location at Holmen Church to a site outside the Eastern City Gate, becoming the first burial ground to be located outside the city walls.

An outbreak of plague in 1711 killed an estimated 23,000 inhabitants and put the existing burial grounds under so much pressure that up to five coffins were sometimes buried on top of each other. This led to the establishment of five new cemeteries on the periphery of the city, but still just inside the city walls, while the military Garrison Cemetery was relocated to land next to that of the Holmen Cemetery.

Establishment of the new cemetery

In the 1750s, the situation worsened even further, and in a letter of 2 May 1757 the City Council proposed to the Chancellery that a large new cemetery should be laid out outside the city walls for the city's parishes . After some negotiations, it was decided to place this outside the Northern City Gate, and on 26 May 1757 the new facility was founded by Royal charter. The new cemetery was inaugurated on 6 November 1760. It was enclosed by a wall built by Philip de Lange.

Originally, the cemetery was intended as a burial ground for paupers. In 1785, in a codicil to his will, Johan Samuel Augustin, an affluent citizen, astronomical writer, and First Secretary of the War Chancellery, made a specific request to be buried in the cemetery, stating that "Mein Begräbnis soll auf dem Armen-Kirchhofe vor dem Norderthor seyn, wesfalls ich schon mit Mr. Simon, der dort Gräber ist, gesprochen habe". He was soon followed by other leading figures from the ruling class, and the cemetery developed into the most fashionable burial ground of the city.

Around that time, excursions to the cemetery with picnic baskets and tea became a popular activity among common citizens of Copenhagen. In his account of a visit to Copenhagen in 1827, the Swedish poet Karl August Nicander fondly remembers Assistens Cemetery:

In order to enjoy another softer, quieter celebration, I walked out one evening through Nørre Port (the North Gate) to the so-called Assistens Cemetery. It is certainly one of the most beautiful graveyards in Europe. Leafy trees, dark paths, bright open flowery expanses, temples shaded by poplars, marble tombs overhung by weeping willows, and urns or crosses wrapped in swathes of roses, fragrance and bird song, all transform this place of death into a little paradise.

— Karl August Nicander

The excursions sometimes evolved into rowdy gatherings and legislation was passed to prevent this. A commission established in 1805 issued instructions which prohibited the consumption of food or drink as well as music or any other kind of cheerful behaviour in the cemetery. The gravediggers, who lived on the premises, were to enforce these restrictions but they seem to have taken their duties lightly. Legislation from 1813 prohibited them to sell alcohol to visitors to the cemetery. Despite all these efforts, the desired peace and quiet was a long time in coming. For particularly grand funerals, crowds of spectators would gather, and people would festoon the cemetery walls to get a better view. To reduce numbers of visitors, there was talk of introducing admission fees, but this was never carried out.

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