I.

Introduction

Copenhagen (Danish København), capital city of Denmark and of Copenhagen County, and a major seaport and commercial center. The greater part of Copenhagen is on the eastern coast of Sjælland Island. The smaller part, called Christianshavn, is on Amager Island. These two sections of the city are connected by bridges. Copenhagen is near Malmö, Sweden, from which it is separated by the Øresund (The Sound).

Copenhagen is a constituent administrative district of Denmark. It is governed by a body of elected municipal councilors and a group of appointed magistrates.

From the harbor the city’s business district extends to the Rådhuspladsen, Copenhagen’s main square. To the north and east of the Rådhuspladsen is the fashionable section of the city, containing the royal palace. At the northern end of the city is Frihavn (“free port”), constructed in 1894 for the development of the city’s foreign and domestic trade. To the east in Christianshavn is Christiania, a small experimental community that is self-governing. Copenhagen is partly encircled by gardens and boulevards constructed in 1863 when the city’s ancient fortifications were dismantled.

Among the city’s principal buildings are the cathedral, Vor Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady), built on the site of an earlier structure erected in the 12th century; Charlottenborg Palace, constructed in 1672, now the seat of the Academy of Arts, founded in 1754; Prinsens Palace, containing the noted national Museum of Northern Antiquities, founded in 1807; the former royal palace of Christiansborg, constructed between 1731 and 1745, subsequently twice destroyed by fire, rebuilt again after 1903, and since 1918 the seat of Denmark’s Parliament and supreme court; the Thorvaldsen Museum, opened in 1848, containing notable works of sculpture; the Royal Theater, erected in 1874; and the Royal Library, containing about 600,000 volumes. The Tivoli Gardens, a famed amusement park, is a leading attraction in the city. An educational center, Copenhagen is the site of the University of Copenhagen, the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (1856), and the Technical University of Denmark (1829). The city is also an important center of northern European literature and art and is the seat of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, founded in 1742.

II.

Commerce and Industry

Copenhagen is the principal seaport and commercial center of Denmark, and a large proportion of the country’s foreign and domestic trade passes through its port. Exports include cattle and cattle products, wool, grain, and dairy products; imports include coal, petroleum, and industrial raw materials. Industrial establishments of Copenhagen include shipyards; machine shops; chemical works; factories for the production of mathematical instruments, watches and clocks, pianos, and chocolate; sugar refineries; and breweries and distilleries. Copenhagen, long noted internationally for the manufacture of fine porcelain ware, is also famous for the production of handwrought silverware.

III.

History

Copenhagen was a fishing village until the middle of the 12th century; it grew in importance after coming into the possession of Bishop Absalon, who fortified it in 1167. Because of its harbor, it soon became a place of commercial importance and received municipal rights about the middle of the 13th century. It was repeatedly attacked by towns of the Hanseatic League. The city was chosen for the capital in 1443 by Christopher III, or Christopher of Bavaria. During 1658 and 1659 it withstood a severe siege by the Swedes under Charles X. In 1801 during the Napoleonic Wars, in an effort to compel the Danes to recognize Britain’s right of search on the high seas, a British flotilla commanded by Horatio Nelson destroyed a Danish fleet in the harbor of Copenhagen. When British naval vessels bombarded Copenhagen in 1807 to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon, the city suffered great damage and hundreds of people were killed. During World War II Copenhagen was occupied by German troops from April 1940 until May 1945. Population (2002 estimate) city, 500,531; (2003) metropolitan area, 1,085,813.