Copenhagen City Hall

Copenhagen City Hall is built of red brick inspired by the town hall of Siena. It has one of the tallest towers in Denmark and façades full of details from Norse mythology and Danish nature. Inside is Jens Olsen’s World Clock.

Copenhagen needed a new city hall as the city grew beyond its old ramparts. Martin Nyrop won the competition in 1888, and the building was erected in 1892–1905. It stands on the site of the city’s former ramparts, beside what became the City Hall Square. Nyrop drew inspiration from the town hall of Siena, the Palazzo Pubblico, but gave the building a Nordic character. He worked with many artists and craftsmen.

The building is of red brick with details in granite and limestone. Over the entrance stands a gilded statue of Bishop Absalon, the founder of Copenhagen. The façade is filled with shields, figures and animals. The tower is about 105 metres high and one of the tallest in Copenhagen. Inside are a great hall with a glass roof and a richly decorated banqueting hall. Jens Olsen’s World Clock, which shows the time, the orbits of the planets and the calendar, was inaugurated in 1955.

The City Hall is still the seat of the City of Copenhagen. It is regarded as one of the masterpieces of Danish National Romanticism and influenced architects throughout the Nordic countries, among them Ragnar Östberg when he designed Stockholm City Hall. The building shows how medieval models and local materials could give a modern administration a popular and national character.

• National Romanticism
• Martin Nyrop