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The period from 1800 to 1850 was a flourishing era in the history of Danish culture, in which the arts and sciences reached new heights. Prominent figures such as Hans Christian Andersen, Auguste Bournonville, Søren Kierkegaard, Bertel Thorvaldsen, C.W. Eckersberg and H.C. Ørsted were only a few of the many artists and thinkers who lived and worked in Copenhagen during the Golden Age.
It was also in the Golden Age that the foundations of modern Denmark were laid with the introduction of democracy and the abolition of the absolute monarchy in 1849. Both the artists and intellectuals of the period were preoccupied by questions of national identity and popular roots, and, as the result of a broad alliance, it proved possible to persuade Frederik VI to introduce the Constitution on which the nation is still based today. The events that took place 150 years ago still exert a powerful influence on contemporary thought in Denmark.
The Golden Age festival, Golden Days in Copenhagen, is held every other year. In 2002 the main theme will be industrialisation and the breakthrough of modernity in Denmark. This was a period when, under the influence of international trends, Danish cultural life sought radically new directions, and Copenhagen became a modern metropolis.
Meanwhile visitors can enjoy the fact that the Golden Age is still to be encountered in present-day Copenhagen – in museums, theatres, concert halls and not least in its streets. With their modest proportions and simple pastel coloured facades, the classically-inspired buildings erected after Copenhagen burnt down for the second time in 1795 and following the British fleet’s bombardment in 1807 create an atmosphere of light, air and intimacy.
The monumental buildings of the Golden Age by the architect C.F. Hansen, the Court House (Domhuset) on Nytorv, Christiansborg Palace Church and the Church of Our Lady are still standing today. Many of the leading painters of the period lived in Frederiksstad between Kongen’s Nytorv and the Citadel, while C.W. Eckersberg occupied the professorial apartment at Charlottenborg.
The suburb of Frederiksberg played an important role during the Golden Age, and the literary cultural-historical Bakkehus Museum contains authentic Golden Age interiors, where the visitor can sense the presence of history and of the bel esprits who frequented these very rooms.
At Assistens Kirkegård in Nørrebro we find Golden Age enthusiasm for unspoiled nature combined with Bourgeois matter-of-factness. A stroll though the cemetery, where many of the leading personalities of the Golden Age are buried, will allow the visitor to sense the atmosphere of a period that still influences the Danish sense of national identity. Among the museums where the art of the Golden Age can be seen are The National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst), the Hirschsprung Collection and the David Collection.
Author: Vibe Nørgaard
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