Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen

The Church of Our Lady (Danish: Vor Frue Kirke) is the Lutheran cathedral of Copenhagen. It is situated on the Frue Plads public square in central Copenhagen, next to the historic main building of the University of Copenhagen. The present-day version of the church was designed by the architect Christian Frederik Hansen (1756–1845) in the Neoclassical style and was completed in 1829.

Construction of the original Collegiate Church of St. Mary (den hellige Marias kirke) began no later than 1187 under archbishop Absalon (c. 1128–1201). The church was located on the highest point near the new town of Havn, later Copenhagen. Absalon was the bishop of Roskilde (Zealand), Denmark's capital of that era, and spent most of his life securing Denmark from foreign attacks. He built many churches and monasteries, while also founding Copenhagen as Denmark's Baltic port city. Named archbishop of Lund in 1178, Absalon accepted only under threat of excommunication. St. Mary's construction continued sporadically until 1209, when it was consecrated by Absalon's successor, bishop Peder Sunesen (c. 1161–1214) on Annunciation Sunday in March, which became the church's traditional feast day. The church was built in Romanesque style with its half-rounded arches inside and out. In 1314, a fire destroyed the limestone church so completely that it was rebuilt in the popular new building material of the day, oversized red brick. The style of building was Gothic, with its typical pointed arches. The rebuilding of the simple church with a long nave and choir continued until 1388. Due to a lack of money, the great tower was not built until the reign of king Christian II. It was as high as the church was long, and from artwork of the day, out of proportion to the size of the church. A school was established early on. In 1479, parts of the church school received a charter and become the University of Copenhagen. Professors were brought from Cologne, Germany. The international faculty widened Denmark's exposure to the great ideas and philosophies of the day. The university challenged the growth of the Protestant movement, but was eventually closed. By 1537 it reopened as a centre for Lutheran studies.

The Protestant Reformation was hard on St. Mary's. Citizens of Copenhagen had elected to follow Luther, but Roman Catholic officials at St Mary's tried to maintain the church as a centre of Catholic resistance to change in Copenhagen. By royal decree both Roman Catholic and Lutheran priests were commanded to use the church jointly, which incensed the majority of Copenhagen's population. On 27 December 1530 hundreds of citizens stormed St. Mary's, destroying every statue and dismantling the choir stalls. The 17 richly gilt altars were stripped of jewels and gold and smashed, as were reliquaries, vestments and altar equipment. Even the name "St. Mary's" became Our Lady's Church (Vor Frue Kirke), keeping the historic reference to the Virgin Mary without the use of the un-Lutheran "Saint" appellation. Just a year later Our Lady Church celebrated the acceptance of the Lutheran order of worship presided over by Johannes Bugenhagen (1485–1558), an associate of Martin Luther. 1539 saw the installation of the first Lutheran superintendents, later bishops, of Denmark. In 1568 the dean of Our Lady Church was charged with defining accepted practice for Lutheran church services in Denmark under the direction of the Bishop of Zealand. Ever since, the dean (and later bishop) of Our Lady Church has carried out that role in the Danish National Church.

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).