User:Ramblersen/Sandbox8

Frederick's Church
Marble Church seen from the top of St. Nicolas'
55°41′5.8″N 12°35′21.8″E
Location	4 Frederiksgade Copenhagen
Country	Denmark
Denomination	Church of Denmark
Website	marmorkirken.dk (in Danish)
History
Status	Church
Architecture
Architect(s)	[[Nicolai Eigtved]] Ferdinand Meldahl
Architectural type	Church
Style	Neo-Baroque
Groundbreaking	1749
Completed	1894
Specifications
Dome diameter (inner)	31 m
Materials	Brick
Administration
Archdiocese	Diocese of Copenhagen

Frederick's Church (Danish: Frederiks Kirke), popularly known as The Marble Church (Danish: Marmorkirken) is a Church of Denmark church in Copenhagen, Denmark. Wit its large dome, the fourth largest church dome in Eirope, it is one of the most imposing and visible buildings in the city. Together with nearby Amalienborg Palace, it was planned to form the centerpiece of the Frederiksstaden neighbourhood which was established in 1749 to conmemorate the 300 years jubilee of the House of Oldenburg's ascend to the Danish throne. Nicolai Eigtved made the original design and construction began in 1749 but soon after came to a standstill and the site was left as a ruin for more thana a hundred years. In the second half of the 19th century, Ferdinand Meldahl modified Eigtved's original design and the church was finally completed in 1889. The church is located at one end of the shorter of the Frederiksgade axis, the shorter of the two azes on which Frederiksstaden is centered, which bisects the central plaza of Amalienborg Palace before reaching the waterfront at Larsens Plads.

History

Eigtved's original project

Royal Master Builder made the first renderings for the church in about 1740. They envisioned a large round church topped by a dome with a span of 45 m and flanked by two free-standing bell towers but by the time the foundation stone was set by king Frederick V on 31 October 1749, as part of the celebrations of the jubilee, a final design had still not been decided upon. At least five different proposals are known from Eigtved's hand but their Rococo style was falling out of favour and Eigtved died in 1754.

Jardin's proposal

A drawing from 1766 showing Jardin's unbuilt design for the Marble Church

Eigtved was succeeded by Lauritz de Tgurah who made two new proposals but the construction showed no progress until Nicolas-Henri Jardin was called to Copenhagen and put in charge of the project on 1 April 1756. He continued the project to his own design which he published in 1765 and 1769 under the name Plans, coupes et élévations de l'église royale de Fréderic V.

The "ruin" painted by Heinrich Gustav Ferdinand Holm

Frederick V died in 1766 and his son, the new King Christian VII, showed less interest in continuing the costly project. When Johann Friedrich Struensee became de facto regent he stopped it completely and the building which reached up to 9 metres was left incomplete and, in spite of several initiatives to complete it, stood as a ruin for nearly 150 years. A further consequence of this lapse was that the original plans for the church to be built almost entirely from marble had to be discarded and instead construction was completed mostly with limestone.

Tietgen's new project

The financier and industrialist Carl Frederik Tietgen acquired the site in 1874 and commissioned Ferdinand Meldahl to revide the plans to a new design. Construction was ressumed in 1877 and the church was finally inaugurated on 18 August 1894.

Architecture

The church seen from Frederiksgade

Frederick's Church is built in the Neo-Baroque style. A square portico supported by columns extends to the east in front of the main entrance and another square extension faces west in front of a secondary entrance. Smaller doors are placed on the north and west side of the building. These lower parts are clad in grey Norwegian Gjellebæk Marble. The rotunda and extensions are topped by a ballustrade decorated with vases.

Above the columns is inscribed: HERRENS ORD BLIVER EVINDELIG (Danish: "the word of the Lord endureth for ever." - 1 Peter 1:25, KJV).

Above the ballustrade rises the tambour which is divided into 12 segments, each with a round-arched niche with a rectangular window. This part of the church is built in Faxe limestone and Öland stone. The tambour is also topped by a ballustrade decorated with vases.

The tambour as weill as the dome rests on 12 internal colums. The dome has a span of 31 m, making it the largest church dome in Scandinavia. The dome is topped by a lantern. Both dome and lantern are clad in copper with gilded details.

Statues

Around the church stand 32 statues, 14 in bronze on the ground and 18 in zinc on the ballustrade.

The 14 statues on the ground are of prominent Danish theologians and ecclesiastical figures, including. The people portrayed are: Ansgar, Hans Adolph Brorson, Bernhard Severin Ingemann, Hans Egede, Hans Tausen, Jesper Brochmand, Jacob Peter Mynster, Canute the Holy, N. F. S. Grundtvig, Nicolai Edinger Balle, Johan Nordahl Brun, Peder Palladius, Søren Kierkegaard and Thomas Kingo.

The 18 statues on the ballustrade around the dome are of prophets, apostles and church fathers such as Martin Luther. They are of:

Interior

The interoir

|150px|The church seen from Frederiksgade ]] The main space of the cgurch is centred under the dome, which rises ??? metres from the church and is bounded by the 12 internal columns. It holds a single gallery located above a narrow corridor which runs on the outer side of the columns. The 12 columns define the church room. On the external side of the columns runs a narrow corridor amd above it a gallery storey.

Looking up the church dome

The dome is divided into 12 sections by plaster stucco, Each section feature an painting of an apostle with an infant angle overhead. The frescos are executed by C.N. Overgaard, the apostles accoring to drawings made by Hans Olrik. Olrik died when the ceiling was only half finished and Anton Dorph completed the last six apostles after Olrikøs sketches.

Furnishings

Altar

The altarpiece is made of pine and decorated with stucco work that is shaped as a triumphal arch in Roman Baroque style around the Cross on the altar. It was executed in 1893-94.

Gallery

• 
  Organ
• 
  Interior
• 
  Dome interior
• 
  Panel
• 
  Altar
• 
  Fresco

External links

• Official website