50 Fun Facts About Copenhagen

Copenhagen sits mainly on which Danish island?

A smaller part lies on Amager, where the airport is; the Øresund strait separates the city from Malmö in Sweden.

Copenhagen's Danish name København originally meant what?

The Old Norse Kaupmannahǫfn is cognate with 'chapmen's haven'; the Swedish name Köpenhamn is a direct translation.

Which chemical element is named after Hafnia, the Latin name for Copenhagen?

The name comes from 'havn', harbour; the element was discovered in the city in 1923.

Which bishop built a fortress on Slotsholmen in 1167, traditionally Copenhagen's founding?

It defended against Wendish pirates; Christiansborg Palace stands on the same spot today.

Copenhagen became Denmark's capital around 1416 when which king moved his seat to Copenhagen Castle?

That was during the Kalmar Union linking Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The University of Copenhagen, the oldest in Denmark, was inaugurated in which year?

Christian I founded it with the approval of Pope Sixtus IV; the Reformation of the 1530s changed its role.

Which builder-king, reigning 1588-1648, gave Copenhagen its Renaissance summer palace and stock exchange?

He founded the Danish East India Company in 1616 and laid out Christianshavn's canals on Dutch models.

The Round Tower's famous equestrian staircase is a helical ramp of how many turns?

Built as an observatory and finished in 1642, it was famously ascended on horseback by a visiting tsar in 1716.

Which ruler rode a horse up the Round Tower's spiral ramp in 1716?

The tower is part of the Trinitatis complex with a church and the university library.

The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 destroyed roughly what share of the medieval town?

It burned from 20 to 23 October and left a fifth of the population homeless; with the 1795 fire it explains why so little of the old town survives.

Which admiral, telescope to his blind eye, led the main attack at the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen?

He ignored Parker's signal to cease fire; the battle is often called his hardest fought, even beyond Trafalgar.

The British bombardment of Copenhagen in September 1807 was notable for the deployment of what?

It killed 195 civilians, burned about 1,000 buildings and led to the surrender of the entire Dano-Norwegian fleet.

The post-war Finger Plan shaped Copenhagen's growth along how many railway 'fingers' from the centre?

It is considered the world's first example of a transit metropolis, with early transit-oriented suburbs like Ballerup.

Tivoli Gardens opened in which year, making it the world's third-oldest amusement park?

Founder Georg Carstensen told King Christian VIII that 'when the people are amusing themselves, they do not think about politics'.

Tivoli's Rutschebanen, dating from 1915, is described as the oldest still-operating what?

Its ferris wheel of 1943 is likewise the oldest still in use.

The Little Mermaid statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of which brewery?

He had been captivated by a ballet of the tale and asked ballerina Ellen Price to model; Edvard Eriksen's bronze was unveiled in 1913.

How tall is the Little Mermaid statue on the Langelinie waterfront?

Vandals have decapitated it more than once; after the 1998 beheading the head was returned anonymously to a TV station.

Which author lived at Nyhavn for 18 years and is buried in Assistens Cemetery?

Kierkegaard and Niels Bohr lie in the same cemetery, which locals also use as a park.

The Nyhavn canal was dug between 1670 and 1675 by Danish soldiers and whom?

King Christian V ordered it after the Dano-Swedish War of 1658–60.

Christiansborg Palace claims to be the only building in the world housing what?

Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office and the Supreme Court share it; the present palace is the third of that name after fires in 1794 and 1884.

The royal family moved into Amalienborg's four Rococo mansions after which event?

Nicolai Eigtved designed the palaces for four noble families around an octagonal square dominated by the Marble Church.

Rosenborg Castle, built in 1606 as a royal summer residence, now houses what?

Its King's Garden is the oldest and most visited park in the city.

The old stock exchange, Børsen, is famous for a spire shaped like what?

The 'dragon spire' is one of the city's most distinctive silhouettes.

Freetown Christiania was established in September 1971 when squatters occupied what?

The Bådsmandsstræde barracks in Christianshavn were taken over during the student unrest of the late 1960s.

Strøget, one of Europe's longest pedestrian streets, was first closed to cars in which year?

The 'temporary' trial became permanent in 1964; planning mayor Alfred Wassard reportedly received death threats over it.

Which young architect's 1960s initiative brought pedestrian streets and cycle tracks to central Copenhagen?

Monocle named the city the world's most liveable in 2013, citing planning that favours cyclists and pedestrians.

The Øresund Bridge linking Copenhagen to Malmö opened to traffic in which year?

Its 8-km bridge meets a 4-km tunnel at the artificial island of Peberholm so as not to block flights into the nearby airport.

Why does the Øresund crossing dive into a tunnel for its final stretch to Amager?

The tunnel begins at Peberholm, an artificial island in the middle of the strait.

The Copenhagen Metro, opened in 2002, is notable for being what?

It complements the older S-train network; the underground City Circle line, Cityringen, came later.

Kastrup, opened in 1925 on Amager, holds which distinction among Scandinavian air hubs?

It handles roughly 2.7 million passengers a month on the island of Amager.

The brewery J. C. Jacobsen founded in Copenhagen dates from which year?

The first export was a single barrel to Edinburgh in 1868.

Which pale-lager yeast, isolated at the brewery's laboratory in 1883 and shared freely, bears its name?

Emil Christian Hansen identified it; Jacobsen had set up the laboratory in 1875 as an admirer of science.

Which Copenhagen restaurant in the North Atlantic House was named the world's best in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014?

It sparked global interest in New Nordic Cuisine.

What is the traditional Danish open sandwich, served in Copenhagen's modest eateries, called?

Most restaurants now serve international dishes, but the open sandwich remains the classic lunch.

Which two football clubs from the capital area contest Danish football's biggest rivalry?

One plays in Østerbro, the other at Brøndby Stadion in the suburbs.

F.C. Copenhagen play at which stadium in the Østerbro district?

The Copenhagen Marathon has been run since 1980, and the city hosted the 2011 UCI Road World Championships.

Which street festival, held in early June, draws around 100,000 people and ranks among Europe's biggest?

Copenhell, a heavy-metal festival, occupies the old B&W shipyard on Refshaleøen; the Jazz Festival fills the streets in July.

Which architect and designer built the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel for SAS between 1956 and 1960?

At 69 metres it was once the tallest hotel in Denmark.

The Copenhagen Opera House on Holmen was a gift to the city from which shipping magnate?

It stands directly across the water from Amalienborg.

Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen dramatises a 1941 meeting between Bohr and which German physicist?

Bohr is buried in Assistens Cemetery alongside Kierkegaard and Andersen.

In 1711 the plague killed roughly how many of Copenhagen's 65,000 inhabitants?

The 18th century also brought the devastating fires of 1728 and 1795.

From 1660 to 1806, roughly how many enslaved Africans did Danish merchants ship to the Danish West Indies?

Buildings such as the Yellow Palace and Vestindisk Pakhus were funded with the profits of the West India and Asiatic companies.

Which Copenhagen district, designed by Nicolai Eigtved in Rococo style, contains Amalienborg and the Marble Church?

Development began in 1749 under Frederik V.

Copenhagen Zoo, in Frederiksberg, was founded in which year?

It houses over 250 species; neighbouring Frederiksberg Palace was Frederick IV's Italian-inspired summer residence.

Which Renaissance citadel near the Little Mermaid now serves mainly as a park?

The Citadel was completed in 1664 as part of the capital's strengthened defences.

What did the Royal Danish Navy do in Copenhagen harbour in August 1943 as collaboration collapsed?

Most Danish Jews escaped to Sweden when arrests began soon after; Hitler had hoped Denmark would be a 'model protectorate'.

The innovative Superkilen park was created in which Copenhagen district lacking green space?

Nørrebro and Vesterbro grew in the 1880s to house workers arriving from the provinces.

Copenhagen's population outside the ramparts more than tripled from 1840 to 1901, to roughly what?

Electricity arrived in 1892 and electric trams in 1897 as the ramparts came down.

In which year were Copenhagen's trams replaced by buses?

The driverless Metro that arrived in 2002 gave the city its first rail transit in the centre since then.

Which philosopher is buried alongside Niels Bohr and Hans Christian Andersen in Assistens Cemetery?

The cemetery halfway up Nørrebrogade doubles as a park and recreation area for locals.