Imagine Copenhagen in the 17th century a city becoming home to a sizeable garrison. The Garnison Church. or Garrison Church in English, stands before you. It was erected primarily for military personnel stationed in the city.
A military church had already been built at Kastellet in 1670. But it was too small to serve all the troops. The rest of the troops had to use Church of Holmen. This was a former anchor forge that had been converted into a naval church in 1619.
Sophie Amalienborg burned down in 1689. Its chapel survived. It was then used by the army. This small building built for the royal court was only a temporary solution.
King Christian V provided land at Dronningens Tværgade. This was for a new church for the army. Military engineer Georg Philip Müller completed renderings in 1697. Materials from Sophie Amalienborg were used to keep costs down. This also included the church chapel’s furniture.
King Frederick IV ascended the throne in 1699. He moved the project to Sophie Amalienborg’s former gardens. Construction began in 1703. It still followed Müller’s design but under Domenico Pelli’s supervision. In 1704, the design was modified to be larger. Danish architect Wilhelm Friedrich von Platen took over the project. The Garnison Church was inaugurated on March 24, 1706.
The Garnison Church underwent restoration in 1885. Architect Ludvig Knudsen directed the work. A burial chapel was built as a free-standing building in the former cemetery. This followed Knudsen’s drawings. The interior has been changed many times. The current interior appearance comes from the renovation of 1954–1961. It sought to revert to a more original appearance.
The Garrison Cemetery is located on Dag Hammarskjölds Allé. It contains many monuments to the nation’s and army’s history. King Frederik III designated it as a cemetery in 1664. In 1723, it was renamed Garrison’s Cemetery.
During the plague epidemic in 1711 civilians could also be buried here. It was difficult to find space around the city’s churches. Many old graves are still family-owned. There are warrior monuments to those who fell in the wars of 1848–1850 and 1864.
The Garnison Church doesn’t look like much from the outside. But inside, it is one of the city’s largest and most monumental church spaces. Its pulpitures on two floors in Dutch Baroque give the space its own strict but calm character. The large altar section in Norwegian black and white marble holds it all together.
Garnison’s Church got its first large organ in 1724. Lambert Daniel Kastens built it. It was shipped to Copenhagen by sea. The instrument was built in the North German baroque tradition. In 1995, a new organ was inaugurated. Carsten Lund’s Orgelbyggeri built it.
The arrangement and structure of the baroque organ is the basis for the current instrument. It has 45 registers with 2861 pipes divided into 4 works. Queen Margrethe II’s monogram can be seen above the middle pipe field.
The organ is tuned in a historical tuning. It is suitable for German and Dutch Baroque music. Concert series with Bach and Buxtehude’s collected organ works have been carried out. CD recordings on the Garrison Church organ can be purchased.
J.P.E. Hartmann and his son-in-law Niels W. Gade were church musicians in the 19th century. Both were organists here in their younger days. Today, the Garnison Church remains a well-functioning church in the inner city with a rich history.