Holmens Church

Anchor smithy, naval church and royal court church

Originally, Holmens Kirke was an anchor smithy built in 1562 for Copenhagen's military dock facilities, which King Christian III. (1503 - 1559) had built. It was a flat long workshop building, which was hidden behind a Renaissance tower so that it would not interfere with the view from the royal castle. Eventually Christian IV (1577 - 1648) settled royal marines on the site - the Holm - who needed their own church. In 1617 a new smithy was built and the previous workshop building could thus be converted into a church. It was consecrated in 1619, although little changed structurally.

The original ground plan was not changed at all, even the Italian Renaissance tower was preserved and now served as a bell tower. The church is not ossified (i.e. aligned in the longitudinal axis to the sunrise) like almost all other churches, because originally its construction was a secular building with an entrance portal on the south-eastern side. Then it received pews and an altar by Engelbret Melstede, finally it was extended in 1641 and received its still existing cruciform ground plan.

The master builder of the time, Leonhard Blasius, integrated the tower as a west gable, added somewhat shorter cross arms and raised the building to tower height. The foundation of the church is formed by the earlier granite stones, while the more recent parts of the building are made of yellow bricks - somewhat smaller than those of the tower. The new gables were architecturally based on the renaissance tower, but are nevertheless simpler than it. Red and yellow brickwork was painted on their plaster to match the aesthetics of the tower.

Burial chapels and inventory

In the late 17th century, the small burial chapels at the church were built, including one in 1697 for Admiral Niels Juel. The large chapel along the canal bank was built between 1705 and 1708. Among others, the architect Christian Frederik Hansen is buried here, and Niels Juel was later reburied there.

The stucco decoration on the ceiling of the church dates from 1776. The church is now a parish and seamen's church, and Margarethe II was married here in 1967. In the church, the inventory has been preserved since the 17th century, despite several fires, sieges and bombardments. The present altar dates from 1661, the artist was Abel Schrøder (1606 - 1676). He also made the pulpit. There are three baptismal fonts in the church with remarkable histories.