Copenhagen

ko-pen-ha'gen, the capital city of Denmark. Latitude, 55 deg. 40' 52" N.; longitude, 12 deg. 35' 46" E. it is situated chiefly on the island of Zealand, here separated from an adjacent island by a passage that affords fine anchorage and a harbor for shipping. With its suburbs, the city had a population in 1906 of 514,-134, approximating that of Baltimore. The name is Scandinavian and signifies merchants' haven. The city was founded in the twelfth century on the site of a fishing village. From the first it has risen rapidly. It became the capital of King Christopher in 1443.

Naturally enough, the city was never a favorite with the Hanseatic League, by which it was attacked several times. It withstood a siege from the Swedes in 1700. In 1801 the English under Parker and Nelson destroyed the Danish fleet off Copenhagen harbor to prevent its falling into the hands of Napoleon. The chief exports at present are such as might be expected from the metropolis of a dairy country--butter, cheese, beef, cattle, wool, and hides--as well as grain. There are ten distilleries, and many manufactories of porcelain ware, pianos, clocks, safety matches, sugar, and snuff. The trade with Iceland and Greenland is centered here.

The city is a literary and art center. A national university, with museums, an immense library and a botanical garden, is here. Unlike many European universities it is open to students of both sexes. The public buildings of the city are not remarkable, but they are rich in art treasures. The royal picture gallery does not rank quite with that of Dresden and Florence, but it contains paintings by such masters as Van Dyck, Rubens, and Rembrandt. A Thorwaldsen museum, built after the somber fashion of an Etruscan tomb, shelters the burial place and original models of the statuary of that famous sculptor. The round tower of Trinity Church is 115 feet high. Instead of a stairway it is ascended by means of a broad spiral roadway, up which Frederick the Great is said to have driven a carriage drawn by four horses.

The Museum of Northern Antiquities, a large collection of weapons, tools, utensils, hunting gear, coffins, burial urns, church vessels, inscriptions, ornaments, armor, tombstones, etc., 40,000 in number, the greatest and most valuable collection of ancient man in existence, is here. The relics are admirably arranged in order of time. The flint period is illustrated by flint implements, bones and shells from the famous kitchen middens, or refuse heaps of prehistoric Denmark. Relics of the bronze period indicate that the art of casting, learned from the south, was well developed. The peat moor and bogs have yielded many iron articles, including Roman coins, indicating intercourse with that people at an early date. The exhibit is very complete down to 1660. Other museums or departments exhibit the antiquities of the rude nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as of the navigators known in history as the Vikings.

The vicinity of the city is attractive. The blue water of the sea, level drives, fine old beech forests, wayside inns, pleasure gardens, beautiful grounds, deer parks, and handsome residences render the neighborhood delightful.

See Denmark