Church of Holmen, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Church of Holmen (Holmens Kirke) was first built as an anchor forge in 1563 and converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having hosted the wedding between Margrethe II of Denmark, current queen of Denmark, and Prince Henrik in 1967. It is the burial site of such notabilities as naval heroes Niels Juel and Peter Tordenskjold, and composer Niels Wilhelm Gade, and contains artwork by, among others, Bertel Thorvaldsen and Karel van Mander.

The appearance of the Church of Holmen today closely resembles that of the renovation in 1872, except for the colour. The windows are in clear glass and predominantly set in iron. The spire is dressed in copper just like small spire on the confessional's roof. The church is of Lutheran denomination.

The church's pipe organ was originally made by Lambert Daniel Kastens and installed in 1738, and the facade remains in place today. The actual organ, however, is from 1956. The current pulpit was installed in 1662 and was carved by Abel Schrøder and stands in the natural colour of its oak, except for the king's monogram which is gilded. It is the oldest preserved pulpit in Copenhagen, and the most richly decorated. It stands from floor to ceiling, and depicts Christian history from Moses holding the basket up to Jesus Christ.

The oldest baptismal font in the church is in wrought iron and stands 117 cm tall. A white marble font was installed in 1756, created by Carl Frederik Stanley in classicist style, but is no longer in the church. The new baptismal font from 1872 was made by the sculptor Evens by Ludvig Fenger's design, in black marble and sandstone. A model of Niels Juel's ship Christianus Quintus hangs from the ceiling in the church.

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User Reviews

Engeneer Engeneer (5 years ago)
Wiew from Christiansborg to Church of Holmen very beautiful!

Nikolaj Erik “WhoopzPlays” Bay Theilgaard (5 years ago)
The oldest naval church in the world, also where our Queen Margrethe II got married to Prince Henrik.

Joshua Wolf (5 years ago)
Interesting church with attached mausoleum (?). Random model ship hanging from the roof in the middle of room.

Erica Mujo (6 years ago)
I was not planning on visiting this church but I was walking past it and really needed a wee so went in to see if they had a toilet and no, they don't have it. I'm so glad I wandered in as this is such a beautiful church. The musical organs are just magnificent and they have this model of a boat hanging of the ceiling in the middle of the church which I just found so interesting and amazingly carved. I recommend visiting for for all the manual work that went into it.

Daria Schütze (6 years ago)
Very beautiful church. A lot of stunning wood work. Impressing interior. You can also visit a hall with tombs of navy from previous centuries.

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