| St. Gertrude's Hospital, Copenhagen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Copenhagan, Denmark |
| Coordinates | 55°40′59″N12°34′31″E / 55.68306°N 12.57528°E |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in Denmark |
St. Gertrude's Hospital, Copenhagen (Danish : S. Gertruds Kloster, S. Gertruds Hospital) was a locally important church and hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Saint Gertrude of Nivelles was one of the patron saints of travellers and merchants. She was a Benedictine nun, the daughter of Pepin of Landen and the first abbess of Nivelles Abbey in what is now Belgium. She died in 659 and was venerated as a saint even in her lifetime for her holiness. Many chapels dedicated to Saint Gertrude were found throughout Denmark where travellers could pause to pray for assistance. The chapels had wooden statues of the saint and were often located at important crossroads.
In Copenhagen St. Gertrude's was located in the area known as Rosengaard. Nothing is known of its foundation: possibly it was built on the site of an earlier residence of one of Denmark's noble families, as it would have required a donation of property for the buildings. It was sited near the outer wall of the city, near the main road to the north gate (Nørreport). This location fits the usual pattern of Saint Gertrude's chapels elsewhere in Denmark at important crossroads and entrances to towns.
The establishment consisted of a chapel, or church, together with a quasi-religious community, or fraternity (samfund). The fraternity was never affiliated with one of the recognized orders, but remained under the supervision of local priests in the charge of a decanus (dean or deacon).
In addition to the chapel itself and the buildings that housed the brothers there was also a building for the sick and poor, the origin of the hospital. There was also a graveyard, perhaps older than the original St. Gertrude's chapel itself. Over time St. Gertrude's came into possession of properties inside, and perhaps also outside, the city walls, which provided its income.
In 1397, during the reign of Margaret I, St. Gertrude's was being run as a religious house where weary travellers and itinerant workers could find a place to stay. Before 1454 a church existed on the site, though it continued to be called St. Gertrude's Chapel after the church was gone.
St. Gertrude's was not a priory in the strict sense, although several contemporary documents refer to it as such[ citation needed ].
By 1517 St. Gertrude's had fallen on hard times. The graveyard had acquired a reputation as a place where criminals were buried, and the popular nobleman Torben Oxe was beheaded there by order of Christian II.
In 1524 the running of St. Gertrude's Hospital was combined with St. Anne's Hospital, Copenhagen. By 1530 the chapel had been abandoned and any money collected in the offertory box was to go towards funding the hospital, and not to the decanus.
By 1530 St Gertrude's had become a hospital for common people. During the Reformation and the dissolution of religious communities in Denmark, the disposition of the property apparently lay in the hands of crown administrators. The crown's rights and interest in the property were given to the knight Johan Bjørn; the same day the dean or deacon of St. Gertrude's received the rights to Rosbæk Mill Farm, presumably to replace his lost income. The church was listed among those under consideration to become parish churches in Copenhagen by the State Council Commission which had been established to determine the future of religious buildings after the Reformation. Eventually the entire institution was converted into a hospital which expanded over time.
St. Gertrude's Hospital was destroyed in the great city fire of 1728. The only remains from the original St. Gertrude's are the large vaulted cellars beneath the present buildings at Coal Market Square (Danish : Kultorv ). The hospital building was rebuilt even larger and more splendid than before. During the British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807, the tower of the hospital caught fire and collapsed into the body of the building, causing major damage. The building was repaired and the tower rebuilt, though without the gilding that had made it a target of the British gunners.
Occasionally skeletal remains and coffins are uncovered during modern excavations. Parts of the second hospital building survive and have become a well-known restaurant which preserves the original name St Gertruds Kloster.
Saint Gertrude, St Gertrude, or St Gertrude's may refer to:
The Catholic Church in Denmark is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The Diocese of Copenhagen covers the whole of the country, as well as the Faroe Islands and Greenland, and as such is one of the geographically largest Catholic dioceses by area in the world.
The Hospital of the Holy Ghost, Aalborg, the buildings of which, although now without any religious function, are still known as Aalborg Kloster, is a former establishment of the Order of the Holy Ghost in Aalborg, Denmark. It was the hospital of Aalborg from 1431 to 1953 and is one of Denmark's best preserved medieval establishments. These are the oldest buildings in north Jutland, and the former hospital is also the oldest social institution in Denmark.
Antvorskov Monastery was the principal Scandinavian monastery of the Catholic Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, located about one kilometer south of the town of Slagelse on Zealand, Denmark.
The German Church, sometimes called St. Gertrude's Church, is a church in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden, belonging to the German Saint Gertrude Parish of the Church of Sweden.
Hovedøya Abbey was a medieval era Cistercian monastery on the island of Hovedøya in Oslofjord outside of Oslo, Norway.
Our Lady's Priory, Aarhus was an early Dominican foundation just outside the original walls of Aarhus, Denmark. The buildings are part of the Church of Our Lady complex, now part of the inner city of Aarhus, but they have been repurposed.
Køge Friary was a small Franciscan friary located in Køge, on the east coast of Zealand, Denmark.
The Franciscan Friary, Copenhagen was the most important Franciscan friary in Denmark.
Torben Oxe was a Danish nobleman and a member of an aristocratic family.
The House of the Holy Ghost in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a historic building owned and operated as an exhibition space by the adjacent Church of the Holy Ghost. One of the oldest buildings in Copenhagen, it was part of the largest medieval hospital in Denmark which King Christian I turned into an Augustinian priory 1497.
The medieval St. George's Leper Hospital lay just outside the city of Copenhagen, Denmark.
The Carmelite Priory, Copenhagen, was a small Carmelite college in Copenhagen, Denmark, in existence between 1497 and 1529, with connections to the University of Copenhagen.
Æbelholt Abbey was an Augustinian monastery situated at Tjæreby in Hillerød municipality in North Zealand, Denmark.
St. Catherine's Priory was an important early Dominican friary, located in Ribe, Denmark from 1228 until 1536. The buildings still stand, although there is no monastic community there. Known as Ribe Kloster, it is Denmark's most complete extant monastic building complex.
St. Peter's Priory was one of Denmark's early monastic houses. It was located in Lund, Skåne, now southern Sweden, formerly part of Denmark.
St. Clare's Priory in Copenhagen, Denmark, was a short-lived community of nuns of the Order of Poor Clares, which lasted from 1497 to 1536. The monastic buildings then came into use as a mint, which after its decommissioning became known as the Old Mint, giving rise to the present day street name Gammel Mønt at the site.
Halsted Church stands in the little village of Halsted some 6 km east of Nakskov on the Danish island of Lolland. Dating from the second half of the 12th century, the church has a Romanesque chancel and nave, a large burial chapel from 1636 and a tower from 1877. The church was closely associated with Halsted Priory, which has not survived.
Klosteret is a nightclub located at Hauser Plads 32 in Copenhagen, Denmark. With an area of circa 2000 square meters, it is the largest night club in Denmark. Klosteret was opened as a night club in February 2015 by the members of the pop group Infernal, Lina Rafn and Paw Lagermann. Infernal owned more than half the place. In the beginning of 2016, the place switched owners and is now called SGK by Fabio Klosteret 2.0.
Mårkær Monastery was an establishment of the Hospital Brothers of St. Anthony, a religious order. It was located at Mårkær, Angeln, Southern Schleswig.