Statue of Niels Juel

Last updated
Niels Juel
Niels Juel (Holmens Kanal) 03.jpg
The Niels Juel statue viewed with the old Hafnia headquarters as a backdrop
Artist Theobald Stein
Year1873 (1873)
Medium Bronze
Subject Niels Juel, Battle of Køge Bay
Location Copenhagen
Coordinates 55°40′39.9″N12°35′9.6″E / 55.677750°N 12.586000°E / 55.677750; 12.586000

The Statue of Niels Juel, created by the sculptor Theobald Stein, was unveiled in 1881 at Holmens Kanal in Copenhagen, Denmark. It stands next to Church of Holmen where he is buried and close to his former home in Kongens Nytorv. The monument with surroundings was listed in 2004.

Contents

Description

Detail Niels-Juel1.jpg
Detail

The monument is built to a pompous, Historicist design a full of symbols. It consists of a bronze statue placed on a high marble plinth with intricate bronze decorations. It is surrounded by paving of öland sandstone in a red-and-white pattern inside a low cast-iron fence. [1] The monument depicts Admiral Niels Juel on board his ship Christianus Quintus, leaning against a mortar cannon and with his raised command rod signaling for the Battle of Køge Bay to begin.

Detail of the plinth Pedestal CoA Niels Juel statue Copenhagen.jpg
Detail of the plinth

The bronze decorations on the plinth comprises Niels Juel's coat of arms and the Order of the Elephant anchors, cannons and cannonballs. The bronze plaque with inscription is framed by maritime and military symbols. The inscription on the plaque reads"KÆMPERNES HARME/HAR DYBT BEGRAVET/ÆREN DOG STIGER/SOM SOL OVER HAVET".

Niels Juel's name is written on the upper front side of the plinth in bronze lettering and further down an inscription reads "Bay of Køge/1 July•1677" (Kjøge Bugt/1 juli•1677") in capitals. On the bronze decoration, close to the Order of the Elephant, an inscription reads "NEC TEMERE/NEC TIMIDE.". On the rostra on each side is the inscription "C 5", representing Christian V's monogram. On the lower right hand side of the plinth, an inscription rads "ØLAND/1•June•1676", a reference to the Battle of Öland. On the lower left hand side, an inscription in bronze lettering reads "GULLAND/1•MAY•1676". On the lower rear side is the inscription "MØEN/1•IUNI•1677". [1]

History

Origins

The inauguration of the monument in 1881 Holmens Kanal - Niels Juel afsloringen.png
The inauguration of the monument in 1881
The Niels Juel statue with its surroundings Illustration af statue af Niels Juel pa Gammelholm.png
The Niels Juel statue with its surroundings
Drawing of the statue Statue af Niels Juel.png
Drawing of the statue

The Royal Danish Dockyards were located at Gammelholm until the middle of the 19th century. The area was redeveloped into a residential neighbourhood in 1860-77 under supervision of city architect Ferdinand Meldahl. The Holmen Canal was filled in 1864. [2]

The Niels Juel Monument was a gift from a committee in connection with the 200 years' anniversary of the Battle of Køge Bay on 12 July 1677. Niel Juel successfully led the Danish fleet through the battle against a larger Swedish fleet. The project received economic support from Det Eibeschützske Legat til Stadens Forskjønnelse and Niels Brocks Legat til Stadens almindelige Bedste. [1]

Five artists, two of whom declined, were invited to participate in a competition for the design of the monument. Plaster models of the three proposals were installed in Charlottenborg and Theobald Stein won the competition with 19 votes while a proposal submitted by Vilhelm Bissen received three votes. [1] Stein completed the statue in 1878 and the monument was unveiled on 21 September 1881. Installed in 1885, the two bronze street lights were a gift from Carlsberg-founder I.C. Jacobsen. [3]

Changing surroundings

The Niels Juel statue with the original OK Building as a backdrop Niels Juel postkort.jpg
The Niels Juel statue with the original ØK Building as a backdrop

The immediate surroundings have changed considerably since its installation at the site. Of the surrounding buildings, the Peschier House is the only one that predates the Niels Juel statue. It is from 1798 but was expanded with an extra floor and 1850. The East Asiatic Company constructed a new headquarters in Jugendstil at the corner of Holbergsgade in 1907-09 but it was subject to Schalburgtage during World War II and replaced by a new building designed by Holger hacobsen in 1946–1949. The Hafnia insurance company constructed a new headquarters on the other side of Holbergsgade in 1910–12 to design by Ulrik Plesner. The youngest building at the site is the National Bank, built in 1965–78 to a Modernist design by Arne Jacobsen. The traffic lanes have also been expanded. Holmens Kanal is part of the Ring 2 ring road.

In a meeting on 15 January 2003, Copenhagen Municipality decided to move the monument to a new location on the waterfront. It was listed by the Danish Building Protection Authority in 2004. [4]

Other versions

A painted plaster statuette is owned by the Holmen Naval Base but on loan at the Royal Danish Naval Museum (now merged with the Royal Danish Arsenal Museum). The Hirschsprung Collection owns two terracotta statuettes and two plaster statuettes. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Møn</span> 1677 naval battle

The Battle of Møn, also known as the Battle of Fehmarn, took place 31 May–1 June 1677, as part of the Scanian War. A smaller Swedish squadron under Admiral Erik Sjöblad attempted to sail from Gothenburg to join the main Swedish fleet in the Baltic Sea. It was intercepted by a superior Danish-Norwegian force under Niels Juel and decimated over the course of two days. The Swedes lost 8 ships and over 1,500 men dead, injured or captured, including Admiral Sjöblad himself, while the Danish losses were insignificant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niels Juel</span> 17th-century Danish admiral

Niels Juel was a Danish admiral and naval hero. He served as supreme command of the Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish-Norwegian Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Køge Bay (1677)</span> Naval battle in the Scanian War 1677

The Battle of Køge Bay was a naval battle between Denmark-Norway and Sweden that took place in the bay off of Køge 1–2 July 1677 during the Scanian War. The battle was a major success for Admiral Niels Juel and is regarded as the greatest naval victory in Danish naval history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyboder</span>

Nyboder is a historic row house district of former Naval barracks in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was planned and first built by Christian IV to accommodate a need for housing for the personnel of the rapidly growing Royal Danish Navy and their families during that time. While the area is still commonly associated with the name of its founder as one of his numerous building projects around Copenhagen, the Nyboder seen today was in fact, except for a single row of houses in Sankt Pauls Gade, built from 1757.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holmen Church</span> Church in Copenhagen, Denmark

The Holmen Church is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having hosted the wedding between Margrethe II of Denmark, queen of Denmark between 1972 and 2024, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivar Huitfeldt Column</span>

The Ivar Huitfeldt Column is a monument at Langelinie in Copenhagen, Denmark, built to commemorate the death of Admiral Ivar Huitfeldt and his men from HDMS Dannebroge, which exploded and sank in the Battle of Køge Bat during the Great Northern War. The monument was constructed in 1886 to a design by Vilhelm Dahlerup. Ferdinand Edvard Ring was responsible for the statue of the Roman goddess of victory, Victoria, and for the reliefs, while Carl Brummer undertook the monument's architectural design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theobald Stein</span> Danish sculptor (1829–1901)

Theobald Stein was a Danish sculptor. He was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and served as its director from 1883 to 1886.

Events from the year 1881 in Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holmens Kanal</span>

Holmens Kanal is a short street in central Copenhagen. Part of the main thoroughfare of the city centre, it extends from Kongens Nytorv for one block to a junction with a statue of Niels Juel where it turns right towards Holmens Bro while the through traffic continues straight along Niels Juels Gade. The street was originally a canal, hence the name, but was filled in the 1860s. Today it is dominated by bank and government buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edouard Suenson Memorial</span> Monument in Copenhagen

The Edouard Suenson Memorial is located in front of Nyboder on Store Kongensgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It commemorates Vice Admiral Edouard Suenson who commanded the Danish ships in the Battle of Heligoland 9 May 1864. The monument was designed by Theobald Stein and inaugurated on 9 May 1889. The bust was cast in Lauritz Rasmussen's bronze foundry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto Evens</span>

Otto Frederik Theobald Evens was a Danish sculptor.

<i>Statue of Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskiold, Copenhagen</i>

The statue of Peter Wessel Tordenskiold, created by Herman Wilhelm Bissen in the 1860s, is a bronze statue of the Norwegian-Danish naval hero Peter Wessel Tordenskiold located in the grounds of the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Tordenskiold's tomb is located inside the church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauritz Rasmussen</span>

Lauritz Godtfred Rasmussen was a Danish zinc and bronze caster. He established a zinc and bronze foundry in his own name in Copenhagen in 1865 and was appointed royal court caster in 1883. Many Danish monuments from the second half of the 19th century come from his foundry. It was later taken over by his son Carl Rasmussen and remained in the family for several generations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Ewald and Johan Hermann Wessel Memorial</span>

The Johannes Ewald and Johan Hermann Wessel Memorial is located next to the Round Tower and Trinitatis Church, just off Købmagergade, in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Johannes Ewald and Johan Herman Wessel were two of the leading Danish poets of the 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reunification Monument, Copenhagen</span>

The Reunification Monument marks the main entrance to Fælled Park from Trianglen in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was created by the artist Axel Poulsen, in collaboration with the architect Holger Jacobsen, to commemorate the reunification of Sønderjylland with Denmark in 1920.

Henrik Span was a naval officer in the Dutch, Venetian and Danish services. He reached the rank of Admiral in the Royal Danish Navy in 1683 and headed the Royal Danish Naval Dockyard in Copenhagen from 1690. In 1692, he was granted Hørbygaard at Holbæk and raised to the peerage by Christian V of Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Anders Sandøe Ørsted</span> Statue in Copenhagen, Denmark

The Statue of Anders Sandøe Ørsted is located in Ørstedsparken in Copenhagen, Denmark. Anders Sandøe Ørsted was Denmark's leading jurist of the mid-19th century. He served as Prime Minister of Denmark in 1853–54.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Asmus Jacob Carstens</span> Statue of Asmus Jacob Carstens in Copenhagen, Denmark

The Statue of Asmus Jacob Carstens is a statue of German-Danish painter Asmus Jacob Carstens situated in the garden of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, facing Niels Brocks Gade, in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was created by Theobald Stein in 1878–1879 and moved to its current location in 1894. It is complemented by a statue of Georg Zoëga facing Tietgensgade on the other side of the museum. The monument is flanked by two other bronze statues, Jules Dalou's Field Worker (1893) and Constantin Meunier's The Hammerman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Ludvig Holberg, Copenhagen</span> Statue of Ludvig Holberg in Copenhagen, Denmark

The statue of Ludvig Holberg by Theobald Stein, together with Herman Wilhelm Bissen's statue of Adam Oehlenschläger, flanks the main entrance to the Royal Danish Theatre on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was created by Stein in conjunction with the inauguration of Vilhelm Dahlerup's new theatre building in 1875. Bissen's statue of Oehlenschläger is from 1861 and was originally located on Sankt Annæ Plads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niels Juels Gade</span>

Niels Juels Gade is a street in Indre By, Copenhagen, which runs from Holmens Kanal to Havnegade. The street is an extension of Christian IV's Bro to Christians Brygge and together with them forms part of Ring 2. Along the entire southern side of the street is Danmarks Nationalbank. On the northern side, there are a number of apartment buildings, which are primarily used for business. Furthermore, the Nigerien embassy is located in the street. The street is named after the naval hero Niels Juel (1629-1697).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Søhelten Niels Juel (1629-97)". Copenhagen Municipality (in Danish). Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  2. "Sag: Niels Juel-statuen". Kulturstyrelsen (in Danish). Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  3. "Niels Juel-statuen set fra Peschers Palæ mod Holbergsgade". Væggen (in Danish). Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  4. "Miels Juel bliver ved Holmens Kanal" (in Danish). Berlingske. Retrieved 22 September 2016.