Emiliekilde is a memorial located at the corner of Strandvejen and Emiliekildevej in

Klampenborg Klampenborg is a northern suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Gentofte Municipality, Gentofte municipality, directly on Øresund, between Taarbæk and Skovshoved. Like other neighbourhoods along the Øresund coast, Klampenborg is an ...

Gentofte Municipality Gentofte Municipality () is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in the Capital Region of Denmark (''Region Hovedstaden'') on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covers an area of , and has a total pop ...

, in the northern suburbs of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. It was installed by

Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann (4 December 1747 – 9 February 1831) was a German-born Danish politician, businessman, nobleman and philanthropist. Early life and career Ernst von Schimmelmann was born in Dresden to Baron Heinrich Carl von Sch ...

to commemorate his first wife, Emilie Caroline, who had recently died of tuberculosis.

Description

The monument is 5.7 metres tall and built in reddish granite. A short flight of stairs leads up the monument, which is backed by a low wall. The wider base has an arched opening with a spring flowing from a small pipe. The monument is topped by a sandstone urn. Just below the urn is a white marble plaque with the name EMILIA'S KILDE ("Emily's Spring") in capital lettering. Further down on the monument is another white marble plaque with a short poem in carved lettering that has almost disappeared. It reads:

History

Count

married Emilie Caroline Rantzau at

Ahrensburg Ahrensburg () is a town in the district of Stormarn, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located northeast of Hamburg and is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Its population is around 31,000. ''Schloss Ahrensburg'', the town's symbol, is ...

in 1775. The couple lived in the Schimmelmann Mansion on

Bredgade Bredgade (literal translation, lit. "Broad Street") is one of the most prominent streets in Copenhagen, Denmark. Running in a straight line from Kongens Nytorv for just under one kilometre to the intersection of Esplanaden, Copenhagen, Esplanaden ...

in Copenhagen but spent their summers at Sølyst in the countryside to the north of the city. On 6 February 1780, just 20 years old, Emilie died from tuberculosis. Shortly thereafter Schimmelmann commissioned a memorial from

Nicolai Abildgaard Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard (11 September 1743 – 4 June 1809) was a Danish neoclassical and royal history painter, sculptor, architect, and professor of painting, mythology, and anatomy at the New Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhage ...

to commemorate his departed wife. He married Caroline Schimmelmann in 1782. The memorial to his first wife was installed close to Sølyst that same year. The poem on the monument was written by Christen Henriksen Pram. The monument became a popular destination for excursions during the

Danish Golden Age The Danish Golden Age () covers a period of exceptional creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century.Kulturnet DanmarkGuide to the Danish Golden Age Although Copenhagen had suffered from fires, Battle of Co ...

. It is the subject of a number of paintings from the period.

References

External links

{{coord, 55.7724, 12.5943, type:landmark_region:DK, display=title Danish Golden Age Listed buildings and structures in Gentofte Municipality Listed monuments and memorials in Copenhagen Schimmelmann family Springs of Denmark