Frederiksberg Courthouse ( Danish: Frederiksberg Domhus) is a courthouse in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

, an independent

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 ...

. The building was completed in 1921 to designs by

Hack Kampmann Hack Kampmann (6 September 1856 – 27 June 1920) was a Danish architect, Royal Inspector of Listed State Buildings in Jutland and professor at the architecture department of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus, ...

as part of a larger complex at Howitzvej which also included a new fire station and a police station. The latter is connected both to the courthouse and Solbjerg Church by short colonnades. Both the courthouse and the police station as well as a courtyard space situated to the rear of the complex were listed in 1997. An extension of the courtyard is currently (ultimo 2012) under construction to designs by

3XN 3XN is a Danish architectural practice headquartered in Copenhagen and with offices in Stockholm, London, New York and Sydney. History The company was founded in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1986 as Nielsen, Nielsen & Nielsen (later 3 X Nielsen) by Ki ...

History

The project originally comprised only a fire station and a police station. It was decided to build them next to Solbjerg Church which had been completed in 1908 in the grounds where Frederiksberg Hospital had previously been located. A design competition was won by professor

in 1914 and the police station was completed in 1919. When a reform of the jurisdictional system prompted the need for a courthouse in Frederiksberg, it was decided to build it next to the two other buildings and Kampmann was charged with its design. Construction began in 1919 and the building was completed by

Kaj Gottlob Niels August Theodor Kaj Gottlob, usually known as Kaj Gottlob, (9 November 1887 – 12 May 1976) was a Danish architect who contributed much to Neoclassicism and Functionalism both as professor of the School of Architects at the Royal Danish Aca ...

after Kampmann's death. It was inaugurated on 22 October 1921.

Architecture

Kampmann's courthouse is designed in the Neoclassical under influence from Carl Petersen, who had generated renewed interest in

Christian Frederiksen Christian Frederiksen (born 31 January 1965 in Virum, Denmark) is a Danish- Norwegian sprint canoer and marathon canoeist who competed from the late 1980s to the early 2000s (decade). Competing in four Summer Olympics, he won a si ...

's architecture. It is a two-storey, rectangular building surrounding a courtyard with a sculpture of

Justitia Lady Justice () is an Allegory, allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are Weighing scale, scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia. Lady Justice originat ...

Einar Utzon-Frank Aksel (Axel) Einar (Ejnar) Utzon-Frank (30 March 1888 – 15 July 1955) was a Danish sculptor and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. During his lifetime, he produced many sculptures, some of which stand as public monuments. U ...

. The building is constructed in red brick while the plinth, a dominant

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

just below the roof and the framing around the windows is of

Faxe Faxe or Fakse is a town on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. It is located in Faxe Municipality in Region Zealand. The town is most known for the Faxe Brewery, Royal Unibrew, a relatively large brewery producing a range of beer and soft ...

limestone. The drain pipes and detailing on the cornice and at the windows are in

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

. The windows are painted white towards the street and black facing the courtyard. The roof is hipped towards the street with a low

Mansard A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

towards the courtyard. The plan is symmetrical and identical on both two floors, which are connected by a round staircase. The connecting hallways follow the courtyard side of the building whereas the offices face the street. The court rooms are located in the south wing. There are four court rooms, located opposite each other, two on each floor. The two court rooms on the ground floor which were originally used for criminal cases are connected to the police station by an underground passageway. All four courtrooms have semi-circular reliefs by Utzon-Frank. Smaller ones designed by two students at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

are found above the doors in the hallway on both floors.

Police Station

The police station is a tall, narrow, wing; located just left of the courthouse and connected to it by a short colonnade. Another short colonnade connects it to Solbjerg Church on the opposite side. The masonry of the facades is decorated with vines and a distinctive gable faces the street. A short flight of stairs lead up to the entrance which is decorated with a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

Courtyard

A second entrance to the courtyard, for staff, is located on the rear of the building as seen from Howitzvej. Access is through a gateway in the connector between the courthouse and the police station, opening to a courtyard space which was also designed by Kampmann. Its

sett A sett or set is a badger's den. It usually consists of a network of tunnels and numerous entrances. The largest setts are spacious enough to accommodate 15 or more animals with up to of tunnels and as many as 40 openings. Such elaborate setts ...

s form a wavy pattern of varying

amplitude The amplitude of a periodic variable is a measure of its change in a single period (such as time or spatial period). The amplitude of a non-periodic signal is its magnitude compared with a reference value. There are various definitions of am ...

depending on the location on the plaza. The design bears a striking resemblance to the famous works of

Roberto Burle Marx Roberto Burle Marx (August 4, 1909 – June 4, 1994) was a Brazilian landscape architect (as well as a painter, print maker, ecologist, naturalist, artist and musician) whose designs of parks and gardens made him world-famous. He is credited w ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

thirty years later (compar
here
. There is an oval lawn with a basin in the centre of the space. The bronze sculpture in the basin, designed by Christian Pauli Max Andersen and depicting ''Hercules, The Snake Killer'' is an addition from 1930.

Extension

The building is currently under expansion to designs by

References

External links

Frederiksberg Courthouse
{Dead link, date=December 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes , Domstolsstyrelsen
3XN's extension

Frederiksberg Courthouse 3XN's extension in arkitekturbilleder.dk
Courthouses in Denmark Listed buildings and structures in Frederiksberg Municipality Government buildings completed in 1921 Hack Kampmann buildings 1910s architecture in Denmark