Henrik Larsen Kyhl (8 August 1793 – 12 February 1866) was a Danish clockmaker, politician and the second managing director of

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli (), is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Kla ...

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 ...

Early life and education

Kyhl was born on 8 August 1793 in Søsum at Ølstykke, the son of wheelmaker Lars Henrik Hansen (c. 1764 – 1812) and Maren Jensdatter (c. 1773 – 1841). He apprenticed as a clockmaker in

Career as clockmaker

In 1818, Kyhl opened his own workshop which specialized in tower clocks. Over the years, he presented a number of inventions and improvements in the (''Magazine for Artists and Craftsmen ''). Kyhl was

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the Clockmakers' Guild in Copenhagen from 1832 to 1838. A tower clock presented at the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1851 attracted considerable attention. It was later installed in the Methodist St. Paul's Church in

Rigensgade Rigensgade () is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It links Sølvgade in the west with Øster Voldgade in the east. An underpass for pedestrians link the beginning of the street with Rosenborg Castle Gardens on the other side of Sølvgade. ...

in Copenhagen. In 1827, Kyhl constructed a reflector lamp which was used as

street lighting A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, streetlamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution b ...

in Copenhagen from 1828 until gas lights were introduced in 1857.

Other occupations

In 1835, he was a co-founder of . He was also one of the most active members of its board of representatives. In 1843, he was a co-founder of the Scandinavian Society. He was elected to the Committee for Copenhagen the same year (). Kyhl was from the foundation of the amusement park also a board member of Tivoli Gardens. He was often in opposition to

Georg Carstensen Johan Bernhard Georg Carstensen (31 August 1812 – 4 January 1857) was a Danish army officer and one of the developers of Tivoli Gardens. He spent most of his childhood in the Near East. He travelled widely and had a career in the military Roya ...

, whom he succeeded as managing director of the park until 1857.

Politics

From 1837 to 1859, Kyhl was a member of the

Copenhagen City Council The Copenhagen City Council (Danish: ) is the municipal government of Copenhagen, Denmark, and has its seat at Copenhagen City Hall. The city council is Copenhagen's highest political authority and sets the framework for the committees' tasks. ...

. In 1841, he unsuccessfully proposed surfacing the streets in Copenhagen with

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

. In 1935, he was a co-founder of the Society for the Freedom of the Press (). In 1844 and again in 1846, he was an alternate member of the Roskilde Constituent Assembly (), where he argued in favour of a free constitution''.''

Selected tower clocks

Kyhl has created tower clocks for the following buildings: * Mariager Town Hall,

Mariager Mariager is a town in Denmark with a population of 2,650 (1 January 2025).Nyborg Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,990 (2025). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

(1847) * Wedellsborg, Aarhus (1848) * Øresundshospitalet,

Østerbrogade Østerbrogade is the principal shopping street and thoroughfare in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It extends from Lille Triangel at the north-eastern tip of The Lakes, passes Trianglen, and continues to Svanemøllen station fro ...

, Copenhagen (1848) * Vester Sottrup Church, Sønderjylland (1848) * Royal Veterinary and Agricultural College,

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 ...

(1854) *

Jægerspris Castle Jægerspris Castle (), in Jægerspris on the Hornsherred peninsula west of Copenhagen, is a Danish manor house. It has belonged to the Danish monarchs for most of its history which dates back to the 13th century. In the 1850s it became a retrea ...

Jægerspris Jægerspris is a town, with a population of 4,156 (1 January 2025),Vridsløselille Prison Vridsløselille Prison (Danish language, Danish: Vridsløselille Fængsel) is a former state prison (Denmark), state prison located in Albertslund in the western suburbs of Copenhagen in Denmark. It was operated as a state prison from its opening ...

, Vridsløselille (1860) * Roskilde Hospital,

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

(1856) * Ebeltoft Church,

Ebeltoft Ebeltoft is an old port town on the central east coast of Denmark with a population of 7,287 (1 January 2025).Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

(1853) *

Holtug Church Holtug Church ( Danish: ''Holtug Kirke'') is a church in Holtug on the Stevns Peninsula, Stevns Municipality, Denmark. The church dates from the middle of the 12th century, but only the walls of the nave from the original Romanesque church have ...

, Stevns * Cottagehuset, Charlottenlund

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyhl, Henrik Danish clockmakers 1793 births 1866 deaths 19th-century Copenhagen City Council members