Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen
cathedral of Copenhagen and the National Cathedral of Denmark
The Church of Our Lady (Danish: Vor Frue Kirke) is the Lutheran cathedral of Copenhagen. It is situated on the Frue Plads public square in central Copenhagen, next to the historic main building of the University of Copenhagen.
The present-day version of the church was designed by the architect Christian Frederik Hansen (1756–1845) in the Neoclassical style and was completed in 1829.
History
Construction of the original Collegiate Church of St. Mary (den hellige Marias kirke) began no later than 1187 under archbishop Absalon (c. 1128–1201). The church was located on the highest point near the new town of Havn, later Copenhagen. Absalon was the bishop of Roskilde (Zealand), Denmark's capital of that era, and spent most of his life securing Denmark from foreign attacks. He built many churches and monasteries, while also founding Copenhagen as Denmark's Baltic port city. Named archbishop of Lund in 1178, Absalon accepted only under threat of excommunication.
“Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen” enters the record as cathedral of Copenhagen and the National Cathedral of Denmark. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Church, Lady and Copenhagen can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Church, Lady and Copenhagen provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1451811. VIAF identifies the subject as 243181799. Authority coordinates are 55.679, 12.572. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1756, 1845, 1829 and 1187.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen primary sources, Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen archive and Church research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.