Gefion Fountain in Copenhagen

by Rob Hemphill

Title

Gefion Fountain in Copenhagen

Artist

Rob Hemphill

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The Gefion Fountain is a large fountain on the harbour front in Copenhagen, Denmark. It features a large-scale group of animal figures being driven by the Norse goddess Gefjon. It is located in Nordre Toldbod area next to Kastellet and immediately south of Langelinie.

The fountain depicts the mythical story of the creation of the island of Zealand on which Copenhagen is located. The legend appears in Ragnarsdrápa, a 9th-century Skaldic poem recorded in the 13th century Prose Edda, and in Ynglinga saga as recorded in Snorri Sturluson's 13th century Heimskringla.

According to Ynglinga saga, the Swedish king Gylfi promised Gefjun the territory she could plow in a night. She turned her four sons into oxen, and the territory they plowed out of the earth was then thrown into the Danish sea between Scania and the island of Fyn. The hole became a lake called Lögrinn and Leginum (locative). Snorri identifies the lake Löginn, as the lake of Old Sigtuna west of Stockholm, i.e., Lake Mälaren, an identification that he returns to later in the Saga of Olaf the Holy.

The fountain was donated to the city of Copenhagen by the Carlsberg Foundation on the occasion of the brewery's 50-year anniversary. It was originally supposed to be located in the main town square outside city hall, but it was decided instead to build it near the Øresund in its current location near Kastellet ("The Citadel").

It was designed by Danish artist Anders Bundgaard, who sculpted the naturalistic figures 1897–99. The basins and decorations were completed in 1908. The fountain was first activated on July 14, 1908.

The fountain underwent extensive renovations starting in 1999. The fountain was out of commission for many years, and was re-inaugurated in September 2004.

St. Alban's Church, locally often referred to simply as the English Church, is an Anglican church in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built from 1885 to 1887 for the growing English congregation in the city. Designed by Arthur Blomfield as a traditional English parish church in the Gothic Revival style, it is in a peaceful park setting at the end of Amaliegade in the northern part of the city centre, next to the citadel Kastellet and the Gefion Fountain and Langelinie.

The church is part of Church of England's Diocese in Europe. It is dedicated to Saint Alban, the first martyr of Great Britain. (Wikipedia)

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Uploaded

July 12th, 2020

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