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JEWISH HERITAGE EUROPE
An Online Resource Centre
DENMARK
Copenhagen
Copenhagen's main synagogue was designed by the German architect Gustav Friedrich Hetsch (1788-1864) and built in 1833. Its entrance is set behind an iron fence. In front of the synagogue there is a monument to the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust. The modest exterior is of stone and brick, with a Hebrew inscription over the entrance reading: 'Welcome in the name of God'. The building's interior is much more elegant, with white walls and gold decoration. The prayer hall seats 650 people, with standing room for about 100 more. Most community events occur here, including weddings and barmitzvahs. Men and women have separate seating during services. The synagogue holds daily, Friday evening, and Saturday morning services.
Address
12 Krystalgade, 1172 K
This synagogue maintains ties with Agudath Israel. It sponsors daily Orthodox services in addition to Sabbath services. In the summer, services also are held at 6 Granvaenget, Hornbaek, N. Seeland. About 20 families belong to this congregation.
Address
12 Ole Suhrs Gade, DK-1354 K
The cemetery, on Mollegade, was first used in 1693, when David Israel was buried there. The Jewish community purchased the land in the following year. Israel's is the oldest existing Jewish tombstone in Denmark. The cemetery holds over 5,000 stones; it is no longer in use.
The cemetery, on Vestre Kirkegards Alle, was established in 1886. It includes two monuments: one for the Danish Jews who died in Theresienstadt concentration camp, designed by Siegfried Wagner and erected in 1946; and one erected in 1992, and commemorating the more than 3 million Polish Jews who died during the Second World War.
Completed in 1888, this Bet Taharah (mortuary) and Ohel (prayer hall) was designed by Frederik Levy, an important Danish-Jewish architect who trained in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and created many buildings for the Jewish community. With its basilican ground plan, columns at the entrance, entrance hall, apse, gallery for candles and low extensions along the sides, and with its red brick exterior topped by pinnacles, it recalls North Italian Romanesque church architecture. This style became popular for synagogues throughout much of northern Europe in the 19th century. There are few Jewish symbols in the building, but it is designed to respond to Jewish religious and communal needs, having, for example, a separate room for the preparation and ritual washing of corpses.
Aalborg - Sct. Jorgensgade/Hasserisgade, established 1810
Aarhus - Frederiks Alle, established 1824
Assens - Kildebakken, established 1825
Faaborg - Osterbrogade/Svendborgvej, established 1795
Fredericia - Slesviggade, established c. 1700
Horsens - Frederiksgade, established 1850
Nakskov - Jodevej, established c. 1700
Odense - Vandvaerskvej/Kirkegardsalle, established 1825
Randers - Ostervangsvej/Udbyhojvej, established 1807
Slagelse - Parkvej I, established 1863
This is the national museum for Danish Jewish culture, art, and history. Its goal is to collect, register, research, preserve, and present the Jewish cultural heritage of Denmark.
The Museum's new building was designed by Daniel Libeskind and opened to the public in June 2004. Its innovative design won an award from the Copenhagen Cultural Foundation. Libeskind's design rests on five concepts, corresponding to the five themes of the exhibition itself: Exodus /Arrival; Wilderness/Standpoints; the Giving of the Law/Traditions; Promised Lands; Mitzvah.
The museum's exhibitions illustrate the history of Denmark's Jewish community. It collects, preserves, and researches material documenting aspects of Jewish life in Denmark. Its collections include illustrative material such as paintings, drawings, prints and photographs; documentary and cultural material including books, newspapers, scrapbooks, postcards, theatre programmes, memoirs and letters; as well as films, videos, audio recordings and records, and objects, from silverware to textiles.
The collection is registered by the Danish Cultural Heritage Authority, and the Museum intends to make the entire collection catalogue available online in the near future.
Opening hours
Winter
Summer
(1 June - 31 August)
Tuesday to Friday, 1 pm-4 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 12 noon-5pm; Monday closed
Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm; Monday closed
Admission
Adults
Students, pensioners
Children
(up to 16 years)
40 DKK
30 DKK
free
Address
Email
Website
The many exhibits in this museum document the Danish fight for freedom in 1940-45, including sections devoted to the rescue of Danish Jews. A tank used by the resistance sits at the entrance to the museum with the words 'Frit Denmark' ('Free Denmark') painted on it. Exhibition cases 40-42 cover the 1943 rescue of Danish Jews. Other items include plaques and letters from Jewish communities all over the world, expressing gratitude for this famous operation, in which many Danish Jews reached Sweden.
Opening hours
1 May - 15 September
16 September - 30 April
Tues-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 10am-5pm
Tues-Sat 11am-3pm, Sun 11am-4pm
Address
Telephone
Website
Bibliotheca Judaica Simonseniana
The Royal Danish Library contains a large Judaica collection, covering titles in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and Danish. The library incorporates the collections of former Chief Rabbi David Simonsen and the scholar Lazarus Goldschmidt. Manuscript holdings include an important illuminated copy of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, created in Barcelona in 1348.
Address
Telephone
Fax
Website
Postbox 2149
DK-1016 København K.
(+45) 33 47 47 47
(+45) 33 32 98 46
http://www.kb.dk/
This Jewish co-educational day school was founded in 1805. At one time, half of the Jewish children in Copenhagen attended school here. Today it has about 300 pupils. An appointment is required before visiting.
Address
Email
Website
Many social and cultural institutions use the centre. Built in 1754, it was bought by the community in 1902 and renovated by the architect Frederick Levy. The building was restored after the war and reopened in 1968. In addition to its offices, the centre has a library and a small museum with a display of Judaica.
Address
6 Ny Kongensgade, 1472 K
The square is located near Norreport, the old northern gate of the city. At one end is a large boulder from the city of Eilat in Israel, given to the people of Denmark in gratitude for the Danish people's saving of their Jewish community. It was erected in 1975.
This memorial park in Copenhagen's northern outskirts marks the graves of 106 Gentile members of the Danish resistance executed by the Nazis for various acts of sabotage and for helping Jews escape. A monument to the victims, sculpted in 1949 by Axel Poulsen, stands at the centre of the park. Behind it are the 31 additional graves of resisters who died in concentration camps, as well as 151 commemorative plaques for those who disappeared without a trace.
Address
Tuborgvej DK-2900 Hellerup
Address
Telephone
Fax
6 Ny Kongensgade
DK-1472 Copenhagen K.
(+45) 33 12 88 68
(+45) 33 14 13 32
Danish Jewish Museum,
http://www.jewmus.dk/
Danish Tourist Board, n.d., 'Denmark Jewish Points of Interest'.
Encyclopaedia Judaica, Jerusalem, 1972,
15, 546-554.
Frank, Ben G.,
A Travel Guide to Jewish Europe: Second Edition. Gretna: Pelican, 1996.
Gordon, Dave. 'Four Centuries of Jewish History',
The Jewish Independent, Western Sky Communications, June 17, 2005.
www.jewishbulletin.ca/Archives/June05/archives05June17-08.html
Haxen, Ulf. 'The Bibliotheca Simonseniana and the David Simonsen Archives (The Royal Library, Copenhagen)', in Jean-Claude Kuperminc and Rafaële Arditti, Eds.,
Preserving Jewish Archives as Part of the European Cultural Heritage, Paris: Nadir, 2001, 191-195.
Gelfer-Jorgensen, Ed.,
Danish Jewish Art, Copenhagen: Rhodos International Science & Art Publishers, 1999.
'Jewish Cemeteries in Copenhagen',
JewishGen, 2004 (accessed 13 April 2006)
www.jewishgen.org/Scandinavia/3a_copenhagen.htm
Krinsky, Carol Herselle,
Synagogues of Europe, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1985.
Tigay, Alan M.,
The Jewish Traveler. Northvale, Jason Aronson, Inc., 1994.
www.visitcopenhagen.dk/press/press_information/composite-733.htm
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Denmark.html#History
(26 August 2006)
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