Phone +45 33 66 33 66 | ||
 | ||
Address Vesterbrogade 6, 1620 København V, Denmark Hours Open today · Open 24 hoursFridayOpen 24 hoursSaturdayOpen 24 hoursSundayOpen 24 hoursMondayOpen 24 hoursTuesdayOpen 24 hoursWednesdayOpen 24 hoursThursdayOpen 24 hours Similar Dybbølsbro station, Enghave station, Hotel Astoria, DR Byen Station, Øksnehallen | ||
Liberty Column (Danish: Frihedsstøtten), located in front of the Central Station in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a 20 meter tall obelisque erected in memory of the peasant reforms in 1788 which led to the abolition of adscription (Danish: Stavnsbåndet).
Contents
Design
The 20 metre tall obelisque is made of sandstone from Bexæ on Bornholm and its base is made of Norwegian marble. The four female figures at the base of the obelisque symbolise Bravery, Civic Virtue, Fidelity and the Industrious Cultivation of Land.
History
The architect and painter Nicolai Abildgaard was charged with the design of the monument. The four statues and two reliefs were created by Johannes Wiedewelt, Nicolai Dajon and Andreas Weidenhaupt. The foundation stone was set by Crown Prince Frederick (VI), on 21 September 1792 and it was completed in September 1797.
The column was renovated for the first time in 1850–51. It was dismantled in connection with the construction of the current Central Station and the Boulevard Line in the 1900s and a copy executed by the sculptor Kens Lunde was later installed 5 metres to the east of its original location. The adjacent streets Bernstorffsgade and Reventlowsgade, running on each their side of the central station, and Colbjørnsensgade, situated one block further to the west, were named for Andreas Peter Bernstorff, Christian Ditlev Frederik Reventlow and Christian Colbjørnsen, three of the driving forces behind the peasant reforms. In 1999, it was reinaugurated after another renovation.