Copenhagen Police Headquarters

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The visual fist of the capital

By Anne-Louise Sommer, Mag.art. i litteraturvidenskab fra Københavns Universitet, 1987 (11 stories)

Copenhagen Police Headquarters was designed by architects Aage Rafn and Hack Kampmann together with Kampmann's sons, Hans Jørgen and Christian. Built in 1918-1924, it is a masterpiece of mid-war neo-classicistic architecture, but the austere grey colossus has provoked many a comment. The negative comments often focus on the building's stern appearance. One critic described it as a visual fist". Inside, the design is monumental rather than minimalist. The circular courtyard, open to the sky, is surrounded by pairs of columns. "

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Power stronghold in the city

Story written by Anne-Louise Sommer

Time / Periode 1918 1924

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The Yard – or police stronghold – was an architectural oddity that was known and admired in Denmark and beyond." This is how famous Danish author Hans Scherfig describes the Copenhagen Police Headquarters in the opening passage of his satirical novel The Scorpion from 1953. It is about a fraud case from 1949 involving a master criminal named The Spider, also known from a TV series many years later. Although admired, the building remains an oddity. Scherfig compares it to the famous labyrinth in the ancient Greek Palace of King Minos at Knossos. He playfully points out that both buildings hide secrets that cannot stand the light of day. Scherfig writes that the Yard is very effective as a symbol. It breathes pure power. "A stronghold in the heart of the city, the power in society, the foundation of the citizen state". "