Helligaandskirken, Copenhagen
Elgaard Architecture carry out quinquennial inspections at Helligaandskirken (Church of the Holy Spirit) in central Copenhagen. As a supervising body, we advise the church council about restoration and maintenance issues and collaborate with it on defining possible ideas for the improvement of the church and the associated areas. Moreover, we assist in the drafting of project proposals and applications for funding.
Year
2018-
Theme
Quinquennial Inspector
Client
The Church Council of Helligaandskirken
Medieval Church with Later Additions
The Church of the Holy Spirit was probably built at the end of the 13th century and was originally part of the Holy Spirit Hospital, founded around 1295. Later the church became part of the Holy Spirit Monastery, founded in 1474 by King Christian I. After the Reformation, the monastery was closed, and the church was converted into a Lutheran Protestant parish church. During the great fire of Copenhagen in 1728, the church burned down, but was rebuilt on the ruins. The church got its present appearance in 1878-79 in connection with an extensive redevelopment.
In the 1600s, the Church of the Holy Spirit got a carillon, and due to its central location in the town of Copenhagen it was the belfry’s clock that defined Copenhagen’s “standard time””. The carillon of the Church of the Holy Spirit summoned school children and students to their exams, and ”by its clock, everyone had to abide” as the 1651 statues of the Merchants’ Guild state. Unfortunately, the church lost its carillon in the fire of 1728 and thereby also its significance to the inhabitants.
