Grundtvigs Kirke: Copenhagen's Yellow-Brick Organ Church

North-west of central Copenhagen, in the Bispebjerg district, rises a mass of yellow brick that resembles no other Danish church. Grundtvigs Kirke was designed by Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint, winner of the competition held in 1913, and completed after his death by his son Kaare Klint. It is named after N. F. S. Grundtvig, the pastor, philosopher and hymn-writer who shaped nineteenth-century Danish culture. The foundation stone was laid on 8 September 1921, the anniversary of Grundtvig's birth; the main body was built between 1921 and 1926, the tower was inaugurated in 1927, and the work was finished in 1940.

The façade

What strikes you at once is the western façade. Jensen-Klint designed it as a great stepped wall rising vertically, marked by narrow, deep pilasters: seen from below it evokes the pipes of an organ, a deliberate effect in a church conceived also as a musical instrument. The stated reference, though, is the village churches of Zealand with their stepped gables, reinterpreted at the monumental scale of what is called brick Expressionism. The building is 49 metres high with the bell tower, 76 long and 35 wide, and is built with around six million yellow bricks, the traditional Danish material, used here with no plaster or applied ornament: everything is entrusted to the design of the brickwork.

The interior

The interior is the real surprise. The plan is that of a Gothic church — a central nave, two side aisles, a small transept — with pointed arches and ribbed cross-vaults, but built entirely in the same pale yellow brick, without colours or paintings. The nave reaches 22 metres in height and the space can hold about 1,440 people, dimensions comparable to Copenhagen Cathedral (the Vor Frue Kirke). Light enters through the tall side windows and brings out the texture of the brickwork, giving a space that is austere and luminous at the same time. There are two organs: the smaller one, near the choir, was built in 1940 by Marcussen & Søn with a case designed by Kaare Klint; the large one, at the west end, was added in 1965 and its largest pipe — about 11 metres long and weighing 425 kg — is described as the longest in Scandinavia.

The neighbourhood around it

Around the church, the same architect and his school designed a residential neighbourhood in yellow brick matched to the building, constructed between 1924 and 1926 and known as "På Bjerget" (on the hill): it's worth walking around the block to see how the church dialogues with the low houses that surround it. The area is almost exclusively residential, and precisely for this reason the church stays little visited even by Copenhageners themselves, who often don't venture this far.

How to get there

To get there from the centre the easiest way is the urban train: Bispebjerg station is on the Ringbanen (the S-tog ring line) a few minutes on foot, and several bus lines pass nearby. The church is Lutheran (Folkekirken) and admission is free; it is open to visitors all year, not just during services, and is accessible thanks to a stairlift. The hours change over the course of the year and around celebrations: it's best to check them on the official site grundtvigskirke.dk before setting out, especially if you want to hear the organ.