(the Town Hall of Copenhagen), Rådhuspladsen.
- The Town hall tapestries, The Town Hall of Copenhagen was drawn by the
architect Martin Nyrop and was built from 1892 till 1905. In this connection a
subscription was started among the citizens of the town to raise money for a series of
tapestries with Lorenz Frøhlich’s illustrations of Fabricius’ "History of
Denmark". The first cartoon was finished in 1904, but Frøhlich dies already in 1908
and from then on the task was put in Joachim Skovgård’s hands.
Dagmar Olrik was the leader of the weaving workshop, which was established at the Town Hall.The work proceeded concurrently when the money come in, this meant that a total colourway for the tapestries was never made and they had to change yarn on the way.The last tapestry was completed in 1920. The tapestries hang in the anteroom of the municipal authorities, which is between the assembly hall and the Town Hall’s banqueting hall, this means that its main function today is as a butler’s pantry.
The motifs for the tapestries are taken from old Danish legends : King Skjold tieing the bear. King Skjold is a very strong legend king, who defeats a bear with his bare fists. Regnar Lodbrog and Thora Bogarhjort. The princess Thora is confined in a castle by a dragon. Her father promises, that the one who rescues her can marry her. Regnar puts on some wet clothes, which turn to ice, when he goes out in to the cold weather. The dragon is powerless and Regnar kills it and marries Thora. Hagbard and Signe. The Norwegian prince Hagbard loves the Danish princess Signe, but as he has killed her brother, it is a difficult connection. Hagbard disguises himself as a shieldmaid, but is found out and sentenced to death. before this Signe has sworn that if she sees him in the gallows, she will kill herself. Uffe hin Spage(Uffe the Meek) and the Saxon warriors. Uffe is the son of the Danish king Wermund and has a reputation of being weak and dozy. But when the Saxons come to oppress the Danish people, Uffe comes alive. He alone wants to fight against the Saxon prince and his best man. Uffe kills them both. Rolf Krake’s death. Some Swedes visit Denmark and assassinate Rolf Krake and his warriors. Rolf visits Adils. The Swedish king Adils owes tax to Rolf Krake. He invites Rolf to a feast in Valhalla, but tries to burn in the Danes. Rolf jumps over the fire while shouting, "He, who doesn’t fear the fire, jumps over it."
In the room at the Town Hall used for weddings there is also a series of tapestries, here Danish folksongs are the theme. Hjalmar and Angatyr. Both men love the beautiful Ingeborg and start a single combat. Angatyr kills Hjalmar, who is married to Ingeborg. When she receives Hjalmar’s ring as a token that he is dead, she dies of grief.