Hansen, C. F.

Biography in relation to Skagen

At the end of the 14th century, a church dedicated to Laurentius was built in the dunes, in 1387 the church is mentioned in written sources. After increasing sand drift in the 1700s, the king's permission was obtained to dismantle the church, which was done in 1795. The church was demolished and the inventory sold, the materials being largely used for construction in the town.

The tower was whitewashed and left as a naval marker. The tower now stands as the only reminder of St Laurence's Church.

In 1841 it was decided to build a new church in Skagen. The architect C.F. Hansen designed a neoclassical church, which was somewhat smaller than the present one, as the parish did not have much money. The tower was somewhat lower than the present one, not only because of lack of money, but also because C.F. Hansen did not like tall towers.

In the latter half of the 19th century, the spiritual revival (the Inner Mission) meant that people sought the church, while the increased influx of artists to Skagen meant that more people came to the town.

The church soon became too small and in 1910 the architect Ulrik Plesner was commissioned to enlarge the church and Th. Bindesbøll to renew the interior decoration. On the outside, Plesner extended the church to the east and raised the tower with a spire.

C.F. Hansen had designed the church according to neoclassical principles with a tight symmetry around the central aisle, leading the churchgoer into the room with attention directed towards the east, where the pulpit was placed above the altar in front of the east wall and the baptismal font was placed on the central axis in front of the altar.

In the 1910 rebuilding, Plesner retained this layout with the central axis leading up to the baptismal font. The pulpit was moved down in front of the altar, which was placed in a niche three steps above the nave floor and framed by two columns. An altarpiece by Joakim Skovgaard with a frame carved by Th. Bindesbøll. Bindesbøll also designed a new pulpit, decoration on the kneelers and ornaments on the pulpit.

In 1988-89 the interior of the church was restored. Arne L. Hansen was responsible for the colouring, and at the same time he decorated the front of the altar table with three fields symbolising Easter; the altar table also has two coloured fields on the sides. On the altar is a crucifixion group with three floating doves made by Niels Helledie in 1994. On the north wall is a crucifix by Niels Helledie.

C. F. Hansen was the architect of The Second Christiansborg

Efter branden i 1794 blev der taget adskillige initiativer til at få opført et nyt slot, men situationen blev yderligere forværret året efter af Københavns brand. Endelig i 1803 nedsatte kongen, Christian 7., en kommission som skulle planlægge og overvåge opførelsen af dels et nyt slot og dels et nyt kombineret rådhus og domhus for København.

Det andet Christiansborg blev tegnet af C.F. Hansen som havde indsendt et projektforslag i 1800. En stor del af ydermurene og de indre skillevægge overlevede branden og blev genbrugt i det nye slot. En væsentlig forskel var at tårnet og fløjen mod ridebanen blev stort set fjernet. I det tidligere slot var denne fløj den største, men i C.F. Hansens forslag blev den åbnet og de to tilbageværende sidefløje blev forbundet med en kolonnade. Slottet blev af den grund en del mindre end det foregående og det betød også at hovedindgangen nu blev i facaden ud mod Slotspladsen.

After the fire of 1794, several initiatives were taken to build a new castle, but the situation was further aggravated the following year by the fire in Copenhagen. Finally, in 1803, the King, Christian VII, set up a commission to plan and supervise the construction of a new castle and a new combined town hall and courthouse for Copenhagen.

The second Christiansborg was designed by C.F. Hansen who had submitted a project proposal in 1800. A large part of the outer walls and the inner partitions survived the fire and were reused in the new palace. A major difference was that the tower and the wing facing the riding arena were largely removed. In the former castle this wing was the largest, but in the C.F. Hansen's proposal, it was opened up and the two remaining side wings were connected by a colonnade. For this reason, the palace became a lot smaller than the previous one and this also meant that the main entrance was now in the facade facing the Palace Square.