Church of the Free Port

Church of the Free Port
The north gable
55°41′56″N 12°35′19″E
Location	68 Willemoesgade Østerbro, Copenhagen
Country	Denmark
Denomination	Church of Denmark
Website	www.sanktjakobskirke.dk (in Danish)
History
Status	Church
Architecture
Architect(s)	Thorvlad Jørgensen
Architectural type	Church
Style	Neo-Baroque
Completed	1905
Specifications
Materials	Brick
Administration
Archdiocese	Diocese of Copenhagen

The Church of the Free Port (Danish: Frihavnskirken) is a Church of Denmark parish church in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built in 1905 to designs by Thorvald Jørgensen, best known for his design of Christiansborg Palace, home to the Danish Parliament. It takes its name from the Freeport of Copenhagen which had been established on the coast just east of the church a decade earlier.

History

The Church of the Free Port is one of several churches built with funds raised by the Society for the Construction of Small Churches in Copenhagen. The organization was founded at the initiative of Dorothea von Ripperda, a young noblewoman who learned about the severe shortage of churches in the new districts of Copenhagen at a meeting in the mission house Bethesda in 1886. She was later joined by many other young women who participated in the collection of money for the cause.

The architect Thorvald Jørgensen was charged with the design of the church which was completed in 1905. Its first pastor was H.P. Mollerup who later founded Kirkens Korshær. a Danish version of the British Church Army.

Architecture

The church is oriented north-south and has a tower at its north-eastern corner. It is built in red brick with pilasters at the corners and between the round arched windows.