Assistens Kirkegård, Copenhagen

Assistens Kirkegård is a cemetery with an unusual social history: it opened in 1760 as a burial ground for poor people outside Copenhagen’s crowded city graveyards. It later became fashionable, drawing the era’s prominent figures, including Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, C. W.

Eckersberg, and Christen Købke. Niels Bohr is also buried here, along with American jazz musicians Ben Webster and Kenny Drew, who settled in Copenhagen during the 1950s and 1960s. Today, the cemetery still serves as a burial place and as an important green space in Nørrebro.

Its history also includes a curious chapter: during the early 19th century, Copenhagen residents came here for outings with picnic baskets and tea. The place combines public memory with a continuing everyday purpose.