Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Still, it wasn't until the reign of Christian IV, in the first half of the 17th century, that the
city was endowed with much of its splendour. A lofty Renaissance designer, Christian IV
began an ambitious construction scheme, building two new castles and many other grand
edifices, including the Rundetårn observatory and the glorious Børsen, Europe's first stock
exchange.
In 1711 the bubonic plague reduced Copenhagen's population of 60,000 by one-third.
Tragic fires, one in 1728 and the other in 1795, wiped out large tracts of the city, including
most of its timber buildings. However, the worst scourge in the city's history is generally
regarded as the unprovoked British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807, during the Na-
poleonic Wars. The attack targeted the heart of the city, inflicting numerous civilian casu-
alties and setting hundreds of homes, churches and public buildings on fire.
Copenhagen flourished once again in the 19th and 20th centuries, expanding beyond its
old city walls and establishing a reputation as a centre for culture, liberal politics and the
arts. Dark times were experienced with the Nazi occupation during WWII, although the
city managed to emerge relatively unscathed.
During the war and in the economic depression that had preceded it, many Copenhagen
neighbourhoods had deteriorated into slums. In 1948 an ambitious urban renewal policy
called the 'Finger Plan' was adopted; this redeveloped much of the city, creating new hous-
ing projects interspaced with green areas of parks and recreational facilities that spread out
like fingers from the city centre.
A rebellion by young people disillusioned with growing materialism, the nuclear arms
race and the authoritarian educational system took hold in Copenhagen in the 1960s. Stu-
dent protests broke out on the university campus and squatters occupied vacant buildings
around the city. It came to a head in 1971 when protesters tore down the fence of an aban-
doned military camp at the east side of Christianshavn and began an occupation of the
41-hectare site, naming this settlement Christiania.
In recent decades, major infrastructure projects, enlightened city planning, and a wave
of grassroots creativity have helped transform Copenhagen from a provincial Scandinavian
capital into an enlightened, international trendsetter. In 2014, the city was once more de-
clared the world's most liveable by influential magazine
Monocle,
as well as the world's
healthiest by American broadcaster CNN. Such enviable honours are in no small part pro-
pelled by the city's highly developed cycling culture, one that now sees over half of the
city's denizens do their daily commuting on a bike saddle. And it doesn't stop there, with
Copenhagen now planning to become the world's first CO2-neutral capital by 2025.
