The large statue of Niels Juel was installed in 1881 to commemorate his achievements in the Battle of Køge Bay in 1677. It was designed by the sculptor Theobald Stein and cast in bronze. In 2002 the City Council decided to move the statue to a new site on the waterfront to make way for a more efficient distribution of the traffic at its busy junction. This decision was met with severe criticism, including protests from the Royal Naval Museum, and in 2003 the Danish Heritage Agency decided to stop the move.