The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-01-13

Inc "White no
Prepared by National Geographic Society.
Washington. u. C-WNU Service.
|OPENHAGEN (Kobenhavn), to
which Leon Trotsky, exiled
~ Russian leader. recently was
transported almost sin bond"
to lecture before Copenhagen univer-
sity students, is a modern city, in
many ways ultra-modern. But it has
a long history. 1t was a stable fish,
ing village 300 years before Column
bus transatlantic voyage.
Once it was mostly wood, and 1t
burned down, here and there, time and
again, and stone was utilized, until
now train entering the city seems to
be gliding through tunnels-tunnels of
buildings made of rock-until it
energies in a station called zone of
the finest in Europe" Certainly it is
among the neatest.
One of the city's numerous towers,
the tower which remains of st. Mich
olas church, though the church is gone,
is reminder of the days, or nights,
of frequent fires. There a king sta
toned Waterman, who, like our ran.
gers, scanned the forest of timber
structures, and when he saw blaze
he would cry, "Brand brand" All
over the town nocturnal windows
would go up, heads come poking out,
and cries of "Where, where?" would
be answered by pedestrian Paul Re
veres, who gave the fires location.
Residents of the vicinity OF the blaze
would place tubs of water before their
doors, each ready to save his own
home, while those beyond the danger
zone would go back TO bed.
The new town hall, stalwart and
impressive, sixth In the succession of
the towns municipal buildings, typi-
fies Copenhagen's new architecture.
1t is a conglomerate mass of rust-red
brick, granite, limestone, and terra
cotta-a strange blending of ancient
Danish and Italian touches. Its five
tiers of windows, for example, are
each of a different design; there are
additional casual oriels that would be
at home in Nuremberg, and battle
ments on the roof suggest the peak
line of a modern New York skyscraper.
Implanted upon it's facade is
bronze relief of Bishop Absalon, the
Romulus of Copenhagen. Along Its
roof are figures of the towns ancient
watchmen. f1anked by polar bears. An
ornate pigeon-cote houses the birds
that fiutter about it's "musselshelp'
mosaic pavements.
A lofty tower, 342 feet high, which
seems to have no bearing whatsoever
upon it's accompanying building. is pro-
claimed highest of its kind" in north
ern Europe, which may well be true,
since it's design approaches the unique.
To the layman's eye the strange en-
semble achieves a surprising dignity
and charm. AS for an architect,
swell, it was worth doing once, but
hope no one but Dane tries 1t
again; then it would be mess"
View From Town Hall Tower.
It is worth while climbing the 300
steps of the town halls tower, be-
cause from it's lofty platform, armed
with few facts of Denmark's history
and geography, one may catch birds
eye summary of Copenhagen's reason
for being.
Fanwise to the northeast spread
acres of bronze and copper domes,
steeples, and towers-towers of hotels,
business buildings, even the railway
station, as well as churches-and an
expanse of ''fish-tile" gabled roofs
with dormer windows that make the
city's roof surface look like choppy
sea. To the right is the Sound, mar
rowing into the channel that gives Co
penhagen downtown" harbor GEN.
trail as an American union station.
Beyond the smokestacks and masts
In the harbor curves promenade
one of Europe's most famous and
beautiful promenades-to the Citadel,
the citys one complete survival from
the era of Americas Plymouth and
Jamestown, and beyond the Citadel is
a city within the city. the famous Free
Port, key to present-day Copenhagen's
commercial prosperity.
Some 10000 or so years ago all the
area ones eye now scans was sub
merged reef of chalf and lime. About
that time, the Glacial Period, man.
moth ice sheets a mile or more thick,
like those of Denmark's Greenland to-
day. thrust ponderously south from
Norway. They piled up their earth
and stones as they crunched and
ground upon this reef. gradually form
ing the island of Zealand to the west
and Amager to the east.
The channel which cuts through the
heart of Copenhagen today is merely
a fortunate furrow In the wake of
these glaciers.
This happy within of the glaciers
carved a water passage to the great
Baltic sea-opening to world trade the
present-day Sweden. Finland, Russia.
Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland.
and even part of north Germany; also.
IL cut an outlet to the south of the
Baltic, not to the north, as In our
Hudson bay. which was mighty fac
tor in the progress of all the Baltic
lands. and most especially of Copen-
hagen.
Copenhagen means Merchants Ha-
ven." For centuries it fattened upon
the toll of passing ships by levying a
tax known as Sound dues-a tariff so
profitable that it was called "Den-
marks gold mine" Naturally. such
payment became irksome to maritime
powers, and in 1857 the practice was
abolished. Opening the Kiel canal