The Coolidge examiner., 1933-03-17
Prepared by National Geographic Society
Ma.hLlgtnn. ID. c.-MNL Servlce.

NOPENHAGEN (Kobenhavn), ,
To which Leon Trotsky, ex-
- lied Russian leader. recently
was transported almost "in bond
10 lecture before Copenhagen uni
verSity students. is modern city,
in many ways ultra modern. But it
has n long history. 1t was a sizable
fishing village 300 years before Col
umbus' Transatlantic voyage.
once il was mostly wood. and il
burned down. here anc 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 il energies in station
called zone of the finest In Europe"
Certainly ii is among the neatest.
one Of the city's numerous tow
ers. the tower which remains of st.
Nicholas church. though the church
is gone. is a reminder of the days.
or nights. OF frequent fires. There
81 king stationed a watchman, who.
like our rangers, scanned the for
est of timber structures. and when
he saw blaze he would cry.
"Rrand. brandt" All over the town
nocturnal windows would go up
heads come poking out. and cries
of "Where. where:" would be an
z.,,-oraI IA, nadaStrfau Doul DararaS
who gave the fires location. Resi-
dents 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 10 bed.
The new town hall, stalwart and
impressive. sixth i'm the succession
of the towns municipal buildings,
typifies Copenhagen's new architec-
iure. II 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 differ
ent design: there are additional
orielS that would be at home in
Nuremberg. and battlements on the
roof suggest the peak line of a mod
ern New York skyscraper.
Implanted upon it's facade is a
bronze relief of Bishop Absalon.
the Romulus of Copenhagen. Along
irs roof are figures of the towns
ancient watchmen. flanked by polar
bears. An ornate piegon-cote
houses the birds that flutter about
fits "musselshelI" mosaic pave
mentS.
\ lofty tower. 342 feet high.
which seems to have no bearing
whatsoever upon its accompanying
building. is proclaimed highest of
its kind in northern Europe, which
may well be true. since its design
approaches the unique
View From Town Hall Tower.
II is worth while climbing the 800
steps of the town halls tower. be
cause from its lofty platform.
armed with few facts of Den
marks history and geography, one
may catch bird's-eye summary of
Copenhagen's reason for being.
Fanwise 10 the northeast spread
acres of bronze and copper domes.
steeples. and towers-towers of ho-
telS. business buildings. even the
railway station. as well as churches
and an expanse of "fsh-tile"
gabled roofs with dormer windows
that make the city's roof surface
look like a choppy sea. To the
right is the Sound. narrowing into
the channel that gives Copenhagen
a downtown" harbOr central as an
American union station.
Beyond the smokestacks and
masts in the harbOr curves a prom
enade-one of Europe's most IA
nous and beautiful promenades-
10 the Citadel. the city's one COM
plete survival from the era of
Americas Plymouth and James
town. and beyond the Citadel is a
city within the city. the famous
Free Port. key TO preSent-day Co
penhagen's commercial prosperity.
Some 10000 or so years ago all
the area ones eye now scans was
n submerged reef of chalf and
lime. About that time. the Glacial
period. mammoth ice sheets a mile
or more thick. like those of Den
marks Greenland today, thrust
ponderOusly south from Norway
They piled up their earth and
stones as they crunched and ground
upon this reef. gradually forming
the island of Zealand TO the west
and Amager to the east.
The channel which cuts through
the heart of Copenhagen todays is
merely a fortunate furrow in the
wake Of these glaciers.
This happy whim of the glaciers
carved water passage to the great
Baltic sea-OpeniHg to world trade
the Present-day Sweden, Fialard,