page_title: Søndermarken
section_title: Memorial Mound
hierarchical_section_title: Søndermarken / Buildings & features / Memorial Mound
caption_attribution_description: Dansk: Mindehøjen i Søndermarken set udefra.En høj fra 1925 i Søndermarken i København til minde om dansk-amerikanere i USA
context_page_description: Søndermarken is a park in Frederiksberg on the border to Valby and the Carlsberg area in Copenhagen, Denmark. It shares much of its history with Frederiksberg Gardens from which it is separated only by Roskildevej. Cisternerne—an underground venue for art exhibitions in the former cisterns—are located inside the park.
context_section_description: The  Memorial Mound is on a slope and was erected in 1925 to commemorate Danish immigration to America. In the 1920s, Danish-Americans in the United States conceived the idea to erect a memorial in Copenhagen as a counterpoint to the traditions surrounding Rebild Hills celebrations in Jutland.
  A committee of Danish-Americans was set up which charged the sculptor Anders Bundgaard with the commission. After prolonged discussions, it was ultimately decided that the monument should be a mound, with an embellished inner chamber, placed in Søndermarken.
  The necessary funds were raised through a worldwide collection among expatriate Danes. Around $12,000 was collected and the monument was inaugurated in 1925 with a ceremony attended by 40,000 people, including the entire Danish royal family.
  The mound measures 8 metres in diameter and is 5 metres tall. It is surrounded by tall trees and is reached along a narrow stone-lined passageway. Chiselled above the entrance is the inscription: "They who set out, never to return." At the top of the cupola is a metre-wide opening to let in daylight. At the centre of the room is the life-size figure of a woman who embraces her children, symbolizing Mother Denmark. Built into the wall are 9 bas-reliefs with symbolic descriptions of the emigrants’ lives and activities abroad. In the floor is a five-pointed star representing the five continents.
  The memorial mound is open to the public every year on 4 July.
caption: The entrance to the Memorial Mound
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