page_title: Maritime Monument, Copenhagen
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Maritime Monument, Copenhagen / History
caption_attribution_description: English: S'fartsmonumentet under construction at Langelinie in Copenhagen, Denmark
context_page_description: The Maritime Monument, located at Langelinie, close to Langelinie Marina, is a maritime memorial in Copenhagen, Denmark, commemorating civilian Danish sailors who lost their lives during the First World War. The monument consists of a bronze sculpture of a winged female figure, representing Memory, placed on a rhombus-shaped podium with a series of narrative reliefs on its side.
context_section_description: On a board meeting in the Danish Steamship Owners' Association on 10 November 1921, it was decided to terminate a war accident insurance policy. On a later meeting, on 15 March 1923, Johan Hansen proposed to use unused funds (circa DKK 435,000) for the creation of a memorial to seamen of the Danish merchant fleet who had lost their lives at sea during the war years. The proposal was unanimously approved on a meeting on 17 May 1923.  A committee consisting of Christian Sass, Johan Hansen, A.N. Petersen and Eilert Maegaard was put in charge of the project and DKK 50,000 was allocated to its realization.
  Einar Utzon-Frank, Ludvig Brandstrup, Henning Hansen and city architect Hans Beck Wright were initially engaged as artistic consultants, They were later supplemented with Rasmus Harboe, Svend Rathsack, Anton Rosen, Edvard Thomsen and Emanuel Monberg in an invited competition.
  An invited competition was initially held but none of the entires were found suitable and it was therefore followed by a second round. 59 proposals were submitted and Svend Rathsack's and Ivar Bentson's project was selected as the final winner.
   
  The monument was officially inaugurated on 9 May 1928. Representatives of the Danish Royal Family, Government ministers, civil servants and representatives from commercial and cultural circles as well as surviving relatives of deceased sailors attended the ceremony. Speeches were held by King Christian X, the Chairman of the Danish Steamship Owners’ Association and the lord mayor of Copenhagen. A cantata specially written for the occation by Hans Hartvig Seedorff and Johan Hye-Knudsen was also sung at the event.
  Over the years the limestone reliefs fell into an advanced state of decay. The base was originally carved in limestone but Italian marble was now opted for as a more weather resistant alternative. Restoration work was commenced in 2009 and the monument was reinaugurated Head of the Danish Shipowners’ Association, Mr. Peter Bjerregaard on 15 September 2011.
caption: The monument under construction
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