literaryparkland

Assistens Kirkegård: Kierkegaard, Andersen, Bohr — and the park around them

The cemetery that's also a park — Kierkegaard, Hans Christian Andersen, and Niels Bohr buried among lying-down sunbathers.

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

3 km

Time

~ 90 min

Start

Kapelvej (bus 5C from Nørreport)

End

Nørrebro S-tog (also M3)

Best at

afternoon

Right now

23°C· Partly cloudy

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Assistens Kirkegård is the cemetery that's also a park — opened in 1760 to relieve the over-full inner-city churchyards, designed as a landscaped graveyard, and now functioning as both. Søren Kierkegaard, Hans Christian Andersen and Niels Bohr are all buried within a few minutes' walk of each other. The locals lie on the lawns between the graves in summer; the dead don't mind.

Three kilometres of slow walking, ninety minutes if you do the literary pilgrimage. Enter on the Kapelvej side off Nørrebrogade. The cemetery is a long rectangle running east; the famous graves are within the western half. Kierkegaard's stone is modest — name, dates, two lines from a hymn he wrote — a few minutes from H.C. Andersen's slightly larger marker. Niels Bohr is a short walk further, modern stone, the family plot.

Walk the central avenue — Hovedlinjen — east. Lime trees, plot numbers, the rhythm of a working cemetery doing its job under whatever sky the day's giving you. Walking among the dead in this particular cemetery is the closest Copenhagen comes to its own sublime.

End at the Jagtvej exit; Nørrebro S-tog is fifteen minutes north.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Kapelvej entrance
The main entrance on *Kapelvej*, off *Nørrebrogade*. Bus 5C from *Nørreport* drops you a minute away. Pick up a free map at the gate if it's manned; the famous graves are signposted in any case.
01
Kapelvej entrance
The main entrance on *Kapelvej*, off *Nørrebrogade*. Bus 5C from *Nørreport* drops you a minute away. Pick up a free map at the gate if it's manned; the famous graves are signposted in any case.
02
2
Søren Kierkegaard's grave
Modest stone in the Kierkegaard family plot. The philosopher died in 1855, aged 42. The inscription is a few lines from a hymn he wrote — 'In a little while I shall have won; the whole struggle will be settled at once' — the exit, in his own words. Plot M, near the western end.
02
Søren Kierkegaard's grave
Modest stone in the Kierkegaard family plot. The philosopher died in 1855, aged 42. The inscription is a few lines from a hymn he wrote — 'In a little while I shall have won; the whole struggle will be settled at once' — the exit, in his own words. Plot M, near the western end.
03
3
Hans Christian Andersen's grave
A short walk south. Andersen died in 1875; the stone is slightly larger than Kierkegaard's but still modest. The kids' author who lived longer than anyone expected, buried among ordinary nineteenth-century Copenhageners, which is exactly right.
03
Hans Christian Andersen's grave
A short walk south. Andersen died in 1875; the stone is slightly larger than Kierkegaard's but still modest. The kids' author who lived longer than anyone expected, buried among ordinary nineteenth-century Copenhageners, which is exactly right.
04
4
Niels Bohr's grave
North-east, in the Bohr family plot. The physicist died in 1962; the stone is contemporary and unfussy. Margrethe Bohr (his wife) and Aage Bohr (his son, also a Nobel laureate) lie here too. The Bohr family was Jewish; the cemetery's accommodation of multiple faiths is part of its history.
04
Niels Bohr's grave
North-east, in the Bohr family plot. The physicist died in 1962; the stone is contemporary and unfussy. Margrethe Bohr (his wife) and Aage Bohr (his son, also a Nobel laureate) lie here too. The Bohr family was Jewish; the cemetery's accommodation of multiple faiths is part of its history.
05
5
Hovedlinjen (the central avenue)
Walk east along the main avenue. Lime trees, the older plot rows, occasional notable graves — *Dan Turèll* for the Danish poetry crowd, *Natasja Saad* for the rap one, *Michael Strunge* for the eighties poets. The avenue ends near the eastern gate.
05
Hovedlinjen (the central avenue)
Walk east along the main avenue. Lime trees, the older plot rows, occasional notable graves — *Dan Turèll* for the Danish poetry crowd, *Natasja Saad* for the rap one, *Michael Strunge* for the eighties poets. The avenue ends near the eastern gate.
06
6
Nørrebro S-tog → exit
Exit at the *Jagtvej* side. *Nørrebro* S-tog is a fifteen-minute walk north up *Nørrebrogade*, also served by the M3 Cityringen. Or sit on the cemetery wall first; the locals do.
06
Nørrebro S-tog → exit
Exit at the *Jagtvej* side. *Nørrebro* S-tog is a fifteen-minute walk north up *Nørrebrogade*, also served by the M3 Cityringen. Or sit on the cemetery wall first; the locals do.

Assistens Kirkegård: Kierkegaard, Andersen, Bohr — and the park around them

On the map.

Things to notice.

Kapelvej entrance

Kapelvej entrance

Søren Kierkegaard's grave

Søren Kierkegaard's grave

Hans Christian Andersen's grave

Hans Christian Andersen's grave

Niels Bohr's grave

Niels Bohr's grave

Hovedlinjen (the central avenue)

Hovedlinjen (the central avenue)

Nørrebro S-tog → exit

Nørrebro S-tog → exit

Two more, on similar days.

Rosenborg and Kongens Have: castle in the garden

The old ramparts: Tivoli to Kastellet