Christian Frederik Hansen

Christian Frederik Hansen was born on February 29, 1756, in Copenhagen. A student of Caspar Frederik Harsdorff at the Royal Academy, he spent sixteen years as royal building master in Altona, designing magnificent neoclassical residences along the Palmaille.

Following the disastrous British naval bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807 that reduced large parts of the city to ashes, Hansen was recalled to rebuild the national monuments. He created austere, monumental neoclassical masterpieces: the Copenhagen Cathedral (Vor Frue Kirke, housing Bertel Thorvaldsen's statues of Christ and the Apostles), the Copenhagen Court House and Palace of Justice (Domhuset), and the Metropolitanskolen.