Jesuskirken
The Jesus Church is a church situated in the Valby. It was commissioned by second-generation Carlsberg brewer Carl Jacobsen and designed by Vilhelm Dahlerup. Noted for its extensive ornamentation and artwork, it is considered to be one of the country's most idiosyncratic and unconventional examples of church architecture. The church was built as a mausoleum for Carl Jacobsen and his family and is located close to their former house as well as the former Carlsberg brewery site. Their sarcophagi lie in the crypt. Throughout the church, there are ornaments and inscriptions associated with the family.
The church's designer, Vilhelm Dahlerup, certainly the leading Danish architect of the period, is remembered for his historistic style whereby he created new buildings on the basis of older, classical examples. There were, however, rather precise instructions on how the Jesus Church should be designed. In particular, Jacobsen provided Dahlerup with a number of photographs of the old churches and artwork in Ravenna, Italy, as an example of the ornate style he wished to have copied in Copenhagen. Dahlerup was also inspired by Notre-Dame la Grande in Poitiers, France, and by the synagogue in Toledo, Spain.
The church is indeed designed in the classic style of an early basilica with a campanile or detached bell tower. For the Danish Lutheran community, its style and rich ornamentation were rather unconventional, prompting a fair amount of criticism at the time.