Visitors are often surprised to see Assistens Kirkegård listed among Copenhagen’s top tourist destinations, but for a Dane, nothing could be more normal. Set behind a long yellow wall, this calm and leafy cemetery is a prime hangout spot, with Danes of all ages strolling and relaxing in the forested grounds.
Formerly a pauper’s graveyard, and before that a tobacco field, from the mid-1800s until today it has been the preferred cemetery for Denmark’s leading cultural figures, such as philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (d 1855), writer Hans Christian Andersen (d 1875), physicist Niels Bohr (d 1962) and singer Natasja Saad (d 2007).
It's a wonderfully atmospheric place to wander around – as much a park and garden as it is a graveyard. A good place to start is at the main entrance on Kapelvej, where you can usually find fold-out maps of the cemetery and its notable burial sites.
