Copenhagen is over 850 years old but the current City Hall building was only opened in 1905. They’ve had several others over the centuries. A few have been lost to fires, but the most recent prior City Hall building still stands in a nearby square. Begin your morning at Nytorv – where you’ll find Old City Hall. It opened in 1815 and served as Copenhagen City Hall and Courthouse. Today it still operates as the latter and is situated in a very pretty square where you can enjoy a cup of coffee and some people-watching before walking to the current City Hall. Notice the inscription on the building which read “Med lov skal man land bygge”. This means With law shall land be built. It’s a line from the oldest written Danish law manuscript, the Codex Holmiensis.
While sipping your coffee you’ll notice a lot of pedestrians crossing the bordering street, Strøget. It’s the longest pedestrian street in Europe and you may have even walked down it to arrive. It’s full of shopping, churches and food stalls running from one end of the city to the other.
If you look beyond Strøget you’ll see a gorgeous fountain. It’s the Caritas Well (or fountain) and was built in 1608 and commissioned by King Christian IV. It’s the oldest fountain in Copenhagen and known for having “jumping apples” that were designed to be celebrating the Queen’s birthday.