The Sacrament Church in Nørrebro
A compelling story
​The history of the Sacrament Church is closely connected with the return of Catholicism to Denmark. After the Reformation in 1536, the Catholic Church was banned, its properties confiscated, and priests and nuns had to flee or live in hiding. It was not until the Constitution of 1849 that religious freedom was introduced and the Catholic Church was able to return to Denmark.
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The Reformation and the Catholic Roots
In 1536, the Lutheran Reformation led to the Catholic Church being banned in Denmark. Being a Catholic became a criminal offense, church property was confiscated, and priests and nuns were either persecuted or forced into exile. Some Danish Catholics found refuge in the Netherlands, but even there they were not completely safe. During the Dutch Revolt against Spain, Catholics were again persecuted. A dramatic example is the 19 Catholics from Gorkum who refused to renounce their belief in transubstantiation – the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist – and the primacy of the Pope. They were hanged by the Calvinists in Brielle on July 9th, 1572. Among them was a Danish Franciscan, Villehad, who later became one of the patron saints of the Catholic congregation in Nørrebro. The so-called Gorkum martyrs were beatified in 1675 and canonized in 1867.
Catholic revival in Denmark
It was not until 1849, when Denmark received its first free constitution, that religious freedom was introduced and the Catholic Church was allowed to establish itself again. At this time, Copenhagen also began to grow outside the old ramparts, and Nørrebro was still almost rural with small houses, kitchen gardens and a few pleasure gardens such as Blågård and Solitude. The area between Assistens Kirkegård, Frederiksborgvej (now Nørrebrogade), Peblingesøen and Ladegårdsåen was occupied by petty officials and middle-class who grew cabbage in their gardens. It was not until 1861 that the first Lutheran parish church in the area, Sankt Johannes Kirke, was consecrated.
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Catholic life returned on a small scale, first with the establishment of institutions. In 1873, the Sisters of St. Joseph founded their hospital on Griffenfeldsgade, and the following year, in 1874, they moved into the middle wing. From July 1875, Catholic masses were held in the hospital's small chapel.
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But Nørrebro's Catholic population grew, and in 1883 the sisters got their own chaplain, the Dutch priest Anton Neuvel (born in 1842 and ordained in 1875). He was strongly influenced by the story of the Gorkum martyrs and felt a special calling to build a Catholic congregation in Nørrebro.
The plan for a church
By 1889 the hospital chapel had become too small, and Pastor Neuvel began planning a proper parish church for Nørrebro. He raised funds through donations, including in Holland, and invested in properties where the rental income would finance the construction. In 1890 he bought a plot of land on Nørrebrogade, just across from Fælledvej, for 140,000 kroner.
However, the construction took a long time to realize. In 1899, the Dutch architect Jan Stuyt was commissioned to design the new church, but the actual construction was carried out by the Danish architect Viggo Woldbye with master bricklayer A.V. Günther as contractor. In the early 1900s the construction work has begun, at the same time as the sisters expanded their hospital with new wings towards Griffenfeldsgade, Korsgade and Kapelvej.
The foundation stone and the inauguration
On Friday, July 9th, 1915 – precisely on the anniversary of the death of the Gorkum martyrs – the foundation stone of the church was laid by Monsignor von Euch. Around 200 people attended, although no official invitations had been sent. A flower-adorned tent with the Dannebrog (the Danish national flag) marked the space above the choir, while spectators filled the windows and balconies around the construction site.
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The new church, to be called the Sacrament Church, was consecrated to the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar in memory of the Gorkum martyrs, who would rather die than deny the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In the summer of 1917, the church and the vicarage were completed, and Pastor Fr. Ronge, the church's first parish priest, moved in.
Architecture and decorations
The Sacrament Church is built of red brick with decorations of sandstone and Bornholm granite. The facade facing Nørrebrogade may seem modest today among the tall buildings, but the 32-meter church towers still rise above the district. Seen from Fælledvej, the church stands prominently at the end of the street.
As the newspapers wrote in 1916, when the wooden fence fell: “The church will become a truly artistic ornament to this long, monotonous suburban street.”
Inside, the church is simple and white, without much decoration on the walls and ceilings. The sandstone columns support the gallery, and three large round skylights with glass mosaics let the light in beautifully. The altar is by the Danish artist Just Andersen, while the Stations of the Cross, the crucifix and the base of the Easter candle are designed by Eigil Vedel.
The Sacrament Church today
Today, the congregation is home to around 1,200 baptized Catholics from many nations. Some have lived here for generations, while others are students or expatriates who have only been in Copenhagen for a few years. The languages of mass are Danish, English and French, and in the churchyard you can still see the bust of Pastor Neuvel – the man who realized the vision of a Catholic church in Nørrebro.