Assistens Kirkegård, Kapelvej 2 - The Bohr family grave
The first area of this cemetery was established in 1760 as an overflow cemetery for the churches of the old city of Copenhagen. Initially a cemetery for the poor, from the late 18th century the rich and famous also were buried here. The cemetery has been extended many times, and although some areas are still used today for burials, the cemetery as a whole is a historical cemetery with many monuments that display the customs and history of burial practices over a period of more than two hundred years.
The Bohr Family Grave. Courtesy of the Niels
Bohr Archive.
Among the graves are those of the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) and the story-teller Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875). Hans Christian Ørsted is also buried here; he was called Store Hans Christian (Great Hans Christian) by Hans Christian Andersen, who was a family friend and had a standing invitation to dine once a week at the Ørsted home.
The Bohr family grave is also found here, with a fine monument with an owl on a pillar by J. F. Willumsen (1912). The remains of Niels Bohr and those of his father, Christian, and his brother, Harald, are interred here.
At the main entrance (Kapelvej 2) there is an information office where maps of the cemetery are available. Bohr is buried in section Q, Ørsted in section E, Kierkegaard in section A, and Andersen in section P.