The Cisterns

In Søndermarken gardens there are cisterns beneath the Fountain Lawn to the south of Frederiksberg Palace.

In 1856-59, following a cholera epidemic, a large open reservoir was built to provide Copenhagen with clean drinking water. The reservoir was subsequently roofed in and divided into three cisterns, each measuring approximately 40x40 metres. Each cistern is fitted with columns 4 metres tall, a drain and an overflow at a height of about 3.7 metres.

The glass museum opens

The cisterns were drained in 1981 and opened to the public for the first time on 1 May 1996. Various exhibitions were held there in the summer months and in 2001 the Museum of Modern Glass Art opened with works by more than 50 artists, including Robert Jacobsen, Carl-Henning Pedersen, Per Kirkeby and Bjørn Nørgaard. Information on the cisterns, including opening hours, special events and admission charges, can be found on the museum’s website at www.cisternerne.dk.

A new era in the history of the Cisterns

The cisterns remain in their original form and are very much like a dripstone cave: dark, damp and subterranean. In some places dripping water has created dramatic calcite formations. The third and last of the cisterns was taken into use in 2007.

Exhibition of original sculptures in the Cisterns

The “Gods and Good People” exhibition opened in the Cisterns in 2008. The Agency for Palaces & Cultural Properties is showing 75 original sandstone sculptures from the mid-18th century. The sculptures are from Norwegian Valley in Fredensborg Palace Gardens, the Marble Bridge Pavilions at the Christiansborg Palace Riding Ground Complex, the Holstein Mansion, Thott’s Mansion (The French Embassy) and Saint Peter’s Church.

The statues in the exhibition are a sample of the wide range of Danish sculpture produced in the 18th century. As well as decorating buildings and gardens, the sculptures had the important task of demonstrating the great qualities and abilities of the owner. Classical mythology was indispensable in this context, so the gods of antiquity enjoyed a prominent position in the building projects of the king and aristocracy. The common man, on the other hand, appeared more rarely in works of art up until the end of the 18th century. However, the Agency for Palaces & Cultural Properties has a large collection of good people from Norwegian Valley, so the exhibition includes fishermen, farmers and other good people.