1845
“Big Enough to Be a Major City”
“Some of my countrymen probably think that Copenhagen is a boring
town and a small town. To me, on the contrary—refreshed as it is by the
seaonwhichitissituated,andunable,eveninwinter,toabandonitsmem-
ory of beech forests—it is the most favorable habitat I could wish for. Big
enough to be a major city, small enough that there is no market price on
humanbeings.”
ThusdoesStages on Life’s WayexpressaninfatuationwithKierkegaard’s
Copenhagen, which according to the census of 1845 had 126,787 inhabi-
tants.Thesmall,compact,fortifiedcitywasencircledbyhighrampartsthat
droppedoffsteeplyintobroadmoats,andalltrafficinandoutofthetown
had to pass through one of the four narrow gates: Østerport, Nørreport,
Vesterport,andAmagerport,whichwerelockedsecurelyeverynight,after
which the keys were brought over to King Frederick VI at Amalienborg
Castle—a practice that continued as late as 1808. The Nørreport entrance
wasleftsligtlyajar,however,sothatnightowlscouldslipintotown—after
payingtherequiredfeeoftwoshillings.Onmarketdays—Wednesdaysand
Saturdays—thepeasantswaitedinlongqueuestocomeinwiththeirwares:
flour, grain, potatoes, butter, milk, meat, chickens, sheep, fruit, distilled
spirits, hay, hides, and whatever else the city might need. People wishing
toenterthecityhadtopayatollandsubmittheirwagonstotheinspection
of “bag peerers,” who always found more than the peasants wanted them
toandwerethereforehatedaboutasmuchaswasthelittlepoliceforcethat
reigned within the ramparts; there were eighty-five policemen in 1840.
Punishmentbybrandinghadbeenabolishedthatyear,sothecitynowhad
to make do with public flogging, in which people were bound to a post
and lashed as many times as they deserved. The city’s 188 watchmen, on
the other hand, were much more popular. It was their responsibility to
soundthealarmintheeventoffire,tocalloutthehour,andaslateas1863,
tosingtherequisitewatchman’sverseeveryhouronthehourallnightlong.
Lastly,theyhadthejoboflightingthecity’sstreetlamps,whichattemptedto
dispel the dense darkness in the streets—but even so, the lamps wereonly
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