Soren Kierkegaard

The seats were narrow wooden benches covered with leather or coarse
fabric, and if one went up to the box seats one had to make do without a
seatback.Theequipmentandmachinerywereantiquated,andthelighting,
providedbyoillamps,leftagreatdealtobedesired.J.M.Thiele,whohad
studied many theaters in his travels abroad, was terrified when he took a
look backstage at the Royal Theater: “Everything could be found in the
spacebetweenthetwolevels—ricketywoodenframes,linen,greasyropes
andpaper—positioneddangerouslyclosetolampsandflames.Theloftover
thestagewasfilledwithamassofhangingcurtains,andthisspacecontinued
without any dividing wall into a room that extended over the public area
of the theater and was filled with hundreds of rolled-up linen curtains—
fuelwhich,intheeventofanaccident,wouldbesomeofthefirstmaterial
that would cascade down mercilessly in a crushing, consuming conflagra-
tion.” Oddly enough, unlike so many other buildings, the theater refused
to burn down, and it was not until 1870 that the old building was finally
demolished. But it was here that poets like Oehlenschla ̈ger and Heiberg
celebratedtheirtriumphs;thiswaswhereBournonvilledancedandchoreo-
graphedhisballets.AndthiswaswhereKierkegaardwasaspectator.
After the disastrous consequences of the Napoleonic wars and an eco-
nomic downturn that lasted into the late 1830s, the situation improved in
the 1840s, and this provided the population with the wherewithal to seek
amusements.EnjoyingtheroyalpatronageofChristianVIII,ayounglieu-
tenant in the Life Guards named Georg Carstensen became the capital’s
maıˆtre de plaisir. The choice was no accident, for as editor of a couple of
divertingweeklyjournalsCarstensenhad previouslyarrangedfestivitiesfor
his subscribers. One year, he invitedthem to tour Rosenborg Gardens, all
brilliantly illuminated. The following year he arranged a successful New
Year’s party at the indoor riding ring at Christiansborg Castle, which was
decorated in oriental style and illuminated with four thousand candles for
theoccasion,whichlastedforthreedays.Subscribersweregrantedfreead-
mission,whileothershadtopartwitharixdollar,butthepresswasimpressed
and the public was therefore doubly enthusiastic. Carstensen enjoyed his
absolutelygreatestsuccess,however,whenhereceivedpermissionin1842
to found a “tivoli,” which opened for the first time on August 15, 1843.
“Theharvestmightbeadisaster,”onecouldreadinFædrelandetacoupleof
weekslater,“cattle diseasemightbreakout,theSoundduesmightbelost,
SlesvigandHolsteinmightbreakaway,andJutlandmightbesubmergedin
aflood,butallthewhilethepeopleofCopenhagenwouldbeinterestedin
onlyonething,andthatwouldbe—Tivoli.”Nordidpeoplemissthesym-
bolic significance of the fact that the new amusement establishment had
beensituatedwithinwhathadbeenastrictlyoff-limitsdefensefortification;