Kierkegaard's LifeCopenhagen and North Zealand

Four outings over three days

Walking with Kierkegaard

Join him for a stroll through Copenhagen streets, Frederiksberg gardens, Assistens Cemetery, and the Gilleleje landscape, with the story at every stop and live directions to the next.

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.”
Letter to his niece Henriette Lund, 1847, Letters and Documents, trans. Henrik Rosenmeier
Choose an outingSee sources and credit

Choose an outing

Room to walk, look, and read

The Copenhagen outings fit roughly three and a half to four hours each. Gilleleje is longer: its established 12-kilometre route deserves a full day once the train journey is included.

Thursday · 8:30–11:45

The established city walk, ending at SKAAL

Follow the nine numbered stops from I Kierkegaards fodspor, from Church of Our Lady to Rosenborggade, then continue three minutes to Kierkegaard's former Kultorvet address for lunch.

10stops
2 kmwalking
3–3¼ hwith visits
Stop 1 of 10Church of Our Lady

Stop 1 of 10

Church of Our Lady

Nørregade 8, 1165 København

Why this stop matters

The cathedral holds the whole arc in one place: the Christianity Kierkegaard inherited, the public institution he attacked, and the church funeral that his nephew protested at the graveside.

At this place

Kierkegaard worshipped here after the rebuilt cathedral opened in 1829 and heard Bishop J. P. Mynster preach. His funeral was held here on 18 November 1855, after his final campaign against the established church.

“one must reflect oneself out of the appearance of being a Christian”
The Point of View for My Work as an Author, SKS 16, 72 / PV, 93
Map and deeper reading
Google MapsOpen this locationKierkegaard textRead the Danish text, auto-translatedAutomatic English translationRead the Danish place essay

Next

Dyrkøb 51 minute · 75 m
Go to next stop

After the outing

Two ways to finish

Choose when you know how much walking, weather, and reading the day has given you.

Stay with the historic addressSKAAL

A full lunch and broad beer list at the route's final Kierkegaard address. Best when you want to sit down before crossing the city.
Kultorvet 11, 1175 København

MapOfficial site
Keep it quick and DanishHallernes Smørrebrød

Open sandwiches at Torvehallerne near Nørreport. Counter seating is limited, but takeaway keeps the Thursday schedule moving.
Rømersgade 18, 1362 København

MapOfficial site

Exploring further

Ten places beyond these outings

Completing all four outings covers twenty-one of the StoryMap’s thirty-one locations. These remaining places suggest four further excursions when time allows.

Dyrehaven

The former royal hunting ground north of Copenhagen is the nearest substantial extension and can stand as its own half-day outing.

StoryMap stop 18 · Map

Sources and credit

Read the stop here. Go deeper when you wish.

The English accounts isolate the information relevant to each location. Citations give the Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter volume and page first, followed by the cited English edition. SKS means Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter; KJN means Kierkegaard’s Journals and Notebooks. CUP, EO, WL, and the other short forms identify the cited English work. Links lead onward to Danish texts, automatically translated place essays, route maps, and local visitor information.

Kierkegaard in Copenhagen StoryMap

Madeline Altman, with Brian Söderquist. The principal source for place histories, textual connections, translations, and English edition references.

I Kierkegaards fodspor

The numbered Old City route and its Danish place essays. This link and the individual place links open in automatic English translation.

Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter

The Research Centre's critical edition at the Royal Danish Library. Stop pages link directly to the relevant original Danish work where its identifier is verified.

Kierkegaard by Nature

The official twelve-listening-post Gilleleje experience, available through Useeum. Opens in automatic English translation.

Frie Fodspor Gilleleje route

The mapped 12-kilometre coastal route, practical description, and downloadable GPX. Opens in automatic English translation.

Trail photographs and GPX

The marker photographs and offline route file were supplied for this guide to make the listening posts easier to identify and the walk easier to follow.

Old City stop guide