Copenhagen Denmark Temple

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Temple Construction Photos
Inside Temple Photos
Church News Article
History of Priorvej
Map to Temple

5-25-04 Update: "We had a wonderful weekend and the temple was dedicated Sunday by President Hinckley. Yesterday the temple was running - naturally with a few problems, but nothing serious - after all running a temple is a complex affair. President Hinckley attended the first session." S A Andersen

5-18-04 Update: In our last mailing we asked you to contribute to the brochure being printed to advertise the Temple Dedication. Click here to look at and print this incredible brochure.

"Thank you for all the help you have given to us - we could not have had 25,512 visitors to the Temple Open House and 1,084 referrals without your help.

The Haag Temple had 25,000 visitors and there are 16 million people in Holland and 10 million in Belgium.

In Denmark there are only 5.5 million people - so in comparison we did very well - but it was the help from you [Pres Don Christensen & Friends of Denmark] and those Danish members and former missionaries in the US that helped us with the $50,000 that made the difference." Niels-Ove Andersen

3-28-04 Update: Dee V. Jacobs, former mission president of the Denmark Copenhagen Mission, has been called to serve as president of the Copenhagen Denmark Temple. Sister Kay Jacobs, his wife, will serve as temple matron. ldschurchtemples.com

12-26-03 Update: The First Presidency has announced the public open house and dedication dates for the Copenhagen Denmark Temple as follows:

OPEN HOUSE
Thursday, April 29 to Saturday, May 15, 2004
(except for Sundays, May 2 and May 9, 2004)

DEDICATION
Sunday, May 23, 2004, in four sessions

The general public is invited to attend the open house. No tickets are required.

11-28-03 Update: Ældste og Søster Jensen har oplyst, at der er etableret et lille besøgscenter i en skurvogn ved siden af templet. Der åbent mandag til fredag mellem 10.00 og 15.00. Kig ind, hvis I er i København i det nævnte tidsrum. Centret er åbent for alle. Erik Ryttersgaard

8-16-03 Update: Ved en lille højtidelighed i dag (lørdag 16/8 kl. 16.00) blev Moroni hejst på plads - på tårnet ved Templet. Niels-Ove Andersen

4-2-03 Update: Many have written that the new completion date is Early 2004 with Open House and Dedication in Spring 2004.

2-7-03 Update: The latest news about the temple construction is that all concrete walls are in place. In about two weeks a roof will be in place and you will have a closed structure. Construction is still going on schedule, meaning a completion in about a year. Then there will be some time to finish the in doors and an open house and then a dedication when President Hinckley has a vacant spot in his callendar. All this is subject to all sorts of conditions. Most likely it will coinside with the dedication of the temple in Helsinki - Svend Aage Andersen

6-7-01 Update: The "villa" (our old Mission Office) and the garage will be torn down. The transformer substation will be removed. Down under the yard between the villa to the chapel they will build an underground baptismal font - all you will be able to see is a glass dome. Where the old baptismal font is now, there will be an outdoor elevator for the handicapped. The outside stairs on the back of the chapel will also be removed, and there will be a new addition with stairs and the elevator. The temple will have three floors. When you enter, you will be on the second floor. Here are the reception area, offices, and the creation room. On the first floor will be Changing Room, Initiatory, and the exit to the Baptismal font. The third floor will contain the Terrestrial room, Celestial room and Sealing room. The roof will be raised and covered with copper. Over the Celestial Room there will be a glass dome. They hope to have the temple finished for dedication in November/December 2002. Count on December. Both the inside and outside are now approved, so construction can begin. - Henny Rasmussen

3-13-01 Update: The latest we hear is that the temple may be ready by late 2002 - November December. The Church has to provide a new dwelling in the municipality to replace the old villa, which is to be demolished. Otherwise, the plans cannot go ahead.- Clive Baxter

10-11-00 Update: I have a friend who works at the church in the financial area for temples and special projects. He called and gave me an update of where the temple stands yesterday. He indicated that the current comments on the Copenhagen temple are that it is in architectural development and design with a very tenative physical completion date of late first quarter of 2002. The open house and dedication would be scheduled following that date. His indication was that things are moving forward.- Frank Hales

10-8-00 Update: I spoke with Michael Jakobsen, grenspraesident in Horsens, on Conference Sunday, about the temple. He told me that the work is currently stopped because:1 - the cost of the temple doubled because 2 - the walls of the building are thicker than they thought, so the original design to renovate the building will not work and 3 - the foundation (ground under the temple) will not support what they originally planned for the basement (he wasn't sure about what this meant but speculated that the water table may be too high to dig down for the baptistry). Hence, the plans are in the process of being re-drawn, and the Saints may be asked for money (as was told us at the reunion).- Sid Unrau

3-12-00 Update: Till stavskonferencen i Aarhus stav i sondags, blev det bekendtgjort at Prs. Faust, havde sendt en hilsen til Danmark med besked om at tempelprojektet er godkendt! - Bjarne Jakobsen

Article and Picture used with permission of The Church News

Danish chapel will become new temple

For the week ending May. 29, 1999

Nearly 700 Latter-day Saints from Denmark and western Sweden met in the Priorvej Chapel in downtown Copenhagen recently to attend site dedicatory services commencing construction of the Copenhagen Denmark Temple.

Priorvej Chapel in downtown Copenhagen, Denmark, first dedicated by Elder John A. Widtsoe in 1931, will be second temple in Church remodeled from existing edifice.

Much like the Vernal Utah Temple dedicated in 1997, the Denmark Temple will involve extensive renovation of a currently existing building.
The Priorvej Chapel was originally dedicated by Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve on June 14, 1931, "to be a place where Thy truth, the eternal gospel of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, shall be taught, both by precept and example, and where the introductory ordinances, which belong to this Church, can be performed."
Under the direction of the First Presidency, the site dedicatory services were conducted by Elder Spencer J. Condie of the Seventy and president of the Europe North Area. The invocation was offered by Pres. Leif Mattson of the Gothenburg Sweden Stake.
Then, Pres. Erik Ryytersgaard of the Aarhus Denmark Stake, in behalf of the Church members, expressed the joy at the prospect of soon having a temple in their midst.
In his remarks, Pres. Johan S. Koch of the Copenhagen Denmark Stake observed, "This building, with its front porch with four large columns, is very reminiscent of Solomon's Temple." He then reviewed the dimensions of Solomon's temple and compared them to the size of the current meetinghouse and future temple.
The building site was then dedicated by Elder Condie, who prayed: "We are grateful for the blessing this building has been in our lives as apostles and prophets have borne their special witness of Thee in these sacred precincts. And now, our Holy Father, as we are gathered in the name of Thy Son, our hearts unite in gratitude that this building will now be extensively renovated for even more sacred purposes, to become a holy temple, a House of the Lord in which sacred eternal ordinances will be performed, including the sealing of families together forever and forever. . . . As we rededicate this building site, may we also rededicate our lives to Thee."
The April 24 services were enhanced by a choir of Danish members who were joined by the congregation in the singing of the final hymn, "Now Let Us Rejoice." The benediction was given by Pres. Urban Girhammar of the Malmoe Sweden Stake.

During the 50th anniversary of the chapel on Priorvej, a booklet was published containing a history of the building presented here: The Priorvej Chapel was first dedicated as a house of worship on Sunday, June 14, 1931, by Elder John A. Widtsoe, president of the European Mission. This date had special significance as it had been on that very day 81 years earlier that Elder Erastus Snow and his companions first arrived in Denmark to preach the gospel. Concerts and other social activities accompanied the event in the two days that followed.
Construction on the building had commenced nearly two years earlier on June 20, 1929, where Mission President Joseph L. Peterson and architect Einar Thuren were both present. The foundation stone was laid on January 1, 1930, with 150 members in attendance including Branch President Jens P. Hansen and Mission President Holger M. Larsen.
During the battles of World War II, the basement of the Priorvej Chapel was utilized as a bomb shelter.
In June 1944, a special conference was held in the chapel in remembrance of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith 100 years earlier. A memorial plate of the Prophet that had been prepared was unveiled. For those in attendance, the conference was deeply spiritual.
After World War II, the building was renovated to accommodate new classrooms on the first floor. The chapel's original high ceiling was lowered and the beautiful chandeliers removed.
On June 16, 1974, Elder Ezra Taft Benson organized the first stake in Denmark. Today, two stakes are organized in the country (Translation and summarization courtesy of Kenn L. Schjødt. Used with permission of ldschurchtemples.com)

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