Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint - Denmark
Anna Church
Bjelkes Allé, Copenhagen
1913 - 1928

The Anna Kirke is a Lutheran church in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, designed by Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint. The Anna Church was built in three stages and was completed between 1914 and 1928. The building consists of three wings and is characterized by the use of red bricks for the exterior. The two lateral tracts feature stepped gables facing the street. These two wings flank a U-shaped space in front of the main wing, serving as a forecourt. The roof is made of red tiles and features two Flèches with the bells. The brickwork typical for the works by Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint. The building had a difficult history of origins. It was at the turn of the 20th century, when the population in Copenhagen grew rapidly, that the city authorities decided to employ an assistant pastor to wor in St. Stephen's Parish. This was one of the poorest working-class neighberhoods in Copenhagen, having its own independent parish only some years later. After acquiring a cheap plot of land in 1907, it proved difficult to rais funds for the construction of a church in the poor community. There was set up an Anna Committee, consisting of women named Anna throughout Denmark. The Anna Committee endorsed everybody named Anna to danate DKK 1 for the construction of the Church. In 1911 Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint was commissionedto make a design. This design was realized in the years 1913 to 1914, and the church was named after Anna the Prophetess. Only a few years later, the church had become too small for the community, and Jensen-Klint designed the first extension. The necessary funds had to be raised by the Anna Committe again, and the extension was completed in 1921. The second and last extension was carried out from 1924 to 1928. The two extensions correspond to the two lateral wings at the end of the nave.