Executions on Nytorv
What stood on the square
Nytorv was laid out in 1610 under Christian IV, and for 134 years of that history it had a scaffold on it as a fixed piece of municipal equipment rather than a thing wheeled out for an occasion. The 1728 rebuild made it an octagonal masonry podium. Hammond and Sundblad were beheaded there in 1758 for forgery, the scaffold came down in 1761, and the pillory outlasted it: people were branded and whipped on Nytorv until 1780.
What replaced it
The Copenhagen Court House, the Domhuset, was built on the square between 1803 and 1815 to C.F. Hansen's neoclassical design, held up by material shortages and by the British bombardment of 1807. It worked as city hall and courthouse at the same time. The jail stands beside it and the two are joined by a large overhead arch that prisoners were walked across. The courthouse carries the inscription Med lov skal man land bygge; the jail's reads For almeen sikkerheden. So the square went from scaffold to courtroom on the same paving.
Where the killing moved
Copenhagen's public execution ground from 1806 to 1857 was the former Svenske Skanse redoubt by Amagerport, on the site of today's Dalslandsgade 7 on Amager. Thirty-five people were executed there, three of them women. Amager Common held a separate site, and its last execution was on 22 April 1845. The two are often run together and they are not the same ground. The wider Danish sequence, down to the last execution of any kind in 1950, is on the executions page.
Standing on it now
Nytorv is an ordinary open square with the courthouse on one side, and the guided ghost walk meets there in front of it, which is not an accident of logistics. It is the one Copenhagen address where the documented history is grimmer than anything anyone tells you about it afterwards. Meeting points for every walk are listed on where the walks start.
Frequently asked questions
Where were people executed in Copenhagen?
On Nytorv, where a permanent scaffold stood from 1627 to 1761, and later at the former Svenske Skanse redoubt by Amagerport from 1806 to 1857, where 35 people were executed.
When was the last execution on Nytorv?
In 1758. Frederik Hammond and Anders Sundblad were beheaded for forging securities, and the scaffold was removed three years later, in 1761.
Can you visit the place?
Yes, it is a public square with the courthouse on it. The guided ghost walk meets there — see the guided ghost walk.