Jørgen Hansen Koch
Jørgen Hansen Koch (4 September 1787 – 30 January 1860) was a Neoclassical Danish architect. He was chief of the national Danish building administration from 1835 and director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1844 to 1849. Koch and especially his wife Ida Koch were close friends of the writer Hans Christian Andersen, who would typically visit the Koch family on Friday evenings.
Also recorded as Jørgen Koch · J. H. Koch
Jørgen Hansen Koch
Daderot · CC0
- Name
- Jørgen Hansen Koch
- Born
- 4 September 1787
- Birthplace
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Died
- 30 January 1860
- Nationality
- Kingdom of Denmark
- Occupation
- architect · artist
- Movements
- Neoclassicism
- Education
- Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
- Teachers
- Christian Frederik Hansen
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3429985 · wikipedia · Jørgen Hansen Koch
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
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Institutions cited
Getty Union List of Artist Names
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Jørgen Hansen Koch • Born — 4 September 1787 • Birthplace — Copenhagen, Denmark • Died — 30 January 1860 • Place of death — Copenhagen, Denmark • Significant Buildings — Sæby Church
Documentary record
Jørgen Hansen Koch lived from 1787 to 1860 and was an architect, professor and builder. The birth of Jørgen Hansen Koch is recorded in 1787, and the death in 1860.
Early life and education
Early life and education
• Illustration — Hansen's proposal for a military hospital for which he was awarded the Academy's large gold medal in 116, Koch was born on 4 September 1787 in Christianshavn, Copenhagen, the son of Jørgen Hansen Koch (1746–1801), a ship builder, and Anne Cathrine née Folkersen (1758–1809). He initially apprenticed as a carpenter. He attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1807 to 1816 where he studied under Christian Frederik Hansen, the leading Danish architect of the time. He won the Academy small gold medal in 1811 for the project "An Art Academy" and its large gold medal in 1816 for the project "A military hospital for a garrison with large regiments". He was subsequently promised the Academy's large travel stipend with effect from 1 January 1819. Yogether with the sculptor Hermann Ernst Freund, he traveled to Rome where he met Bertel Thorvaldsen and other members of the Danish artists' colony who resided in the city at that time. Freund became Thorvaldsen's assistant while Koch later continued to Greece, making him the first Danish architect educated at the Academy to visit the cradle of the Classical architecture which was the period's main source of inspiration for architects. He also visited Constantinople before returning to Italy. In 1822 he returned to Denmark by way of France and London.
Career
Career
Back in Denmark, Koch was appointed Royal Master Builder, succeeding Christian Frederik Hansen as the leader of the national building administration. From 1835 he also held a professorial chair at the Royal Academy and between 1844 and 1849 served as its director. In 1837 he became part of the Committee for the Foundation of Thorvaldsen's Museum. Koch was responsible for a number of renovations and reconstructions of Royal residences, including Brockdorff's Palace (1827–1828) and Bernstorff's Mansion (1829). He also designed a number of schools, including Frederiksborg Latin School and Roskilde Cathedral School (1842). In Copenhagen, he designed the Hansen Mansion (1835) in Frederiksstaden.
Family and Hans Christian Andersen link
Family and Hans Christian Andersen link
• Illustration — Ida Koch, née Wulff, painted by J. L. Lund (1831) Jørgen Koch was married to Ida Koch née Wulff, daughter of counter admiral Peter Frederik Wulff (1774–1848) and Hanne Henriette Weinholt (1784–1836). The couple had three sons: Jørgen Hansen Koch (1829–1919), a head teacher, Peter Frederik Koch (1832–1907), a Justitiarius, and Hans Henrik Koch (1836–1903), a naval officer who reached the rank of vice admiral. • Illustration — Bust by H. W. Bissen, 1835 Jørgen and Ida Koch belonged to Hans Christian Andersen's social circle. Andersen had an open invitation to visit the family for dinner on Fridays. Andersen also developed a friendly relationship with their children which continued after the parents' death, as did the dinner arrangement on Fridays. Andersen also knew other members of the Koch and Wulff families. Herman Wilhelm Bissen created a portrait bust of him in 1835. Jørgen Hansen Koch died on 30 January 1860 in Copenhagen and is buried in the city's Vestre Cemetery.
Selected works
Selected works
• Illustration — Duebrødre Kloster • Illustration — Hegnetslund • Illustration — Frederiksborg Latin School • Illustration — Roskilde Cathedral School (now Roskilde Gymnasium) • Middelfart Town Hall, Middelfart (1823–1826, listed) • Duebrødre Kloster, Roskilde, Denmark (1841) • Svendborg Town Hall, Svendborg (1825) • Hegnetslund, Herfølge (1825) • Rolighed, Vedbæk (1825) • Meyers Minde, Krystalgade 12, Copenhagen (1826) • Borgerskole, Svendborg (1830–1831, demolished) • Skuldelev Rectory, Skuldelev (1830) • Quarantine station, Kyholm (1831, demolished in 1859) • Klitfogedbolig, Skagen (1831–1832) • Rosenborg Brøndanstalt, Gothersgade 64, Copenhagen (1833, demolished in 1928) • Frederiksborg Latin School, Sdr. Jernbanevej 4, Hillerød (1834, extension by Ferdinand Meldahl in 1882–1885, listed) • Hansen Mansion, Fredericiagade 21, Copenhagen (1835, extension by Aage Nielsen in 1957) • Store Heddinge Town Hall, Store Heddinge (1838, later expanded) • Gardener's House, Sorgenfri Palace (1840) • Volkersen House, Jagtvej, Copenhagen (1841, demolished) • Avlsbygninger, Bregentved (1841, demolished) • Kærup Manor, Benløse (1841–1842) • Roskilde Cathedral School, Roskilde (1842, adapted in 1980, listed) • Helsingør Customs House, Helsingør (1844, demolished in 1889) • Rudkøbing Town Hall, Rudkøbing (1845) • Ringsted Town Hall, Ringsted (1845) • Odense Cathedral School, Odense (1845–1846) • Reykjavík Latin School, Reykjavík (1845) • Farmhouse, Iceland • Own house, stable and carriagehouse, Ny Kongensgade 15, Copenhagen (1847, demolished) • Farmhouse, Vallø Castle (1852) • Farmhouse, Vallø (1854) • Voldbro, Vallø Castle (1856)
Extensions, adaptions and refurbishments
Extensions, adaptions and refurbishments
• Illustration — Sæby Church • Royal Danish Academy of Surgery, Bredgade 62, Copenhagen (1823) • Sæby Church, Sæby, Hornsherred (1823) • Lindegården, Hornsherred (1827, demolished) • Extension of Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen (1827, 20 columns and other elements now in Museet på Koldinghus) • Holstein Mansion, Stormgade 10, Copenhagen (1827) • Fasangården, Frederiksberg Park (1828) • Amalienborg, Brockdorff's Palace, Copenhagen (1827–1828) • Moltke Mansion, proposed change • Bernstorff's Mansion, Bredgade 42, Copenhagen (1829) • Charlottenlund Palace, Copenhagen • Frederiksberg Palace, Copenhagen (1828) • Gatehouse at Frederiksborg Palace, construction of gate building (1829) • Justo, Frederiksberg Park, Frederiksberg (1834, extended and altered by Christian Klingsey 1900) • Stændersal, Viborg (1834) • Stændersal, Roskilde (1835, Yellow Mansion) • Cantor's House, Vallø (1836) • Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen (1837, demolished in 1874) • Elers Kollegium, Store Kannikestræde 9, Copenhagen (1837) • Kiel Palace (1838, demolished after WW2 bombing) • Odense Slot, southeast wing (1837), garden, smst. (1840) and interior, smst. (1841) • Frederiksgave, Assens, Denmark (1841) • Court Theatre, Christiansborg Ridehus, Copenhagen (1842) • Gottorp Castle (1842) • Yellow Mansion, Amaliegade 18, Copenhagen (1842) • Bernstorff Palace, Jægersborg Allé (1844) • Aarhus Cathedral School, Skolegyde, Aarhus (1847–1849, expanded by Hack Kampmann 1904, C.F. Møller 1957) • Slagelse Hospital, south wing, Slagelse (1848) • Ladegården, new wing, Frederiksberg (1848, demolished 1930) • Frederiksborg Castle, Badstuen, along with barracks and stables (1849) • Prince's Mansion, Copenhagen (1849, now Nationalmuseet) • Børsen, Copenhagen
Unrealized projects
Unrealized projects
• Theater and yard (1824) • Hellerupgård, veranda (1825) • Warehouse (1827) • Manor and stable (1829) • City hall (awarded, 1833) • Thorvaldsen's Museum (1839, competition submission) • More designs for pavilions (1842 and undated) • Main building (1850) • Designs for prisons and jails (1840) • Furniture; royal sarcophagus (1850)
Other works
Other works
• Decoration for Adam Wilhelm Moltke's wedding (1823) • Living room at Bregentved (1824)
Burial monuments
Burial monuments
• Tombstone for gehejmestatsminister Niels Rosenkrantz, Rye Kirke (1824) • Tombstone for Minna von Witzleben, Vemmetofte (1849) • Sarcophagus for doctor Heinrich Callisen, St. Peter's Church (1824) • Sarcophagus for landgrave Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1834) • Sarcophagus for Christian VIII (1848, Roskilde Domkirke)
Written works
Written works
• Hvilke Fordringer burde der vel især gjøres til en Bygmester i Danmark, Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen 1834.

Roskilde Gymnasium (originally Roskilde Katedralskole) in central Roskilde, Denmark. Built in 1842 in the Neo-Classical style to a design by Jørgen Hansen Koch
xiquinhosilva · 80545-Roskilde

H.W. Bissen (1798-1868), Arkitekt Joergen Hansen Koch, 1835
Statens Museum for Kunst
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1787
Jørgen Hansen Koch born at Copenhagen.
1860
Jørgen Hansen Koch died at Copenhagen.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Jørgen Hansen Koch, revision 1373523677 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Further particulars
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Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Formation and teaching. Koch studied at Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He trained under Christian Frederik Hansen.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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