Assistens Cemetery

Assistens was opened in 1760 outside the city walls as an overflow burial ground for the poor of central Copenhagen, and it became fashionable in the nineteenth century, filling with the graves of the people who made Danish cultural life: Hans Christian Andersen, Soren Kierkegaard, Niels Bohr, the painter Christen Kobke, the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen's circle, and later the jazz musician Ben Webster, who died in Copenhagen. What makes it unusual is how it is used. It is still a working cemetery, but Copenhageners treat it as a park: people run, cycle, picnic, sunbathe and read on the grass between the graves under mature limes and chestnuts, which visitors from other countries often find startling and locals consider entirely normal.

What you actually see

• Hans Christian Andersen's grave - the most visited stone in the cemetery.
• Kierkegaard's family plot - the philosopher buried with his relatives.
• Niels Bohr's grave - the physicist among the scientists' section.
• A cemetery used as a park - picnics and sunbathing between the stones.

When to go

April to October, and particularly late spring when the trees come into leaf. Two hours. It opens early and closes at dusk, earlier in winter. Weekends bring the local crowds who use it as a lawn.

Honest expectations

It is a working cemetery with funerals and mourners; the park use is accepted but noise and photography around a service are not. Finding specific graves takes a map, available at the gates. Paths are gravel and uneven. Gates close early in winter.

Nearby

Norrebro's cafes are around it; Superkilen is a short walk north.