Tivoli-One Man's Vision (cont. from July and August 2021 issues) by Annette Lind
In 1874 one of the best known buildings in Tivoli was built, the Peacock Theatre. Pantomime had been a part of the Tivoli experience from the beginning. The new theater was built in a Chinese style. It replaced a small theater that had been there since the opening. This original building was made of all timber and painted canvas. It went through a series of major updates and repairs but in 1873 it was decided it needed to be replaced. Architect Vilhelm Dahlerup was commissioned to submit a proposal (at the time he was already working on the design for the Royal Danish Theater.). Dahlerup had never been to China, but he had seen pictures of Chinese buildings taken by a fellow architect. He drew up the plans for the present day Peacock Theater and submitted them. It was designed with bright colors to go along with the philosophical symbolism of the Chinese. Chinese letters above the stage can be translated as “Shared joy with the people.” The audience stands or sits in the open with the stage inside the building. The curtain is a mechanical peacock tail which, according to an article on the internet, requires 5 men to operate. Pantomime means a play where performers use gestures rather than their voice to put on the performance. Italian pantomime was introduced in Denmark by Guiseppe Casorti, It includes the characters Cassander (the old father), Columbine (his beautiful daughter), Harlequin (Colombine’s lover) and the “clown” servant, Pierrot. The children especially love Pierrot. A statue of this clown was erected in Tivoli in 1896. It commemorates Niels Henrik Volkersen who played the part of Pierrot at Tivoli for nearly 50 years. Danes commonly use this statue as a place to meet friends in the park. The name Nimb has been associated with Tivoli since 1877 when Vilhelm and Louise Nimb took over their first Tivoli restaurant named Divan 2 on Tivoli Lake, popularly known as Nimb’s Terrace. Divan 2 was the first restaurant to introduce the open-face sandwich form. The famous
Moorish-inspired building erected in 1909 in the park came to be called The Nimb. Through the years it has housed various establishments but in 2008 after a major rennovation it opened as the Nimb Hotel, with several gourmet-oriented establishments. It was awarded the hotel of the year in 2015 by the Small Luxury Hotels organization, being selected out of 520 small luxury hotels throughout the world. There are 17 rooms, 12 suites and 3 restaurants in the building. Make your reservation early and bring your pocketbook. In the early 20th century Tivoli like many places throughout the world, hosted human exhibitions. The idea of displaying living human beings began in Germany in the middle 1800’s. The intention was to create a history of mankind by showing how humans had progressed. Sadly what may have been a “noble” idea quickly became a way to show Europeans as humans who had evolved—superior to other humans in the world. By the 1870’s exhibition of “exotic” populations became popular in many countries. “Human zoos” could be found in Europe and in the United States. This type of human expositions persisted in various forms into the 21st century. The exhibitions in Tivoli were meant to show foreign races and their way life to the Danes. The first exhibition was held in 1901 showing “exotic” human beings from India and included coolies with their rickshaws, snake charmers and much more. It was a great draw as crowds of Danes filled Tivoli to see these “strange sites” and, hopefully, learn about othe cultures. As the years have passed, Tivoli has grown and changed. That was the original intention of Georg Carstsensen. In 1844 he was quoted as saying, “Tivoli will never, so to speak, be finished.” He was right. In 1890 the main entrance to the park was changed to the now well-recognized structure. At night lights illuminate the entrance. A new entrance across from the Copenhagen Central
Danish Sisterhood News, September 2021
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