Climbing the Steeple at The Vors Frelsers Church in Copenhagen

As I was walking around Copenhagen, there was one building that struck me as being very odd. It was a church with a steeple, but around that tall spire that points to the sky, there appeared to be a set of stairs. Later in the day I crossed the harbor bridge and was walking around the section of the city known as Christianhavn. Now, I could see the top of the church even better, and it seemed like there was a person ascending the set of stairs that wrapped around the steeple.

My first thought was that it must be a repairman or perhaps an inspector making the solitary climb to the top of the pinnacle, but a few minutes later I noticed another person climbing the stairs, and then soon one more figure appeared on the stairs and started to make their way to the top. Being in the neighborhood it quickly became my next order of business to walk over to the church and see what was going on with all the steeple climbers.

I entered the church and walked into the main nave, where the first thing that caught my eye was a very large, hand-carved, wooden pipe organ. It was my lucky day, for soon the church organist arrived and began to practice on the grand apparatus. Not only was the massive musical device a visual work of beauty, but the music filled every inch of the interior space with a cascade of symphonic sounds that poured out of the tops of the pipes. Other people soon joined me and we listened intently as the organist practiced on the great instrument for a few minutes. It was a great listening experience that was free for anybody, who wished to enter.

Not so for the climb up the steeple, for near the entrance of the church, there was a desk with a young woman sitting behind it. After paying her the required entry fee of 20 Kroners, I started up a long series of stairs that ascended the inside of the building. Some twenty minutes later and another two hundred feet closer to the heavens, I exited the building onto a small platform that encircled the base of the steeple.

The circular stairway really did look like a stairway to heaven, as I gave the remaining set of stairs one last look and began my final climb. As I continued the airy ascent, I could see the city of Copenhagen, which spread out in all four directions, get smaller and smaller. Towards the top the steeple becomes very narrow and it feels almost like one is climbing a flagpole. Some feeling of vertigo is unavoidable, even for a person like me, who is usually not afraid of heights.

From the top the view is stunning. Three hundred feet up at the pinnacle of a pointed spire is a true urban adventure. I take in a deep breath of fresh air, reflect on the completion of my climb and promptly return down the stairs. I meet several people coming up from the bottom and we pass on the narrow stairs without difficulty, but it is an unsettling experience. Soon I am back at the base of the stairs and I stop here to enjoy the view in a more relaxed manner. Copenhagen looks beautiful from the height of two hundred feet.