''Tivoli Gardens at Night''
|
is a famous
Amusement Park in
Copenhagen ,
Denmark . The park opened on
August 15 ,
1843 and, except for
Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg, it is the oldest amusement park which has survived intact to the present day.
It was first called "Tivoli & Vauxhall": "Tivoli" alluding to the
Jardin De Tivoli in Paris (which in its turn had been named from
Tivoli near Rome), and "Vauxhall" alluding to the
Vauxhall Gardens in London.
Tivoli's founder,
Georg Carstensen (b.
1812 - d.
1857 ) obtained a five-year charter to create Tivoli by telling
King Christian VIII that "when the people are amusing themselves, they do not think about politics". The monarch granted Carstensen use of roughly 15 acres (61,000 m&
2) of the fortified
Glacis outside Vesterport (the West Gate) at the annual rent of 945 kroner. Therefore, until the 1850s, Tivoli was outside the city, accessible through the West Gate.
From the very start, Tivoli included a variety of attractions: buildings in the exotic style of an imaginary Orient: a theatre, band stands, restaurants and cafés, flower gardens, and mechanical
Amusement Ride s such as a
Merry-go-round and a primitive
Scenic Railway . After dark, coloured lamps illuminated the gardens. On certain evenings, specially designed
Fireworks could be seen reflected in Tivoli's lake.
Composer
Hans Christian Lumbye (b.
1810 - d.
1874 ) was Tivoli's musical director from
1843 to
1872 . Lumbye was inspired by Viennese waltz composers like the Strauss family (
Johann Strauss I and his sons), and became known as the "Strauss of the North." Many of his compositions are specifically inspired by the gardens, including "Salute to the Ticket Holders of Tivoli", "Carnival Joys" and "A Festive Night at Tivoli". The Tivoli Symphony Orchestra still performs many of his works.
In
1943 ,
Nazi sympathisers attempted to break the Danish people's spirit by burning many of Tivoli's buildings, including the concert hall, to the ground. Undaunted, the Danes built temporary buildings, and the park was back in operation after a few weeks.
Today Tivoli and its gardens, in the very center of Copenhagen, are surrounded by heavily trafficked streets. At one side stands the City Hall (''Rådhus'') and at the other the Central Train Station (''Hovedbanegård'')— both dating from around 1900.
The general layout of the Gardens has been preserved. For instance, the shape of the grounds is still that of the old fortifications, the lake being part of the old city moat. The main entrance is still where it was in 1843, and just inside stands the Pantomime Theater, a highly original building in Chinese style which in 1874 took the place of an older smaller theater. The audience stands in the open, the stage being inside the building. The theatre's "curtain" is a mechanical peacock's tail. From the very beginning, the Theater was the home of Italian pantomimes, introduced in Denmark by the Italian
Giuseppe Casorti . This tradition, which is dependent on the Italian
Commedia Dell'Arte has been kept alive, including the characters Cassander (the old father), Columbine (his beautiful daughter),
Harlequin (her lover), and, especially popular with the youngest spectators, the stupid servant
Pierrot . The absence of spoken dialogue is an advantage, as Tivoli is now an international tourist attraction.
Tivoli is always evolving without abandoning its original charm or traditions. As Georg Carstensen said in 1844, "Tivoli will never, so to speak, be finished," a sentiment echoed just over a century later when
Walt Disney said of his own Tivoli-inspired
Theme Park , "
Disneyland will never be finished as long as there is imagination left in the world."
The park is best known for the its wooden
Roller Coaster , ''Rutchebanen'', built in
1915 . It is still operating today, but an operator is controlling the ride by braking down the hills so it won't gain too much speed.
In 2004 the new coaster, ''
The Demon '', opened in Tivoli. It features an
Immelmann Loop , a
Loop , and a
Zero-G Roll all during the ride time of just two minutes. The old roller coaster, ''Slangen'', was removed to have enough space for ''The Demon''. The roller coaster is situated next to the concert hall.
The worlds highest carousel, ''
Himmelskibet '', will open in Tivoli in
2006 . It is 80 meters high and is built by the
Austria n company,
Funtime .
Noteworthy Amusement Parks}}
