Scen från Bakken (Scene from Dyrehavsbakken amusement park, Copenhagen)

Dyrehavsbakken (‘Deer Park Hill’), commonly referred to as Bakken (‘The Hill’, to distinguish it from Dyrehaven, a royal deer park with public access), is an amusement park in Lyngby-Taarbaek (near Klampenborg), approximately 10 km north of central Copenhagen, Denmark. It opened in 1583 (!) and is the world’s oldest operating amusement park. With 2.5–2.9 million visitors per year, it is the second most popular attraction in Denmark, after the more widely known Tivoli Gardens amusement park. Access to the area is free, and admissions are purchased separately for the individual attractions, unlike Tivoli.

The origins of Dyrehavsbakken can be traced back to 1583 when Kirsten Piil discovered a natural spring in what is now known as Jægersborg Dyrehave or Dyrehaven, a large forest park north of Copenhagen. Residents of Copenhagen were attracted to the spring water due to the poor water quality in central Copenhagen during this period. Many believed the natural spring to have curative properties, and therefore Piil’s discovery drew large crowds, especially in the springtime. These large crowds, in turn, attracted entertainers and hawkers, whose presence are the origins of the amusement park today.

For a period the area that the spring was located on was not open to the public, due to it being on royal hunting grounds. In 1669, King Frederick III (1609 - 1670) decided to set up an animal park in the area, and his son Christian V (1646 - 1699) expanded the park to 3–4 times its original size after becoming king in 1670. The area was named Jægersborg Dyrehave, its present name, in 1671. The park was off-limits to the public until 1756, under Frederick V (1723 - 1766).

Open to the general public once again, Dyrehavsbakken began to flourish. Entertainers, hawkers, and innkeepers returned to the area, and Bakken’s growing reputation throughout Europe attracted other entertainers and artists, including Pjerrot, a clown who still is a fixture at the park today. The park continued to grow even throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Its popularity was later aided by easier accessibility due to the development of steamships in 1820 and railroads in 1864, as well as publicity from poets and authors.

As the popularity of Bakken grew, its conditions worsened. As a result, some of the business owners, or tent owners as they are still called today, created the Dyrehavsbakken Tent Owners’ Association of 1885. The association improved garbage collection, restroom facilities, water supply, publicity, and helped bring electricity to the park. The association is still around today, and all businesses operating in the park are required to join. The entertainment options also improved over time. Cabarets such as Sansouci, which opened in 1866, and Bakkens Hvile, which opened in 1877, became increasingly popular. The 20th century brought other ventures, such as the Circus Revue and automated moving rides. Over time, more modern rides and entertainment options have been introduced.

In this, colourful and life-affirming, scene from ‘Bakken’, Wegener gives us a glimpse of the feverishly decadent pleasures of the amusement park as it appeared in the beginning of the 20th century. A group of young people have dressed up for a night on town that will be devoted to merriment, fast rides, warm embraces and wet kisses. What appears to be an androgynous and handsome young man is seen embracing an equally beautiful girl against a backdrop of a carousel, or merry-go-round. Next to them a group of young women seems to move away from the couple, possibly hurrying towards other pleasures in the crowded and frenzied amusement park. Or? Is it, really, a group of young women? An old inscription verso claims that the dark-haired young woman in white clothes and polka-dot headdress is actually a depiction of the artist’s husband Einar Wegener. In the early 1910s Einar began to wear female clothing, adopting a female name and persona: Lili Elbe. Einar/Lili would now become Gerda’s favourite model and Gerda commonly introduced her as Einar’s female cousin (whenever dressed in female attire). In 1930 Elbe underwent one of the world’sfirst sex reassignment surgeries. As Danish law at the time did not recognize marriage between two women, Gerda and Lili’s marriage was annulled in October 1930 by King Christian X (1870 - 1947). Elbe later died, aged 48, in 1931 from complications relating to her fourth, and final, sex reassignment surgery, which took place in Dresden, Weimar Republic.

Provenance

Stockholms Auktionsverk, Stockholm, Moderna & Nutida, 19 - 20 November 2024.

Firestorm Foundation (acquired from the above sale).

Exhibitions

Charlottenborg, Denmark (year unknown).

Copyright Firestorm Foundation