Copenhagen Municipal Hospital

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Copenhagen Municipal Hospital, known in Danish as Københavns Kommunehospital, was a hospital in Copenhagen that operated from 1863 to 1999. It stood on Øster Farimagsgade, opposite the Copenhagen Botanical Garden, and today its buildings form part of the University of Copenhagen’s City Campus. The 1853 cholera outbreak showed the need for a new hospital, so a site outside the old Fortification Ring was chosen. Royal Building Inspector Christian Hansen designed the building, construction began in 1859, and the hospital opened on 19 September 1863. It was run by Copenhagen Municipality and had 844 beds, introducing several new treatments and ideas in Denmark. The hospital became a university hospital in 1873 and started the first professional nurse training in 1876. In 1953, anaesthetist Bjørn Aage Ibsen set up what is believed to be the world’s first intensive care unit. The complex was expanded in 1954 by Frederik Christian Lund. In 2003 the buildings were sold to the Norden property company, and the hospital closed on 1 May 2009.