S_BilledeborgenKøbenhavnsRådhus_1905-2005

fear of urban life or agorafobia, a fear of walking across large open spaces. And it is obvious that Copenhagen City Hall Square with its new building represented a new scale of the times and of city development, a new open element compared to the closely situated plots of the medieval town. The main entrance ofTivoli has remained as a souvenir from when the town grew beyond the old ramparts and became a city, just like the miniature castle in H.C. Andersen’s Boulevard, now the domicile of the Tivoli Guard, right across from the tiny Pigeon Tower of the City Hall.

GOT MY GLASSES KNOCKED OFF E. Kent Sorensen, retired city hall attendant and pigeoneer

»1 actually asked fo r the job myself after having been a member o f the sta ff in the building fo r twenty-five years. A n d so I looked after the pigeons fo r thirteen years. N o t that I only took care o f the pigeons, but I spent a lot o f time on them. Also during the weekends. B u t on ordinary workdays, i f anyone asked me to f i x other things, like lugging tables fo r parties or receptions fo r example, I could always say I d idn ’t have the time because I had to attend to the pigeons. High in the Pigeon Tower. The young are the juiciest, also when it comes to city hall pigeons. So they were occasionally fe d to the city councillors when the au tumna l meetings were still opened w ith dinners. However, this stopped in the early 1980s. When I began, there were almost fou r hundred in the Pigeon Tower, and that was too many. Now there are close to three hundred. We use a netted rod to catch them high up in the Pigeon Tower. A n d indeed, they have succeeded in flapping o ff my spectacles with their wings. B u t once I also accidentally knocked a pigeon unconscious with the rod.« - But what is the point of having pigeons in a city hall at all? »Originally they were meant to function as fire-alarms. A k ind o ffire-alarm. They become nervous and uneasy i f there is a fire anywhere in the building.« - What was your function in the building, before the pigeons became your main charge? »Among other things I took care o f keeping the square clean. I t was hard work, six o ’clock every morning, with a cart and a broom. A n d then afterwards a nice hot cup o f coffee indoors. B u t on the other hand, it was also really pleasant to be able to smile at all the girls crossing the square as daylight came.«

(Conversation w ith AdW, F eb ru ary 2005)

2 0 1