Tivoli Gardens: A 175‐year‐old gift from Denmark Tivoli is more than an amusement park, it is a Denmark treasure that was founded in 1842 by Georg Carstensen. He opened the gates to Tivoli on August 15, 1943. His guests were treated to elegant and exotic gardens. A man who once said that his theme park would “never finish growing”‐cphpost.dk. Carstensen had seen other gardens in other countries such as Paris, London and Vienna. He spent his early life in Algeria and wanted to bring this back to Copenhagen. It was not a peaceful time. The city was a walled fortress and people had to pass through gates that surrounded it. Poverty, lack of potable water and sanitation were evident, but Copenhagen had a bustling port that did much trading in the Baltic area and beyond‐cphpost.dk. King Christian VIII saw a pleasure garden as a positive idea, even though city leaders were not keen on the idea. Vesterport (the Western Gate) was chosen as the site and nearly 15 acres of land was granted to build outside of the city’s defensive fortifications‐cphpost.dk. Carstensen was not a wealthy man. He began to speak with business people and those who might finance his project. At one point, workers stopped because human remains were found in the area. Tivoli, as it turned out, was the site of a battle that involved British and Swedish invaders. Finally, Tivoli opened and Carstensen was there to greet each one of the 3,615 visitors on opening day‐cphpost.dk. The Gardens were a success and so did his joy of owning many waistcoats and drinking champagne. His relationship with financiers went from bad to worse and he left Copenhagen. During his departure, his wife died and a business venture in New York failed. He returned to Tivoli in 1855, but was no longer welcome, and even had to pay the full admission fee to enter the grounds. In 1856 he designed a tram rail system that would run between Tivoli and Frederiksberg Runddel and another pleasure garden, Alhambra in Fredriksberg, but he died of pneumonia before the projects became a reality‐cphpost.dk. Today Tivoli Gardens, which is gated, now covers over 20 acres and charms visitors with new and interesting sights. Tivoli’s first roller coaster was added in 1843, however the 1914 version called “Roller Coaster” is one of the oldest in the world and still operated by a brake man on each train‐tivoli.dk. In 1944, a group of Nazi sympathizers set off fire bombs and destroyed several buildings. The park was closed for two weeks before it could reopen‐tivoli.dk. In 2000, the beverage company Carlsberg decided to sell its majority share in Tivoli. With rumors that outsiders might purchase the shares, Danish businesses bought the shares, keeping Tivoli in the hand of Danes‐tivoli.dk. Tivoli so inspired Hans Christian Andersen that he wrote the fairy tale, “The Nightingale.” In 1951, Tivoli was also visited by Walt Disney. Disney was fascinated by the mood and atmosphere of the park. He left and opened Disneyland in California with that same ambience for children and their families. https://www.tivoli.dk/en/om/tivolis+historie is an excellent source to learn about Tivoli. My wife and I considered the famous Tivoli to be a place for family‐fun, frolicking fantasy, flourishing, friendly, fascinating food, festive and fulfilling. This photo program shares some of the sights. Clown who performed for 50 years here Sources: https://www.tivoli.dk/en/, https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/tivoli‐gardens‐gdk424504, http://cphpost.dk/history/tivoli.html, https://www.tivoli.dk/en/om/tivolis, https://www.businessinsider.com/tivoli‐gardens‐inspired‐disneyland‐ 2012‐12#the‐ship‐in‐tivoli‐lake‐is‐a‐family‐friendly‐restaurant‐called‐pirateriet‐the‐menu‐is‐caribbean‐inspired‐14 and https://www.tivoligardens.com/en/om/presse/pressemeddelelser/2017/walt+disney. acuri.net John R. Vincenti Tivoli Gardens: A 175‐year‐old gift from Denmark .