Copenhagen Denmark - A Folksy Corner

World’s oldest amusement park lies hidden in the woods

Out in the woods, among deer and stags - 13 kilometers from the centre of Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark - lies the oldest amusement park in the world: Bakken.

Those coming by car pick the coast road, Strandvejen, along the blue strait of Oresund. I myself go by S-train to the station of Klampenborg where I enter, through a large red gate, the Jagersborg Deer Park. It’s early spring and the season just started so it’s already dark. A horse-drawn cab passes by, with its lights on. To judge by the horse droppings, cab traffic must be heavy during daytime.

The stillness and darkness of the woods gradually give way to the lights and noise of Bakken. A perfect idyll awaits me, small gardens and cozy restaurants offering the menu of the day. The Circus Revue is showier, with its name written in luminous letters above the entrance. Although the revue tent is the only remaining real tent at Bakken, every shopkeeper expects to be referred to as tent keeper. A small police station next door indicates that Bakken is folksy and occasionally wild.

Bandits are rampant. They used to be one-armed, but the arm has long since been replaced by buttons. Still, they steal people’s money in the amusement arcades. Sporadic shooting makes me fear to be hit by a bullet until realizing that only the targets of the shooting galleries are hit. On the other hand, I will probably have a teddy bear thrown at me. Bears in gay colors, from mini bears to giants, crowd the prize shelves, waiting for someone to score a bull’s eye or win a game.

A black stained wooden construction, the Roller Coaster from 1932, catches the eye. A more recent variation is the Water Roller Coaster where hollow tree trunks act as means of transport. Enterprise, another popular amusement, is ready to carry me round in a circle, horizontally at first and then vertically, like in a Ferris wheel. Backed by an inferno of light and steam, Extreme throws people around in all directions, whereas Fire Ball tries to hurl them all the way to the moon. Scary Tower sends the young ones to the top with lightning speed.

In the vaudeville theater Bakken’s Hvile, the door is open, merely to the bar, though. For the moment, the lady singers are busy sewing daring dresses and practicing cheeky songs, in order to surpass themselves when doors open to the 125th anniversary in a few days The singers are no cheap acquaintance - apart from the entry fee, they like to be treated to drinks and rewarded when striking up, with their basket full of flowers.

Over in Bakken’s lively corner, a sign points to the spring of Kirsten Piil, discovered in 1584, also considered to be the year of Bakken’s birth. However, no spring water is consumed here now, but rather draught beer in streams, which combined with live music, inspires people to sing and dance.

Both in the Haybox and in the Sausage Pub, guitar playing troubadours create a boisterous atmosphere. Inside the Bakken Inn, old hits keep flowing from the hands and mouth of Tommy Seebach, an aging popstar. At the long tables of the Beer Saloon, young people are waiting for the Happiness Dance Band to start playing again.

The name Summer Delight is painted in curved letters on an inviting house, dark with white woodwork, containing restaurant, bar and a dance floor. I take a seat in the bar to watch the view, through the window. Just outside, a sweet temptation, the Waffle House, tries to weaken me, while on the right, the Minetrain Wolf laboriously climbs a man-made mountainside, and in the background, the outdoor stage advertises a championship in wood cutting.

“There is something to it,” says a sign at the top of the outdoor stage. This incomplete slogan is supposed to make me add, “Bakken is more fun.” It’s a way of teasing their competitor, Tivoli.

Bakken and Tivoli are in my eyes basically different. Tivoli is a peaceful oasis in the middle of the noisy city, Bakken an oasis in the silent woods - flashing and whirling.

Author: Terje Raa