University of Copenhagen - Frederiksberg Campus

Københavns Universitet

University of Copenhagen Frederiksberg Campus

On Wednesday, we visited the University of Copenhagen, Denmark’s oldest and second largest university and research institution. Founded in 1479, it is the second oldest institution for higher education in Scandinavia after Uppsala University.

The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen. We visited the Frederiksberg Campus, which harbours the university’s Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. The core service of those faculties is education and research in foods, veterinary and bioscience, natural resources, landscape architecture and planning, as well as economy and politics.

Several degree programmes are offered to the more than 37000 students, though only the master’s degree programmes are taught in English.

After arriving at Frederiksberg Campus, we met our guide Anna Kathrine, who is studying veterinary medicine at the university. She greeted us in a very friendly way and led us into one of the university’s classrooms. By means of a powerpoint presentation, she explained to us why she chose to study veterinary medicine in Copenhagen and presented us the university and its different programmes.

We then went on to the auditorium, a very beautiful, colourfully painted room with high ceilings and large windows. According to Anna, the room had once burned down and had to be redecorated. The walls were painted the exact same way they used to be, except for a little butterfly, which now serves as a distraction for bored students trying to find it. We also met one of the university’s professors who has been teaching since 1955.

Later on, the class was split into two groups guided by either Anna Kathrine or her fellow student Anna Plum, who studies economics on Frederiksberg Campus.



We were brought into the basement of one of the campus buildings where we were shown the university’s stock of malformed preserved animals. It was an interesting and fascinating though slightly disgusting experience. There was also a pin board with several objects found in animals’ stomachs, for example necklaces or fish hooks.

Furthermore, one group visited a room for practical classes in veterinary medicine. It harboured several metal tables for dissection as well as animal skeletons and preserved organs. Meanwhile, Anna Plum told the other group a story about a smithy that had been torn down, which upset a lot of students. In memory of the blacksmith and his smithy, a festival is organised every year at the place where the smithy used to be.

Afterwards, we went outside to see the Veterinary Hospital for small animals and the old stable where horses used to be accommodated.

On the way to the garden, we were shown the university’s café and library. The garden is a great place to relax, to study and to learn more about plants by reading their name plates. The same can be said about the library. Inside, there were several fascinating book sculptures. We even met their creator, who explained to us how they are made.


The garden also features some plants shrouded in legend, for example a tree that survived an atomic bombing.

We went then to a more recently built part of the University, whose entry is used for big events. We were shown a big chemistry auditorium and finally the two groups were reunited in the building’s marble hall.

In our opinion, the university is the place to go for Danish people who are interested in natural sciences and economy. However, as Luxembourgish students, we wouldn’t recommend it because you have to pay for your studies yourself while Danish students get money from the State. Furthermore, daily life in Copenhagen is quite expensive.

Additionally, only the master’s degree programmes are taught in English, which means that you would have to learn Danish or pass your bachelor somewhere else.