Hestetorvet and the Roskilde Jars - art by the station

Hestetorvet is one of Roskilde’s old market squares. In Danish market towns, several squares often served different kinds of trade. Hestetorvet, meaning Horse Market Square, was laid out just inside Røde Port, the former eastern entrance to the town. The gate is thought to have stood near Sortebrødrestræde, Algade and Hestetorvet and to have been built of red medieval bricks.

The original rectangular square was used to sell cattle, pigs and horses. Roskilde’s horse market is considered among Denmark’s oldest, alongside those in Ribe and Odense.

The railway brought new life

When Roskilde Station opened in 1847, the square became a busy entrance to the town for travellers arriving by train or carriage. Visitors came not only for the cathedral but also for the station restaurant, where entertainers from Bakken amusement park sometimes performed. A bus station later reinforced the square’s role as a transport hub, expanding at the expense of Gråbrødre Cemetery.

Peter Brandes’ three giant jars

The three ceramic jars are approximately five metres tall and weigh about 24 tonnes altogether. Artist Peter Brandes associated them with life and death: vessels can hold both food and ashes.

The local company Stryhn’s Leverpostej donated the work to mark Roskilde’s thousandth anniversary, and it was installed in 1999. The jars carry the names of employees and people involved in making them. The jar nearest the station features Henrik Nordbrandt’s poem Junker Kristoffer.

The square also has Hestebrønden, a fountain by local artist and stonemason Karl Hansen Glem. Roskilde Municipality presented it in 1945 as a reminder of the square’s history as a trading place.