Dæmonen roller coaster in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen. May 2008.

Tivoli, which opened in 1843, is not the oldest amusement park in the world. It is only the second-oldest (after nearby Dreyhavsbakken, which opened in 1583). Consolation prize: Tivoli, with its merry-go-round and boat rides, resident symphony orchestra and Chinese harlequin theater (which is designed like a peacock), is the most visited amusement park in Scandinavia. At night its gardens are bright with coloured lamps and hundreds of thousands of little lights.

Located in the center of Copenhagen, Tivoli is an urban phenomenon and is surrounded by town hall square, the Hans Christian Anderson house, and the main train station. The park is open from April to September, the Danish summer season, and then reopened for the Christmas season. It was founded by Georg Cartensen, who was given a five-year commission by King Christian VIII; Cartensen reportedly persuaded the king by telling him, “when the people are amused, they do not think about politics.” From the beginning, the park included restaurants, cafés, a theater, gardens and flower beds, a merry-go-round and fanciful Oriental-style buildings. 

In 1964, the Beatles played at Tivoli. Michael Jackson offered to buy it. Walt Disney once described the park as “happy, with an unbuttoned air,” and he borrowed heavily from its whimsy for Disneyland. Disney even told his wife, “Now this is what an amusement place should be!” But Tivoli is more tranquil  than the Disney parks, perhaps more tranquil than any other theme park, full of cozy gardens and fountains and scattered benches. 

The Dæmonen (Demon) roller coaster opened in 2004 and is one of the most expensive structures in the park. It is a floorless coaster, which means that a rider’s legs dangle during the ride.

Tivoli is probably the most famous landmark in Copenhagen - if not in all of Denmark.  in 1944, the Nazis attempted to burn it down. But the Danes rebuilt and reopened the park within weeks.

“She loved Tivoli Gardens, in the heart of Copenhagen; her parents had taken her there, often, when she was a little girl. she remembered the music and the brightly colored lights, the carousel and ice cream and especially the magnificent fireworks in the evenings; the huge colored splashes and bursts of lights in the evening sky.

‘I remember the fireworks best of all,’ she commented to Ellen.

‘Me too,’ Kirsti said. ‘I remember the fireworks.’

‘Silly,’ Annemarie scoffed. ‘You never saw the fireworks.’ Tivoli Gardens was closed now. the German occupation forces had burned part of it, perhaps as a way of punishing the fun-loving Danes for their lighthearted pleasures.”    - Lois Lowry, Number the Stars

Tivoli still has fireworks in the evenings.