After Christian IV founded Christianshavn in 1617 as a town specially for merchants, a large community of German traders and craftsmen settled there.

The King approved the plans and contributed with a lot, a former saltern, located at the end of Strandgade in the southern part of the neighbourhood.

[1] In return for his approval and donation of the lot, the king laid down very specific guidelines for the placement and design of the church building.

[2] Nicolai Eigtved, the king's preferred architect at the time, was charged with the design of the new church but died in 1754, before construction started.

His son-in-law, Royal Master Builder Georg David Anthon, was entrusted with supervising the construction of the church, which was completed in 1759.

The church has a rectangular layout, the nave occupying the space between the shorter rather than the longer sides of the rectangle, giving it exceptional width.

[4] Standing on a granite plinth, the church is a yellow brick (Flensborg sten) building with sandstone finishing for the portal and tower.

It has, however, lived up to its name as it can house up to a thousand people, not just for church services but for the many concerts and other artistic arrangements which have been held there in recent years.