Christian Frederik Hansen

Christian Frederik Hansen (1756–1845), known as C. F. Hansen, was the leading Danish architect of his age, called Denmark's Palladio for the austere neoclassicism of his buildings. Trained at the Royal Danish Academy under Harsdorff, he studied Roman architecture in Italy in 1782–1784, then spent eighteen years in Altona as regional architect for Schleswig and Holstein.

Recalled to Copenhagen in 1804 and made Chief Building Director in 1808, he built the City Hall and Courthouse on Nytorv, rebuilt the Church of Our Lady after the British bombardment of 1807, and reconstructed Christiansborg Palace.