Tivoli Gardens is a famous amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. It opened on August 15, 1843 and is one of the oldest amusement parks that has survived intact to the present day. The amusement park was first called “Tivoli and Vauxhall” alluding to the Jardin de Tivoli in Paris and to the Vauxhall Gardens in London, England.
Tivoli’s founder was Georg Carstensen who obtained a five-year charter to create the park with the use of roughly 15 acres of the fortified glacis outside Vesterport. From the beginning, Tivoli included a variety of attractions: buildings in the exotic style of an imaginary Orient: a theater, band stands, restaurants and cafes, flower gardens, and mechanical amusement rides like a merry-go-round and a primitive scenic railway. After dark, colored lamps illuminated the gardens.
In 1943, Nazi sympathizers attempted to break the Danish people’s spirit by burning many of Tivoli’s buildings, including the concert hall, to the ground. Undaunted, the Danes built temporary buildings and the park was back in operation after a few weeks. Tivoli is always evolving without abandoning its original charm or traditions. Walt Disney, during a trip overseas with his wife Lily, visited Tivoli Gardens. Disney was so impressed with the Danish amusement park that he immediately decided that Disneyland should try to emulate its happy atmosphere.
