Roskilde Jars

Colossal ceramics at the city’s front door

Standing on the broad square beside Roskilde’s railway station, the Roskilde Jars are impossible to miss. Three vast ceramic vessels rise around five metres high, grouped within a shallow water basin that mirrors their massive silhouettes. Their scale alone is startling: together they weigh roughly 24 tons, turning what could have been a simple forecourt into a powerful outdoor sculpture space and an instant visual introduction to the city. The jars were unveiled in 1998, a symbolic year that marked Roskilde’s 1,000th anniversary. Placing them at one of the city’s main arrival points was a deliberate choice, framing the first impression of Roskilde with contemporary art that hints at deep historical roots. Trains, buses, cyclists and pedestrians constantly cross the square, yet the jars anchor the movement with their calm, monumental presence.

An artist’s tribute to ancient forms

The work is by Danish sculptor Peter Brandes, known for his abstract, often monumental ceramics and strong interest in mythology and religion. Here he chose the simple, timeless form of a jar: broad-shouldered, tapering, and slightly asymmetrical, with surfaces that reveal the marks of hand and kiln rather than mechanical perfection. Up close you notice variations in glaze, from earthy browns to almost metallic sheens, catching the changing Nordic light. Historically, jars have carried layered meanings. They stored grain and oil, safeguarding life through hard seasons, and they also served as urns, holding the dead. Brandes draws on these associations so that the Roskilde Jars quietly suggest both nourishment and mortality. Their rounded bodies seem protective and enclosing, yet their scale and solidity also hint at memorials, standing watch over the passing crowd.

Gift to a thousand-year-old city

The jars were commissioned by Elsebeth Stryhn of the local food company Stryhns Leverpostej and presented as a gift to the citizens of Roskilde. It was an unusually generous gesture: a private business funding a large-scale public artwork that would belong to everyone. Installed on the station square, the piece does not sit behind a fence or inside a museum; instead it lives in the daily flow of commuters, shoppers and students. Roskilde’s long history, from Viking trading hub to medieval royal center and modern university town, is never far away. Though thoroughly contemporary, the jars nod to an older world where pottery was essential technology and decorative art at once. Seen in that light, the gift bridges eras: an industrial-era company commissioning handcrafted ceramics to celebrate a city that has continually reinvented itself for a millennium.

Everyday landmark and meeting point

For visitors, the square around the jars is an easy place to linger for a few minutes between trains or on the way into the historic core. The basin provides gentle reflections on still days, while the robust ceramic forms stand up to all kinds of Danish weather. People often pause on nearby benches, children circle the water’s edge, and the jars become a natural backdrop for photographs and casual meetings. The setting also offers a strong sense of Roskilde’s character. Look one way and you see tracks and buses leading toward Copenhagen and the wider island of Zealand; look the other and streets rise toward the old town, cathedral spires and museums. The jars sit at this seam between everyday routine and cultural exploration, a reminder that art can greet you the moment you arrive.

Details reward a closer look

Although many experience the Roskilde Jars in passing, they reward slow viewing. Fine variations in texture become visible when you walk the full circle around them: ridges where clay was built up, subtle glazing runs, areas where colour deepens or thins. Light plays differently on their curved surfaces at morning, midday and dusk, creating new shadows and highlights. Because the work is outdoors and freely accessible, there is no fixed route or correct way to experience it. You can step back to appreciate the composition of three forms together, or move in close to study how each jar differs in profile and finish. In doing so, you participate in the artwork’s everyday life: not as a museum visitor following a prescribed path, but as part of the urban rhythm it was designed to inhabit.