An Assistens Cemetery (Danish: assistenskirkegård) is a cemetery that functions as an expansion of another, older cemetery often in relation to a city church.[1]
Already by the end of the 17th century, Danish authorities deemed that the conditions for inner-city cemeteries were becoming increasingly unacceptable. Not only was the space becoming limited but it was also deemed unhygienic to conduct burial in the inner-city. The solution was to erect shared cemeteries in the outskirt of a town, named Assisting Cemetery, primarily in larger towns. The first of these in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, was founded by royal resolution on May 26, 1757, and inaugurated November 6, 1760.[citation needed]
Many of the cemeteries original founded in the outskirt of a town, now once again find themselves surrounded by the town, as it has grown over the years.
Assistens Kirkegård has become the name of a number of cemeteries in Denmark: