For more than 200 years, Copenhagen has been one of the world’s great art capitals. But its standing in the modern era hides a rocky past: Just 200 years ago, Denmark went bankrupt. What followed was a saga of defeat, ingenuity, and triumph worthy of the Vikings–and one that deserves to be far better known than it is.

After decades of war with its neighbors and starvation-level poverty, the nation of Denmark declared bankruptcy in 1813. It was a low point for Copenhagen, which had been Denmark’s capital since the 15th century. In other words, it had nowhere to go but up. As the 19th century began, Copenhagen’s population wasn’t much more than 100,000—peanuts compared with London (one million) or Paris (600,000). What the city lacked in manpower, however, it made up for in ambition. The period from 1813 to 1850 is often remembered as Denmark’s Golden Age, and during this time, Copenhagen’s residents led the national struggle for self-reinvention. Hans Christian Andersen wrote beloved fairy tales (Edvard Eriksen’s bronze statue of the Little Mermaid remains one of Copenhagen’s major tourist attractions). His friend Søren Kierkegaard rebuilt theology from the ground up. Perhaps most importantly, Copenhagen’s artists produced works that turned heads across Europe.

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