Education
Koch attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1807 to 1816 where he studied under Christian Frederik Hansen, the leading Danish architect of the time.
Koch attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1807 to 1816 where he studied under Christian Frederik Hansen, the leading Danish architect of the time.
He was the leader of the national Danish building administration from 1835 and director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1844 to 1849. Freund became Thorvaldsen"s assistant while Koch later continued to Greece, making him the first Danish architect educated at the Academy to visit the cradle of the Classical architecture which was the period"s main source of inspiration for architects. He also visited Constantinople before returning to Italy.
In 1822 he returned to Denmark by way of France and London.
Back in Denmark, he was appointed Royal Master Builder, succeeding Christian Frederik Hansen as the leader of the national building administration. From 1835 he also held a professorial chair at the Royal Academy and between 1844 and 1849 served as its director
In 1837 he became part of the Committee for the Foundation of Thorvaldsen"s Museum. Jørgen Koch was married to Ida Koch née Wulff.
They belonged to the circle around Hans Christian Andersen.
Andersen had an open invitation to visit the family for dinner on Fridays. Andersen also developed a friendly relationship with their childrem which continued after the parents" death, as did the dinner arrangement on Fridays.
In 1818, together with the sculptor Hermann Ernst Freund, he traveled to Rome where he met Bertel Thorvaldsen and other members of the Danish artists" colony who resided in the city at that time. Andersen also new other members of the Koch and Wulff families.