The Alchemist's House (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

: Guldmagerens Hus), situated at

Nyhavn Nyhavn (; New Harbour) is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 1 ...

59, is a historic property overlooking the Nyhavn Canal in central

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

History

17th and 18th centuries

The site was until 1689 part of a larger property. This property was as No. 20 in St. Ann's Quarter (Sankt Annæ Kvarter) owned by judge Henrik Ehlers. The current building was built in 1689 for coppersmith and alchemist

Henrik Ehm Henrik Ehm (died December 1701) was a Danish coppersmith and alchemist. He owned and leased a number of copper mills in North Zealand, including Hammermøllen at Hellebæk and Brede Works, Fuglevad and Nymølle on Mølleåen. He also owned a numb ...

. The property was by 1756 as No. 30 owned by skipper Ole Eriksen.

19th century

In the new cadastre of 1806, the property was again listed as No. 30. It was by then owned by Jacob Henriksen. At the time of the 1834 census, No. 30 was home to three households. Johane Marie Mathiesen, a 56-year-old widow and the owner of the property, resided on the ground floor with four of her children (aged 16 to 29) and a maid. Andreas Marcussen, a ship captain, resided on the first floor with his wife Lene Marie Marcussen, their three children (aged two to 10), his 36-year-old sister Dorthe Cathrine Marcussen and one maid. Amon Christian Hansen, a master shoemaker, resided in the basement with his wife Magdalene Hansen, their four children (aged one to nine), the 23-year-old shoemaker Sivert Pouelsen and one maid. The building was long used as a hostel under the name Limfjorden. It later changed its name to Hotel Stockholm and later Hotel Dania. Guests included theNorwegian writer

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...

who stayed there under the name "postmaster Hansen from

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

20th century

A suite in the hotel also housed members of several Russian noble families who had to flee Russia during the revolution. These included Maria Feodorovna's lady-in waiting who lived there at the empress- expense. The building was later purchased by the architect

Palle Suenson Palle Suenson (born 6 July 1904 in Frederiksberg and deceased on 14 July 1987 in Holte) was a Danish modernist architect. He was the son of Professor Edouard Suenson, engineer, and of Henriette Benedicte Hartmann. Biography After studies at the ...

and put through a comprehensive renovation. The building was listed on the Danish Registry of Protected Buildings and Places in 1945.

Architecture

The house was originally constructed as a two-storey building with a two-bay wall dormer. The attic was converted into a full storey some time 1743 and 1746 and a fourth floor was added in the second half of the 1880s. The building is four bays wide and has a balcony in front of the two central bays on the third floor. It features a

Salvator Mundi , Latin for Saviour of the World, is a subject in iconography depicting Christ with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand holding an orb (frequently surmounted by a cross), known as a . The latter symbolizes the Earth, and the wh ...

sculpture between the two central windows on the first floor.

Today

Most of the building has now been converted into offices but it also contains a few apartments. Restaurant Streckers is based in the ground floor of the building.

Gallery

File:Nyhavn 59.jpg File:Nyhavn detail 2.jpg

References

External links

Restaurant Streckers
{{Nyhavn Quarter, Copenhagen Listed buildings and structures in Copenhagen