Brolæggerstræde (literally "Cobble-Layer Alley) is a street in the Old Town of

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 ...

, linking

Nytorv Nytorv ( English: New Square or New Market) is a public square in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjoining Gammeltorv it forms a common space, today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone. The square is dominated by the imposi ...

in the west with Badstuestræde in the east. Most of the buildings in the street date from the years after the

Copenhagen Fire of 1795 The Copenhagen Fire of 1795 (''Københavns brandes 1795'') started on Friday, 5 June 1795, at or around 3 pm by the Navy's old base south east of Kongens Nytorv on Gammelholm, in the Navy's magazine for coal and timber, the so-called Dellehave. A ...

. The

Carlsberg Foundation Carlsberg Foundation ( da, Carlsbergfondet) was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1876, by allocating some of his shares in the Carlsberg Brewery to fund and operate the Carlsberg Laboratory and the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Palace. ...

is headquartered at No. 5.

History

The street was originally called Benickestræde. In 1543, it is referred to as Per Broliggers Stræde. The name refers to Per Jensen "Brolægger" who from 1486-1510 owned the lot where No. 14 stands today. He was the first master cobble layer in Copenhagen. His son, Jens Brolægger, was mayor of Copenhagen from 1520. The Taylors' Guild was for a while based where No. 4 and 6 stand today. Their building was also used as a venue for German comedies. From the 1650s, the street was also home to breweries. Knabrostræde connected the south side of the street to the coast at

Gammel Strand Gammel Strand (modern Danish for "old beach"; originally meant "the old shoreline", i.e. prior to land reclamations) is a street and public square in central Copenhagen, Denmark. On the south side it borders on the narrow Slotsholmens Canal whil ...

. Endeløsstræde ("Endless Alley"), a short cul-de-sac, extended northwards a little further to the east. When the street was rebuilt following the

Copenhagen Fire of 1728 The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 was the largest fire in the history of Copenhagen, Denmark. It began on the evening of 20 October 1728 and continued to burn until the morning of 23 October. It destroyed approximately 28% of the city (measured by coun ...

, Knabrostræde was extended northwards to Vimmelskaftet and Endeløsstræde was later connected to its east side. In 1795, the street was destroyed by the second great fire that hit Copenhagen. Endeløsstræde disappeared when the houses were rebuilt.

Notable buildings and residents

All the buildings in the street date from the years immediately after the fire of 1795 and all of them are listed on the Danish registry of Protected buildings and Places. Carlsberg-founder

J.C. Jacobsen Jacob Christian Jacobsen (2 September 1811 – 30 April 1887), mostly known as J. C. Jacobsen, was a Denmark, Danish industrialist and philanthropist best known for founding the brewery Carlsberg Group, Carlsberg. Biography He had no formal acad ...

's first brewery, known as Bryggergården, is located at No. 5. The complex also comprises Knabrostræde 11 and 13 as well as several interconnected rear wings. It was built 1796-99 for another brewer, Nicolai Rindom. J. C. Jacobsen's father, Christian Jacobsen, purchased the brewery in 1826. A plaque above the gate commemorates J. C. Jacobsen and his son

Carl Jacobsen Carl Christian Hillman Jacobsen (2 March 1842 – 11 January 1914) was a Danish brewer, art collector and philanthropist. Though often preoccupied with his cultural interests, Jacobsen was a shrewd and visionary businessman and initiated the tra ...

. The inscription reads: "Brygger, dr.phil. Carl Chr. H. Jacobsen fødtes her den 2den marts 1842. Brygger, kaptajn J. C. Jacobsen foretog her året 1838 de første forsøg med fremstilling af undergæret øl". The building was refurbished by the architect Viggo Steen Møller in the early 1950s and now houses the Ny Carlsberg Foundation. The brick building at No. 11 on the opposite side of the street was built for another brewer, Andreas Tronier. A brass plaque to the left of the gate commemorates the

Danish Confederation of Trade Unions LO, The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Danish: ''LO, Landsorganisationen i Danmark'' or simply ''LO'') was founded in 1898 and was an umbrella organisation (the largest of the three national trade union centers in Denmark) for 18 Danish tra ...

which had its first home in the building from 1898 until 1950. Gyldenfeldts Gård (Brolæggerstræde 9/Knabrostræde 16) was built for

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

Gyldenfeldt in 1795-98. The other buildings in the street are No.1 (1797, C. F. Hollander), No. 2 (1808), No. 3 (1797, Lauritz Thrane), No. 4 (1808, A. C. Wilcken), No. 6 (1798), No. 8 (1797, C. C. Martens ), No. 12 (1796), Brolæggerstræde 13/Rådhusstræde 1 (1798, Andreas Hallander), No. 14 (1798) and Brolæggerstræde 16/Nytorv 11 (1798, C. F. Hollander).

Cultural references

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...

's comedy ''Uden Hoved og Hale'', when the god Vulcanus visits Earth to attend a comedy, he is recommended the German comedies in Brolæggerstræde: "Yes, if it so, my dear Monsieur Vulcanus, then it is best that you go to the German comedies in the Brolægger-Stræde; for there you can see sieges, field battles, witchcraft and the history of half a century at once." ("Ja, hvis saa er, min kiære Monsieur Vulcanus, saa er det bedst, at I gaar paa de Tydske Comedier i Brolægger-Strædet; thi der kand I faa at se Beleiringer, Feldslag, Gespenster, Hexerie og et halvt Hundrede Aars Historie paa eengang ...").

History

Notable buildings and residents

Cultural references

References

External links