Brøndums Hotel, in the little harbor town of

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is ...

in the north of

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 ...

, is remembered for its close associations with the late 19th-century artists colony known as the

Skagen Painters The Skagen Painters ( da, Skagensmalerne) were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. Skagen was a summer destination whose scen ...

. It still operates as a hotel today.

History

The hotel originated in a farmhouse which Ane Kirstine Houmann (1785–1858) had inherited from her stepfather Chresten Jensen Degn (1760–1839). After the death of her husband Anders Eriksen Brøndum (1781–1835), her son Erik Andersen Brøndum (1820–1890) helped her to run the grocery shop and guest house which she established in the old farmhouse. Erik and his wife Anne Hedvig Sørensdatter Møller (1826–1916) later ran the business together until it was taken over by their son Christen Degn Brøndum (1856–1932) who converted it into guest rooms and in 1891 gave it the name of Brondums Hotel. Their daughter, the painter

Anna Ancher Anna Ancher (18 August 1859 – 15 April 1935) was a Danish artist associated with the Skagen Painters, an artist colony on the northern point of Jylland, Denmark. She is considered to be one of Denmark's greatest visual artists. Background Ann ...

(1859–1935) was born in the hotel. The architect

Ulrik Plesner Ulrik Adolph Plesner, usually known as Ulrik Plesner (17 May 1861 in Vedersø – 22 November 1933 in Skagen) was an innovative Danish architect who designed in a National Romantic style at the beginning of the 20th century. He is remembered in p ...

was called upon to expand the hotel in 1892."Historien"
, Brøndums Hotel. Retrieved 13 October 2013. It was further expanded in 1909 and 1916, latterly with an extension known as Admiralgården. The interior of the dining-room was designed by

Thorvald Bindesbøll Thorvald Bindesbøll (21 July 1846 – 27 August 1908) was a Danish National romantic architect, sculptor and ornamental artist. He designed the Dragon Fountain, Copenhagen (''Dragespringvandet'') and is perhaps best known as the creator of t ...

in 1906. The hotel was run by Degn Brøndum until his death in 1932 when he left it to

Skagens Museum Skagens Museum is an art museum in Skagen, Denmark, that exhibits an extensive collection of works by members of the colony of Skagen Painters who lived and worked in the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Important artists include Ma ...

. The hotel was damaged by fire in 1954 and 1959. Repairs together with the cost of modernization after the Second World War brought the concern into debt and led to its sale in 1966. The hotel was a place of staying for

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

and

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote works in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countrie ...

The painters' venue

The

had close associations with Brøndums Hotel.

Michael Ancher Michael Peter Ancher (9 June 1849 – 19 September 1927) was a Danish realist artist, and widely known for his paintings of fishermen, the lakes, and other scenes from the Danish fishing community in Skagen. Early life and education Michael ...

arrived in Skagen in 1874 where he struck up a close relationship with the Brøndoms, marrying their daughter Anna in 1880. He encouraged his friends

Karl Madsen Carl Johan Wilhelm Madsen, commonly known as Karl Madsen, (22 March 1855 – 16 April 1938) was a Danish painter and art historian with close connections to the Skagen Painters. Early life and education Born in Copenhagen on 22 March 1855, Ma ...

and

Viggo Johansen Viggo Johansen (3 January 1851 – 18 December 1935) was a Danish painter and active member of the group of Skagen Painters who met every summer in the north of Jutland. He was one of Denmark's most prominent painters in the 1890s. Early life an ...

to join him in 1875. More artists followed, many staying in the Brøndums' guest house. Key members of the group included the author

Georg Brandes Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind ...

and the painter P.S. Krøyer, their unofficial leader The Brøndums' dining-room became the centre of the artists' social life and was filled with the paintings they donated to cover the cost of board and lodging."Skagen and Brøndum's Hotel"
Kulturarv.dk. Retrieved 13 October 2013. File:Ved Frokosten Krøyer 1883.jpg, P.S. Krøyer: ''Ved Frokosten'' (1883), the painters lunching in the hotel File:Anna Palm - A game of L'hombre in Brøndum's Hotel - Google Art Project.jpg, ''A Game of

L'hombre Ombre (, pronounced "omber") or l'Hombre is a fast-moving seventeenth-century trick-taking card game for three players and "the most successful card game ever invented." Its history began in Spain around the end of the 16th century as a four-pe ...

in Brøndum's Hotel'' by

Anna Palm de Rosa Anna Sofia Palm de Rosa (25 December 18592 May 1924) was a Swedish artist and landscape painter. In the 1890s she became one of Sweden's most popular painters with her watercolours of steamers and sailing ships and scenes of Stockholm. She also ...

File:Brøndums Hotel 1891-92.jpg, The hotel dining-room with portraits of the Skagen Painters File:Skagens Museum - Brøndums spisesal.jpg, The dining-room today, now in Skagens Museum

References

Literature

* * Jacobsen, Claus (2003): ''Brøndums Hotel: stedet og maden'', Aschehougs Forlag. . * Voss, Knud (1989): ''Hos Brøndums i Skagen 1780-1930'', Forlaget Gyldendal. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Brondums Hotel Buildings and structures in Skagen Hotels in Denmark Skagen Painters Year of establishment missing