Christians Plejehus is a former military retirement home for

war veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military vete ...

s in

Store Kongensgade Store Kongensgade ( lit. English. Great King's Street) is the longest street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It extends northeast from Kongens Nytorv to Esplanaden, running parallel to Bredgade, where it breaks left, continuing northwest to Grøn ...

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 ...

. The fairly shortlived institution relocated to

Sølvgade Barracks Sølvgade Barracks ( Danish: ) is a former military facility from 1771 located on the corner of Sølvgade and Øster Voldgade in central Copenhagen, Denmark. The barracks closed in 1926 and the large Baroque complex designed by Nicolas-Henri Jardin ...

in 1776. The complex was subsequently used as a new home for the Royal Orphanage until a new building in Randersgade was inaugurated in 1880, The building complex in Store Kongensgade was listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1918. It surrounds two consecutive courtyards.

History

Site history, 16891760

The site is located in the area known as

New Copenhagen New Copenhagen (Danish: Ny København) or St. Ann's Town (Danish: Sankt Annæ By) was a 17th-century expansion of fortified Copenhagen, Denmark. The original plan for the area, from 1649, was later abandoned. It now comprises neighbourhoods and l ...

, or St. Ann's Quarter, which was created when Copenhagen's East Rampart was given a more northernly course in the 1649s. A large property on the site was listed in Copenhagen's first

cadastre A cadastre or cadaster is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represented gra ...

of 1689 as No. 115 in St. Ann's East Quarter, owned by one ''hofråd'' Hass. It was later divided into smaller properties. The property on the site was listed in the new cadastre of 1756 as No. 216/217, owned by ''kommerceråd'' Gilles Vilhelm Dahm.

Christian Carl Pflueg and Christians Plejehus

In the early 1760s, Christian Carl Pflueg. an officer in the engineering troops, proposed an improvement of the conditions in the home for war veterans at Ladegården. In 1764, the fieldmarshal-general assigned him as an assistant to the director of the institution. The following year he left the engineering troops to assume a position as director of a new institution which was given the name Christians Plejehjem after

Christian VII Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae''" ...

. ''Kammerråd'' Gilles Vilhelm Faenen's former factory site in Store Kongensgade was chosen as the location of the new institution and Plejehus designed the buildings which were completed in 1769. The complex contained a linen weaving mill operated by the residents using

yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...

made by soldier wives and daughters. Other crafts were also practiced in the facility. The complex was originally intended for 300 residents but was home to 500 by 1772 approximately half of which were children. In 1775, Christians Plejehus was moved to

together with Almindelig Hospital and Pflueg was placed under supervision of a director general since his administration was deemed to costly. The move had, however, disturbed the operations of the weaving mill and deteriorated the institution economy even further. In 1782, Pflueg was fired without pension and Christians Plejehus moved to Eckernførde in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

in 1785.

The Royal Orphanage, 17761880

When Christians Plejehus moved to Sølvgade in 1776, its old buildings in Store Kongensgade were taken over by the Royal Orphanage. The property was listed in the new cadastre of 1806 as No. 269 in St. Ann's East Quarter. The Royal Orphanagewas based in the complex until 1880 when a new building in Randersgade in

Østerbro Østerbro () (literally, "Eastern Bridge") is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located clo ...

was inaugurated in 1880.

Later history

The

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

rented the chapel from 1886 until 1948 and became home to several house share collectives in the 1960s. It has later been converted into a

housing cooperative A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...

. The buildings were renovated in 2009.

Building

The building is 15 bays long has a median risalit with rustication and the ground floor is decorated with 10

lesene A lesene, also called a pilaster strip, is an architectural term for a narrow, low-relief vertical pillar on a wall. It resembles a pilaster, but does not have a base or capital. It is typical in Lombardic and Rijnlandish architectural building s ...

s. Above the gate is a two-bay wall dormer and a coat of arms Frederick V's monogram and. The gate opens to two consecutive courtyards. The wing separating the two courtyards from each other contains the chapel.

Today

The complex contains a mixture of apartments and offices.

Gallery

File:Christians Plejehus (Copenhagen) 01.jpg, The front wing. File:Christians Plejehus 01.jpg, The front wing viewed from the courtyard. File:Christians Plejehus 02.jpg, One of the two courtyards.

References

External links

{{Commons
Source
1769 establishments in Denmark Buildings and structures completed in 1769 Listed buildings and structures in Copenhagen