Gimle is a former community centre in
Frederiksberg,
Denmark. The building on Grundtvigsvej 14 is now part of
University of Copenhagen's
Frederiksberg Campus.
History
In the beginning of the 19th century the site belonged to a country house known as Christianshvile. In 1847, Christianshvile was sold to Christian P. Bianco Luno, who then sold off the land in lots prior to his death five years later. Two streets were named after him: Bianco Lunos Allé still exists today, whereas Bianco Lunos Sideallé was renamed Grundtvigsvej in 1872.
One of the lots on Bianco Lunos Sideallé was sold to Martin Hansen-Gissemann in 1865. He initially built an apartment building on it. In 1873, he also opened Gimle, a two-storey building used as a sort of privately run community centre. The great hall could accommodate up to 1,400 guests and was used for a wide range of activities, including dancing, amateur theatre, political meetings and social events. The facilities also included a shooting range used by a lower-class clientele than that of the
Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society
The Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society ( Danish: Kongelige Kjøbenhavnske Skydeselskab og danske Broderskab) was founded some time before 1443 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally it served to train citizens to contribute to the defence of the city bu ...
on
Vesterbrogade. In 1876, the venue played host to the
Danish Social Democratic Party's first congress. The party had been founded by
Louis Pio,
Harald Brix and
Paul Geleff
Paul Johansen Geleff (January 6, 1842 – 1928) was a Danish socialist organizer.Dansk biografisk Lexikon / V. Bind. Faaborg - Gersdorff / 588' He was one of the founders of the socialist movement in Denmark.
Geleff completed his education a ...
in 1871, but they had been imprisoned and were not released until 1875. The 75 representatives on the congress adopted the so-called "Gimle Programme". The building was also used as a venue by Borgerforeningen, but they later moved their social gatherings to
Josty
Josty is a historic restaurant venue situated inside Frederiksberg Gardens, off Pile Allé, in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is now mainly operated as an event venue but also has a small number of hotel rooms and operates a ...
.
The building was purchased by the Royal Danish Agricultural and Veterinary College in 1956. The building was modernized and converted into a canteen for students.
Storm P murals
In 1922,
Storm P
Robert Storm Petersen (19 September 1882 – 6 March 1949) was a Danish cartoonist, writer, animator, illustrator, painter and humorist. He is known almost exclusively by his pen name Storm P.
Biography
He was the son of a butcher ...
, together with his friend and colleague Christian Arhof, created a series of murals in the cellar under Gimle. They were restored by experts from the
National Museum
A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...
in 1997. One of the murals is an early representation of the character Peter Vimmelskaft who would later feature and the comic strip Peter and Ping.
References
External links
Freederiksberg Campus
{{Frederiksberg
Buildings and structures in Frederiksberg Municipality