Kronprinsessegade ( lit. "Crown Princess Street") is a street 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 ...

. Noted for its fine Neoclassical houses, it extends from Gothersgade and runs along the southern boundary of

Rosenborg Castle Garden Rosenborg Castle Gardens (Danish: Kongens Have literally The King's Garden) is the oldest and most visited park in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Established in the early 17th century as the private gardens of King Christian IV's Rosenborg Castle, th ...

, passing Sølvgade and the

Nyboder Nyboder (English: New mallHouses) is a historic row house district of former Naval barracks in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was planned and first built by Christian IV to accommodate a need for housing for the personnel of the rapidly growing Royal Dan ...

district of old naval barracks before finally joining

Øster Voldgade Øster Voldgade (literal translation, lit. "East Rampart Street"), together with Vester Voldgade and Nørre Voldgade, forms a succession of large streets which arches around the central and oldest part of the Zealand side of Copenhagen, Denmark. ...

close to Østerport Station. The

David Collection The David Collection ( da, Davids Samling) is a museum of fine and applied art in Copenhagen, Denmark, built around the private collections of lawyer, businessman and art collector C. L. David. The museum is particularly noted for its collectio ...

, a museum which displays a large collection of

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...

as well as Danish and European fine and applied arts, is based at No. 30.

History

Origins

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 ...

, which destroyed large parts of the city, there was an urgent need for new housing. Instigated by his consort, Crown Princess Marie Sophie, Crown Prince Frederik (VI) made an 89 ell (55.8 meter) strip along the southern boundary of

available for the establishment of a new street which was to connect Gothersgade to Sølvgade. The new street was named Kronprinsessegade in honour of Crown Princess Marie Sophie, who had first conceived the idea. At the same time, the name complied with the practice in the area of naming streets after Danish territorial possessions, royalty and the upper classes, including nobility, which originated in the 1649 plan for the

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 ...

extension of the fortified city. City architect

Peter Meyn Peter Meyn (8 April 1749 - 11 April 1808) was a Danish architect. Early life and education Meyn was born in Copenhagen, the son of master joiner Anton (Anthoni) Christian Meyn (1712–82) and Helena Klefts (c. 1714–80). He studied at the Royal ...

(1749–1808) and

Jørgen Henrich Rawert Jørgen Henrich Rawert was a (16 August 1751 – 14 July 1823) was a Danish architect. He created the masterplan for the rebuilding of Copenhagen after the Great Fire of 1795 in his capacity of city architect and was also involved in many bu ...

(1751–1823) were put in charge of the project which began in 1799. The row of houses along the south side of the street was completed over the next two decades. The architect Johan Martin Quist is one of the large contributors to this oldest section of Kronprinsessegade with No. 6 (1803–06), 8-10 (1803–04), 12-14 (1805–06), 16 (1806–07) and 18 (1807–13). Andreas Hallander designed No. 20 (1805–06, with J. H. Rawert), 22, 24 (1807–08, with A. C. Wilcken) and Kronprinsessegades Barracks at No. 46 (extension 1805-07, with J. H. Rawert).

Wrought-iron grill and pavilions

Peter Meyn was also charged with the design of a barrier towards the royal garden along the north side of the new street. He had just returned from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

where he had been struck by the

Pont-Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "New Bridge") is the oldest standing List of crossings of the River Seine, bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the ri ...

with its iron grill and many small shops, and the street life which surrounded it. With this as an inspiration, he designed the new grill along the edge of the park with 12 small shop pavilions, each six ells wide, six ells deep and six ells tall. It was completed in 1806. Among the goods which were sold from the pavilions were cakes and stockings. Later they were made available to architects and artists from the Royal Arts Academy as a sort of grant.

Extension and later history

From 1869 on, parts of

had been demolished and from 1870 to 1872 the Workers' Building Society constructed their third development of terraced houses in the grounds. The first of the building society's developments was designed by Frederik Bøttger. It became a sort of pilot project for the later, larger and more prominent developments built to his design, the Kartoffelrækkerne 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 ...

and the Humleby in Vesterbro. In 1931 a property was demolished in Sølvgade to continue Kronprinsessegade eastwards, past Nyboder and the Building Society's houses, all the way to Øster Voldgade at Nyboder School.

Architecture

The houses along the oldest section of the street, facing Rosenborg Castle Garden, are mostly built in a Neoclassical style typical of the construction boom during the decades after the Great Fire of 1795 and which still dominates in much of central Copenhagen. The architect, architectural writer and urban planner

Steen Eiler Rasmussen Steen Eiler Rasmussen, Hon. FAIA (9 January 1898 – 19 June 1990) was a Danish architect and urban planner who was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and a prolific writer of books and poetry. He was made a Royal Designer f ...

has given the following characterisation of the street:

Kronprinsessegade today

Kronprinsessegade is today generally a quiet residential street with the

as its main point of interest for visitors. The pavilions are today rented out by the Palaces and Properties Agency on two-years leases with possibility of extension. There is a required minimum opening time of 20 hours per week. They need to be relevant to the site's history while being placed in a contemporary context. A larger building in the gardens, halfway along the street, houses the restaurant Orangeriet which has a

Bib Gourmand The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of ...

in the

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

. Also on Kronprinsessegade is Kokkeriet, which holds one Michelin star.

Commemorative plaques

A plaque on No. 36 commemorates that the composer

Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse Christoph(er) Ernst Friedrich Weyse (5 March 1774 – 8 October 1842) was a Denmark, Danish composer during the Danish Golden Age. Biography Weyse was born at Altona, Hamburg, Altona in Holstein, which was in a personal union with Denmark. ...

lived in the building from 1825.

Cultural references

Benjamin Jacobsen's fictional memoirs ''Midt i en klunketid'' (1955), ''Bedstemor går igen'' (1956) and ''Glade dage i Kronprinsessegade'' (1979) follows an iooer-class family in Kronprinsessegade in the 1890s.