Købmagergade is a pedestrian shopping 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 ...

. It connects

Amagertorv Amagertorv (English: Amager Square), today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone, is often described as the most central square in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Second only to Gammeltorv, it is also one of the oldest, taking its name from the Amage ...

Strøget Strøget () is a pedestrian, car free shopping area in Copenhagen, Denmark. This popular tourist attraction in the centre of town is one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe at 1.1 km. Located at the centre of the old city o ...

Nørreport station Nørreport station is an S-train, metro and main line railway station in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in the district of Indre By, and is named after the historic '' Nørreport city gate'', at the original location of which it is located. I ...

, although the last section, north of

Kultorvet Kultorvet (literally "The Coal Market") is a public square in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with Købmagergade and the southern part of Frederiksborggade, it forms a pedestrian zone between Nørreport station and Amagertorv on Strø ...

, is part of

Frederiksborggade Frederiksborggade is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from Kultorvet square in the southeast to Søtorvet where Queen Louise's Bridge connects it to Nørrebrogade in Nørrebro on the other side of The Lakes. The street is effect ...

, which continues on the other side of the railway station.

History

The history of the street dates back to about 1200 when it was part of the main route between

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

and the small settlement Havn, which was a hub for crossings to

Amager Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...

and

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...

. Between 1380 and 1463, documents refer to the street as Bjørnebrogade. It later became known as Kiødmangergade after the butchers who had their stalls along the street. Kjødmanger ("meatmonger") is an old Danish word for butcher. The meat market later moved to

Skindergade Skindergade is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Running roughly parallel to Strøget, to which it is connected through Jorcks Passage, it extends for approximately 400 metres from Gammeltorv to Købmagergade. History Its name dates back to ...

but the name stuck with to the street, although it later changed to Kjøbmagergade and then Købmagergade. The form Kjødmagergade is first known from 1595 although the old form Kjødmagergade is still seen in documents from 1656. The North Gate was moved to the northern end of the street in 1671. The Royal Porcelain Manufactury was founded in the street in 1775. The company left the street after being taken over by

Aluminia Aluminia was a Danish factory of faience or earthenware pottery, established in Copenhagen in 1863. (1838-1922) was the founding owner of the Aluminia factory in Christianshavn. In 1882, the owners of Aluminia purchased the Royal Copenhagen ...

, joining the new owners at their site in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

(now

Porcelænshaven Porcelænshaven in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark, is the former premises of the Royal Porcelain Manufactury, an industrial complex dating from the 1880s which was converted into a mixed-use neighbourhood in the 2000s. Located o ...

) in 1884. Købmagergade was pedestrianised in 1973 following the successful pedestrianisation of Strøget in the early 1960s.

Notable buildings and residents

Buildings in the street include the

Round Tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and ful ...

Regensen Regensen (original Latin name: ''Collegium Domus Regiæ'', English: ''The College of the Royal House'') is a residential college for students at the University of Copenhagen and Technical University of Denmark (DTU). It is situated in the heart o ...

and the

Møinichen Mansion Møinichen Mansion ( Danish: Møinichen s Palæ) is a town mansion Købmagergade in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It later served as headquarters of Royal Danish Mail from 1779 until 1912 and was known as the Royal Mail House (Danish: Den Kongeli ...

, now Købmagergade Post Office with the Post & Tele Museum. No. 42 is the former

Varehuset Messen Varehuset Messen was a department store on Købmagergade in Copenhagen, Denmark, operated by Hilligsøe, Køedt & Co.. History The building was completed in 1895 to designs by Emil Blichfeldt. Architecture The five-storey building consists of ...

department store which opened in 1895. The building was designed by

Emil Blichfeldt Emil Blichfeldt (5 November 1849 – 20 October 1908) was a Danish architect who worked in the Historicist style. Biography Frederik Thorvald Emil Blichfeldt was born in Copenhagen. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1864 to ...

and is topped by a

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...

statue by Julius Schultz. It is now used by Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College whose main building is on Kultorvet.

Public art, monuments and memorials

Next to the Round Tower stands a monument to the two 18th-century poets Peter Herman Wessel and

Johannes Ewald Johannes Ewald (18 November 174317 March 1781) was a Danish national dramatist, psalm writer and poet. The lyrics of a song from one of his plays are used for one of the Danish national anthems, ''Kong Christian stod ved højen mast'' which ...

. The monument was designed by Otto Evens and installed in 1879. It features reliefs in bronze of the two poets.

Shopping

The Illum Department Store is located on the corner of Købmagergade and Strøget. The Arnold Busch chain of book stores has a two-storey flagship store at the Round Tower. International brands and chains with flagship stores in the street include Esprit,

Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. As of Februar ...

Vans Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...

and

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

Cultural references

The opening scene of

Herman Bang Herman Joachim Bang (20 April 1857 – 29 January 1912) was a Danish journalist and author, one of the men of the Modern Breakthrough. Biography Bang was born in Asserballe, on the small Danish island of Als, the son of a South Jutlandic vicar ...

's impressionist 1887 novel ''Stucco'' is set on Købmagergade just before the shops close.

Image gallery

Image:Købmagergade 22 - Købmagerhus.jpg, No 22. 22. Købmagerhus from 1898 Image:Messen - 42 Købmagergade.jpg, No. 42: Varehuset Messen Image:Regensen (Copenhagen).jpg,

References

External links

Source

Source

1840 census

Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobmagergade Pedestrian streets in Copenhagen Shopping streets in Copenhagen Streets in Copenhagen