Lorry, Frederiksberg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lorry is a former entertainment venue in the
Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...
district of
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. Its history as an entertainment venue goes back to 1834 when the country house Enighedslyst was converted into a tea garden. The name refers to a later owner, Frederik Laurentius Feilberg, who was popularly known as Lorry. The listed building complex now houses TV2/Lorry, TV2's local news station for the Copenhagen area; a small theatre, Riddersalen; and a café.


History


Haabet

The property Haabet (The Hope, now No. 7) was on 31 March 1804 purchased by Lars Mathiesen from steward at
Frederiksberg Palace Frederiksberg Palace () is a Baroque architecture, Baroque residence, located in Frederiksberg, Denmark, adjacent to the Copenhagen Zoo. It commands a view over Frederiksberg Gardens, originally designed as a palace garden in the Baroque style. ...
Marcus Friederich Voigt. On 27 February that same year he had been granted a royal license to open a guesthouse and beer garden at the site. Mathiesen ran the establishment for 50 years. It attracted a wide range of common and more cultivated guests and was a particularly popular venue for both large and small student gatherings. Mathiesen was a jovial and popular character who as he grew old was almost seen as the uncrowned king of Frederiksberg. His literary acquaintances comprised Knud Lyhne Rahbek and Adam Oehlenschläger. In 1829, Oehlenschläger even rented a summer residence in Haabet's backyard. Haabet was after Mathiesen's death continued under the name Lars Mathiesens Minde (Lars Mathiesen's Memory).


Café Chantant

Lorry's history as an entertainment venue goes back to 1834 when the country house Enighedslyst was converted into a tea garden. In the mid-1860s it became an entertainment venue where female singers performed in front of an audience consisting mainly of local craftsmen. The restaurateur Carl Kehlet took the place over in 1877 and his successful business enabled him to purchase the entire property. He turned the ground floor into a restaurant and moved the singing girls upstairs to ''Café Chantant'', a new venue on the first floor. The establishment gradually began to attract a larger audience. Among the well-known guests were the writer and painter Holger Drachmann, who found his muse, Edith, among the singers.


Feilberg's venues

In 1896, Kehlet sold his establishment to Frederik Laurentius Feilberg, known as Lorry, who named it after himself. He changed the name of ''Café Chantant'' into ''Operetten''. The tradition with singing girls was discontinued in 1914 when Operetten was renamed ''Riddersalen'' (English: The Knight's Hall). It served as a venue for cabarets. In 1909 and 1913, he acquired two neighbouring buildings for expanding his entertainment establishment. In 1910, he expanded the ground floor into a new venue, ''Landsbyen'' (English: The Village). The interior walls were painted as facades of half-timbered farmhouses and there were a forge, a farmer's kitchen and a well while the stage resembled a horse carriage. The audience was seated at small tables spread out across the floor. In 1913, Kehlet opened ''Drachmenn Kroen'' (English: The Drachmann Inn), a large popular restaurant named after Drachmann who had died in 1909. The room was decorated with a series of paintings by Aksel Jørgensen which incorporated Drachmann and Edith in scenes from Drachmann's works. Feilberg also had plans to convert it into an elegant hall where afternoon guests could have tea accompanied by subtle music while it could be rented out for private celebrations in the evening. However, due to an illness which prompted him to sell, Feilberg never put his plans through but they were realized by his successor, Valdemar Nielsen, who opened ''Guldaldersalen'' (English: The Golden Age Hall). The ''Landsbyen'' venue saw another expansion in 1929. The decorations were adapted to resemble tyrolean houses with balconies and murals of snow-capped mountains painted on the rear walls. An expansion of the stage created room both for an orchestra and soloists. The inspiration was
Haus Vaterland Haus Vaterland (Fatherland House) was a pleasure palace on the south-east side of Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin. Preceded by Haus Potsdam, a multi-use building including a large cinema and a huge café, from 1928 to 1943 it was a large, famous ...
on
Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag building, Reichstag (Bundestag, German Parliament Building), and ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
.


After World War II

In 1945, ''Landsbyen'' was hit by Schalburgtage but it was rebuilt just a few months later. Over the following decades, it remained a popular venue, attracting family excursions in the afternoon and international performances in the evenings, but with the advance of television and new habits, it ultimately lost its audience and closed in 1976. After a few years, Frederiksberg Municipality acquired the buildings and put them through a comprehensive refurbishment, yet attempts to revive the place as a venue for popular entertainment remained unsuccessful.


Today

TV2/Lorry rented the complex from its establishment and purchased it from Frederiksberg Municipality in 1999. They now have their television studios in ''Landsbyen'' while ''Guldaldersalen'' and ''Drachmann Kroen'' serve as editorial rooms. Riddersalen is a theatre. It has been run by Jytte Abildstrøn since 1970. Dating from 1881, 11 Allégade now houses a café, Café Grock.


See also

* Frederiksberg Allé. * Danish Revue Museum


References


External links


TV2 Lorry clip
about Aksel Jørgensen's paintings
PDF
about the locality
Aksel Hørgensen's paintings in Drachmannskroen

Source
{{Authority control Listed buildings and structures in Frederiksberg Municipality