Snaregade and Magstræde are two of the oldest streets 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, linking

Gammel Strand Gammel Strand (modern Danish for "old beach"; originally meant "the old shoreline", i.e. prior to land reclamations) is a street and public square in central Copenhagen, Denmark. On the south side it borders on the narrow Slotsholmens Canal whil ...

at their eastern end with Rådhusstræde to the west. Snaregade extends from the small square at the Gammel Strand metro station to

Knabrostræde Knabrostræde is a street in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from Strøget (Vimmelskaftet/Nygade) in the northwest to Nybrogade at Slotsholmen Canal in the southeast, crossing Strædet (Kompagnistræde) on the way. History The st ...

where it turns into Magstræde. The streets are among the few streets in the Old Town of Copenhagen which still feature their original cobbling. Magstræde is associated with Huset i Magstræde ("The House in Magstræde"), now officially referred to as Huset KBH ("The House CPH"", "CPH" being short for "Copenhagen"), a culture house.

History

Magstræde was created in the 1520s when the coastline was moved to present day Nyropgade. The first part of the name, Mag-, is an old word for a lavatory, referring to a public latrine, Vestre Mag ("Western Mag"), which was located at the site. Another one, Østre Mag (Eastern Mag"), was located at the end of Hyskenstræde. Snaregade received its current name in 1607. It takes its name after Erling Jonssøn Snare, a former member of the city council who had owned a property on the street from 1501.

Notable buildings and residents

Snaregade

The building on the corner of Gammel Strand and Snaregade is Assistenshuset, a former royal

pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

now housing the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) *Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

. The building from 1730 was designed by

Philip de Lange Philip de Lange (c. 1705 – 17 September 1766) was a leading Dutch-Danish architect who designed many different types of building in various styles including Dutch Baroque and Rococo. Early life and family Philip de Lange was probably born ...

. The half-timbered house at No. 5 is from 1732 and was built for Jørgen Povelsen , a rope maker. It was extended with an extra floor in 1768. All the other houses in the street date from after the fire in 1795. No. 4 is from 1902 and was built by Jacob Laurids Thrane. No. 6 (1799) and No. 8 (1807) were built by Poul Egeroed. No. 10 is from 1808 and was built by

Johan Martin Quist Johan Martin Quist or Qvist (3 September 1755 – 25 April 1818) was a Danish architect who made a significant contribution to the city of Copenhagen. Together with those of Andreas Hallander, his classically styled buildings form part of the ...

Magstræde

The oldest building in the street is the symmetrical house at No. 17-19 which dates from the 1640s. No. 20 also dates from the time before the fire of 1728. The Schäffer House (No 6), also called Hofsnedkerens Gård ("The Court Carpenter's House"), was built by

in 1733–34 for Court Carpenter Diderich Schäffer who had been called to Denmark to work on

Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

. Schäffer's rich interior Rococo decorations from his house are now on display in 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 ...

. It is five bays wide and has a three-bay central projection. The rounded pediment was added in 1850. Schäffer also owned Schæffergården at

Jægersborg Jægersborg is a suburban neighbourhood in Gentofte Municipality, some 12 km north of central Copenhagen, Denmark. History The whole area was from at least 1401 a royal estate known as Ibstrup (the earliest sources refer to it as Jepstor ...

north of Copenhagen. No. 11 is a former warehouse from before 1797. It was extended with an extra floor in 1817. No. 13 was built as a brewery for Andreas Krogh in 1808–09.

Cultural references

* In the 2015 drama film ''

The Danish Girl ''The Danish Girl'' is a novel by American writer David Ebershoff, published in 2000 by the Viking Press in the United States and Allen & Unwin in Australia. Summary The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Lili Elbe, one of the fir ...

'',

Einar Einar is a Scandinavian given name deriving from the Old Norse name Einarr, which according to Guðbrandur Vigfússon is directly connected with the concept of the einherjar, warriors who died in battle and ascended to Valhalla in Norse mythology ...

(

Eddie Redmayne Edward John David Redmayne (; born 6 January 1982) is an English actor. Known for his roles in biopics and blockbusters, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Olivier Awards. He ...

) and Gerda (

Alicia Vikander Alicia Amanda Vikander (, ; born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics' Choice Movie Award, as well as receiving nominations for ...

) are seen walking through Snaregade, arm in arm late at night.

Image gallery

File:Magstræde, Copenhagen.jpg, Magstræde viewed from Snaregade File:Magstræde - Snaregade.jpg, Magstræde File:Snaregade.jpg, Snaregade

References

External links

Magstræde
at indenforvoldene.dk
Source

1840 census

1860 census

1787 census
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magstraede Streets in Copenhagen