New Copenhagen (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

: Ny København) or St. Ann's Town (

: Sankt Annæ By) was a 17th-century expansion of fortified

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 ...

. The original plan for the area, from 1649, was later abandoned. It now comprises neighbourhoods and localities such as

Frederiksstaden Frederiksstaden is a district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Constructed during the reign of Frederick V of Denmark, Frederick V in the second half of the 18th century, it is considered to be one of the most important rococo complexes in Europe and was in ...

, the Nyboder neighbourhood,

Nyhavn Nyhavn (; New Harbour) is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 1 ...

, Larsens Plads and

Kongens Nytorv Kongens Nytorv ( lit. "The King's New Square") is a public square in Copenhagen, Denmark, centrally located at the end of the pedestrian street Strøget. The largest square of the city, it was laid out by Christian V in 1670 in connection with ...

History

Expansion of the fortified city

As part of his aspirations to strengthen Copenhagen as a regional centre,

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

decided to expand the area of the fortified city northwards. As early as 1606, when his modernization of the fortifications began, he had purchased 200 hectares of land outside the Eastern City Gate. His intention was to redevelop this area into a new district referred to as Ny København (English: New Copenhagen) or Sankt Annæ By (Saint Ann's Town). The plan was to change the course of Østervold, which at that time made a bend and ran along what is today Gothersgade and

. The new Østervold would be a direct extension of Nørrevold, connecting it to Sankt Annæ Skanse, thereby increasing the area of the fortified city with approximately 40%. However, the 1630s was a time of economic crisis and both Sankt Annæ Skanse and the new course of Østervold was delayed with no major work going on during that decade. After both

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

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 ...

had been occupied by enemy forces in the first half of the 1640s and the Kingdom's very existence had been threatened, work on the fortifications was resumed. The new Østervold was constructed and a new project for the fortress at Sankt Annæ Skanse, with the layout of a bastioned

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle aroun ...

, was completed in 1661.

References

History of Copenhagen {{denmark-hist-stub