The Old Artillery Barracks, also known as Irgens House (Danish: Irgens Gård) after an earlier owner, was the first of three
barracks
Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
to be established in the
Christianshavn
Christianshavn (literally, "ingChristian's Harbour") is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of th ...
district 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
...
. The complex has been converted into apartments and is listed.
History
17th century
The first owner of the property was Claus Condevin. The property was located at the northeastern end of Strandgade, next to the original
Christianshavn Rampart.It was not until more than one hundred years later that
Andreas Bjørn
Andreas Bjørn (28 October 1703 – 27 January 1750) was a Danish merchant, shipbuilder and ship owner.
Early life
Andreas Bjørn was born in Skælskør to Mads Andersen Bjørn and Karen Pedersdatter. He settled as a merchant in Copenhagen in 17 ...
reclaimed the area on the side of
Eilder's Canal, paving the way for a northeastern extension of Strandgade.
In 1623, he sold the still empty lot to Johan Post. The L-shaped building at the corner of Strandgade and Bådsmandsgade was constructed for Post some time between 1623 and 1635. In 1664,
Joachim Irgens (1611-75) purchased the property. He had started his career as chamber servant for
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 ...
. He had later made a fortune in the mining industry in Norway. His economy had also benefitted from his marriage to a wealthy Dutch woman. He carried out comprehensive alterations and extensions, creating the most complex seen today. He later also acquired Vestervig Abbey in North Jutland and
Hjorslev on
Stevns as payment of loans to the Crown. In 1784, he was ennobled under the name von Vestervig. He died in 1675.
In 1680, Nicolai Jensen Arf acquired the property. In 16901697, he held a monopoly on trade on the
Danish Gold Coast
The Danish Gold Coast ( da, Danske Guldkyst or ''Dansk Guinea'') comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was coloniz ...
. In 1700, he had to sell the property at auction.
18th century
The new owner was Henrik Ocksen. In 1730, he was appointed as ''amtmand'' of Iceland and the Garoe Islands. He kept the property until his death in 1750.
In 1751, Oksen's heirs sold the Irgens House to merchant merchant
Peter Borre
Peter Borre (2 September 1716 – 20 December 1789) was a Danish merchant and slave trader. He owned the Copenhagen-based trading house ''Borre & Fenger'' in a partnership with Peter Fenger from around 1755. The company traded on the Danish West I ...
. His property was listed in the new cadastre of 1756 as No. 45 in Christianshavn Quarter.
In circa 1753, Borre partnered with
Peter Fenger- as Borre & Fenger. His business partner resided in the
Peter Fenger House at the other end of Strandgade. Their company Borre & Fenger owned a property facing
Christianshavn Cabal (Overgaden Neden Vandet 51, later part of
Wildersgade Barracks
Wildersgade Barracks (Danish: Wildersgades Kaserne) was a barracks which existed from 1802 until 1822 in the Christianshavn district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Its former premises, which include a purpose-built main building on Wildersgade and conver ...
. Borre owned the adjacent warehouse (Overgaden Neden Vandet 49, later part of Wildersgade Barracks). In 1760, Borre & Fenger received a royal privilege to establish a sugar refinery but the plans were most likely not realized. Borre was instead appointed as manager of the country's newly monopolized tobacco industry in return for 12.5 % of the government's incomes from the tobacco trade. The monopoly existed until 1778. Borre's daughter, Birgitte Kirstine Borre (1757-1809), married the merchant
Charles August Selbye
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
, a neighbor, on 26 November 1777.
In 1774–1779, Borre served as director of the
Royal Greenland Trade Department
The Royal Greenland Trading Department ( da, Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel, KGH) was a Danish state enterprise charged with administering the realm's settlements and trade in Greenland. The company managed the government of Greenland from 1774 ...
. (''Det grønlandske Handels- og Fiskefangstkompagni''), Twice a year, Borre's property played host to the company's auctions. Vast quantities of whale oil (''hvid hvaltran'', ''brun tran'', ''trekronertran'' etc), whale bards, dried fish (''plat-fisk'', ''klipfisk''), lanolin, bird fethers, hides eiderdowns, whool, saltpeter, cured lamb meat and other products were sold from the premises.
In 1790, Borre sold the property to the Greenland Trade Department,.
Hartvig Marcus Frisch (1754–1816), Hartvig Marcus Frich, who had succeeded Borre as director of the company, resided in the building at the time of the 1898 census. He lived there with his wife Dorothee Frisch (née Tutein), their two-year-old daughter Henriette Cauline Frisch, his 17-year-old niece Arengoth Sophie Føns, three maids, one male servant, a coachman and a concierge.
1788 saw the establishment of a commission tasked with investigating the economy of the Greenland Trade Fepart,emt. It was subsequently decided to sell the Irgens House and relocate the company headquarters to a modest building at
Grønlandske Handels Plads
(Kongelige) Grønlandske Handels Plads (English language, English: "(Royal) Greenland Dock") is a waterfront area at the end of Strandgade in the northwestern corner of the Christianshavn neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. The area is bounded b ...
. Frisch would later biu a property on
Gammeltorv
Gammeltorv (Old Market) is the oldest square in Copenhagen, Denmark. With adjoining Nytorv it forms a common space along the Strøget pedestrian zone. While the square dates back to the foundation of the city in the 12th century, most of its build ...
. The
Frisch House was constructed after the previous building on the site had been destroyed in 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 ...
.
Strandgade Artillery Barracks
The Irgens House was subsequently sold to General Commissariats and adapted for use as the Artillery Brigade barracks. On 13 February 1792, the army's engineering corps reported the conversion to be completed. Four artillery companies were subsequently transferred from their old premises at
Kastellet to the new "Christianshavn Artillery Barracks"- Its first commandant was Major Salomon von Gedde. The larger Bådsmandsstræde Barracks opened on a nearby site adjacent to the
Christianshavn Rampart in 1836 but the Old Artillery Barracks remained in use until 1923.
Later history
In 1924 the Ministry of Defence sold the property to the jurist and diplomat
Georg Cohn. He kept it until his death in 1956- The property remained in the hands of his family until 1977. It was subsequently sold as
condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
s.
Architecture
The complex is bounded by Strandgade to the west, Bådsmandsstræde to the north and Wildersgade to the east, forming the northern part of a block which is completed by Sankt Annæ Gade to the south. The buildings seen today mainly date from 1700, although further alterations took place in 1779. They are built in brick with yellow dressing and tile roofs.
The complex surrounds a cobbled interior courtyard with large trees. A free-standing building in the courtyard dates from 1750.
List of owners
* (1620–23) Claus Condevin
* (1623–35) Johan Post
* (1635–64) Mathias Clausen and heirs
* (1664–80) Joachim Irgens and heirs
* (1680–99) Nicolai Jansen
* (1699–1751) Henrik Ochsen and heirs
* (1751–83) Peter Borre and estate
* (1783–92) The Kongelige Grønlandske, Islandske, Finmarkske og Færøiske Handel
* (1792–1924) The Kongelige Land Militair Etat Krigsministeriet, Forsvarsministeriet
* (1924–77) Georg Cohn and heirs
* (1977/1984–present) E/F Urgens Gård
References
External links
Official websiteSourceSource
{{Christianshavn, Copenhagen
Barracks in Copenhagen
Listed residential buildings in Copenhagen
Listed buildings and structures in Christianshavn
1789 establishments in Denmark
1923 disestablishments in Denmark