Rolighed was a country house in what is now the

Østerbro Østerbro () (literally, "Eastern Bridge") is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located clo ...

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 ...

. As a regular guest of the Melchior family,

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

died there in August 1875.

History

Origins

Rolighed (the Danish word means "tranquility" or "calmness") built around 1800 as a one-storey house with a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

in a large garden. The property was for a while owned by the military officer Johan Hendrik Hegermann-Lindencrone (1765–1849) and his wife Louise Hegermann-Lindencrone. They were known for hosting literary salons attended by some of the leading cultural figures of the

Danish Golden Age The Danish Golden Age ( da, Den danske guldalder) covers a period of exceptional creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century.Kulturnet DanmarkGuide to the Danish Golden Age Although Copenhagen had suffered ...

.Johan Hendrik Hegermann-Lindencrone died at Rolighed in 1849.

Melchior family and Hans Christian Andersen

Jewish merchant

Moritz G. Melchior Moritz Gerson Melchior (22 June 1816 – 19 September 1884) was a Jewish-Danish businessman. He headed the trading house Moses & Søn G. Melchior from 1845. He owned the property at Ploug House at Højbro Plads 21 in Copenhagen as well as the coun ...

and his wife Dorothea acquired it as a summer residence in the 1850s. In 1869, they had it completely rebuilt in the Dutch Renaissance or Christian IV style of

Rosenborg Castle Rosenborg Castle ( da, Rosenborg Slot) is a renaissance architecture, renaissance castle located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The castle was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IV of Denmark, Christian IV's ...

with a tower and rounded

Dutch gable A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the termination of a ...

s.Carl H. Melchior, "H.C. Andersens hjem i hjemmet - artikel fra Jødisk Orientering, marts 2005", Kulturafdelingen: H.C. Andersen 2005
Israeli Embassy, Copenhagen. Retrieved 9 December 2010. Melchior Family Group Rolighed c

Moritz and Dorothea Melchior entertained a variety of famous guests from the late 1850s when the family business really began to prosper. The most famous of these were certainly Hans Christian Andersen who was a frequent visitor, first in their home on

Højbro Plads Højbro Plads (literally "High Bridge Square") is a rectangular public square located between the adjoining Amagertorv and Slotsholmen Canal in the City Centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. It takes its name from the Højbro Bridge which connects it t ...

then increasingly at Rolighed where, in 1866, he was given his own room with a balcony overlooking the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width v ...

. Moritz' brother

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, a keen amateur photographer, was also a frequent visitor. Andersen, who was interested in photography himself, and he became good friends with the result that Israel took many photographs of family gatherings at Rolighed together with Andersen. Andersen had become increasingly ill after a fall in 1872. He relied increasingly on the care the Melchiors gave him, spending long periods at Rolighed. On 12 June 1875, he arrived there for the last time. A week later he was no longer able to write his diary which instead he dictated to the Melchiors and their children. At 11 a.m. on 4 August, he died peacefully in his bed.

Commemorative plaque

The house was demolished in 1898 to be replaced by today's apartment building. A plaque has been erected, commemorating Andersen's place of death. It contains two lines from a short poem by Andersen, testifying to his feelings for Rolighed:"Mindetavler på Østerbro"
''Københavns Biblioteker''. Retrieved 11 December 2010. :Mit hjem i Hjemmet, hvor bag Hyldens Hang :mit Liv fik Solskin og min Harpe Klang which can be translated into English as: :My home in the home, behind the elderflower :Gave sunshine to my life and made my harp ring

References

This article draws on the Danish Wikipedia article Rolighed (Østerbro). {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolighed (Osterbro) Former buildings and structures in Copenhagen Renaissance Revival architecture in Denmark 1869 establishments in Denmark Houses completed in 1869 Buildings and structures demolished in 1898 Buildings in Copenhagen associated with Hans Christian Andersen

History

Origins

Melchior family and Hans Christian Andersen

Commemorative plaque

See also

References