Sølvgade Barracks (

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 ...

: ) is a former military facility from 1771 located on the corner of

Sølvgade Sølvgade ( lit. "Silver Street") is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark, extending north-west from Borgergade to The Lakes where Fredens Bro connects it to Fredensgade. The section from Kronprinsessegade to Øster Voldgade follows the walled ...

and

Øster Voldgade Øster Voldgade ( lit. "East Rampart Street"), together with Vester Voldgade and Nørre Voldgade, forms a succession of large streets which arches around the central and oldest part of the Zealand side of Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs north-east f ...

in central

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 barracks closed in 1926 and the large

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

complex designed by

Nicolas-Henri Jardin Nicolas-Henri Jardin (22 March 1720 – 31 August 1799) was a French architect. Born in St. Germain des Noyers, Seine-et-Marne, Jardin worked seventeen years in Denmark–Norway as an architect to the Danish royal court. He introduced neoclassicis ...

then served as headquarters for

DSB DSB may refer to: Science, technology and devices * DsbA, a bacterial member of the Dsb (disulfide bond) family of enzymes * Double strand break, a break in both DNA strands, part of DNA repair * in telecommunications, double-sideband transmission ...

, the Danish state railways, until 2013, when the building was converted into student apartments.

History

The barracks

Until the mid 18th century, soldiers from the garrison in Copenhagen were not quartered in barracks but boarded, usually two and two, with private families around the city. Personnel of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

were quartered at

Nyboder Nyboder (English: New mallHouses) is a historic row house district of former Naval barracks in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was planned and first built by Christian IV to accommodate a need for housing for the personnel of the rapidly growing Royal Dan ...

. In 1765, Frederick (V) ordered the construction of Sølvgade Barracks in the grounds of the former St. Ann's graveyard.

was charged with the design of the new installation which was completed in 1771 under the supervision of Christian Carl Pflueg. The new barracks were met with opposition from the citizens of nearby

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 ...

who had lost an extra source of income. From 1775 the buildings were instead used as a military hospital (Frederiks Plejehus og Almindelig Hospital) but then in 1785 they once again came to serve as barracks. When space became too sparse in the facility, the Laurel House in

Rosenborg Castle Gardens Rosenborg Castle Gardens (Danish: Kongens Have literally The King's Garden) is the oldest and most visited park in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Established in the early 17th century as the private gardens of King Christian IV's Rosenborg Castle, th ...

was converted into a new home for the Royal Life Guards,

Rosenborg Barracks Rosenborg Barracks (Danish: ''Livgardens Kaserne ved Rosenborg''), one of two barracks of the Royal Danish Life Guard, is located next to Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its address is Gothersgade but it has a long facade along Øster Vo ...

, which was inaugurated in 1786 to a design by military engineer

Ernst Peymann Heinrich Ernst Peymann (22 May 1737 – 28 January 1823) was a Danish army officer. He was the supreme commander of the Danish defense against the bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807. He signed the Danish capitulation at Hellerupgård Hellerupg ...

DSB headquarters

In 1926 the barracks were decommissioned and the complex was converted into a new headquarters for the Danish State Railways. The adaption of the buildings for their new use was carried out by Theodor Petersen between 1926 and 1929. In October 2011, DSB announced their intentions to sell their headquarters at Sølvgade and concentrate their activities at

Kalvebod Brygge Kalvebod Brygge (literally "Kalvebod Quay") is a waterfront area in the Vesterbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. The name also refers to a section of the Ring 2 ring road which follows the waterfront from Langebro in the north to the H. C. Ørst ...

near

Copenhagen Central Station Copenhagen Central Station ( da, Københavns Hovedbanegård , abbreviated ''København H'') is the main railway station in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the largest railway station in Denmark. With more than 100,000 travellers every day, it is the se ...

Student residences

After the DSB headquarters was moved, the building was converted into student residences by BaseCamp. Over 400 students are accommodated, including international and Danish students from several universities, including the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. The first students moved in during autumn 2016.

Architecture

Built in brick in the

style, the building complex consists of two F-shaped buildings, one along Sølvgade and one along Øster Voldgade, which face each other, and closed at the corner by a low gate wing. This layout may have been chosen as a reference to King Frederik V's name. The two main wings along the streets each consist of a cellar and four storeys under a red

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 ...

. Frederik V died before the buildings were completed and the sandstone portal therefore bears the monogram of his son

Christian VII Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae''" ...

. The two main wings are 86 metres long and have 3-bay median and corner

risalit An ''avant-corps'' ( it, avancorpo or , plural , german: Risalit, pl, ryzalit), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than othe ...

s. The buildings were listed in 1918.

References

External links

Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solvgade Barracks Barracks in Copenhagen Baroque architecture in Copenhagen Residential buildings completed in 1771 Listed residential buildings in Copenhagen