Brolæggerstræde (literally "Cobble-Layer Alley) is a street in the Old Town of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, linking

Nytorv Nytorv ( English: New Square or New Market) is a public square in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjoining Gammeltorv it forms a common space, today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone. The square is dominated by the impo ...

in the west with

Badstuestræde Badstuestræde is a street in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark, linking the pedestrian street Strøget in the north with Kompagnistræde in the south. Brolæggerstræde end in the street. Most of the buildings in the street date from the year ...

in the east. Most of the buildings in the street date from the years after the

Copenhagen Fire of 1795 The Copenhagen Fire of 1795 (''Københavns brand 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. As t ...

. The

Carlsberg Foundation Carlsberg Foundation () is a not-for-profit organization that was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1876, by allocating some of his shares in the Carlsberg Brewery to fund and operate the Carlsberg Laboratory and the Museum of National History at ...

is headquartered at No. 5.

History

The street was originally called Benickestræde. In 1543, it is referred to as Per Broliggers Stræde. The name refers to Per Jensen "Brolægger" who from 1486 to 1510 owned the lot where No. 14 stands today. He was the first master cobble layer in Copenhagen. His son, Jens Brolægger, was mayor of Copenhagen from 1520. The Taylors' Guild was for a while based where No. 4 and 6 stand today. Their building was also used as a venue for German comedies. From the 1650s, the street was also home to breweries. Knabrostræde connected the south side of the street to the coast at Gammel Strand. Endeløsstræde ("Endless Alley"), a short cul-de-sac, extended northwards a little further to the east. When the street was rebuilt following the

Copenhagen Fire of 1728 The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 was the largest fire in the history of Copenhagen, Denmark. It began on the evening of 20 October 1728 and continued to burn until the morning of the 23rd of October 1728. It destroyed approximately 28% of the city (me ...

, Knabrostræde was extended northwards to Vimmelskaftet and Endeløsstræde was later connected to its east side. In 1795, the street was destroyed by the second great fire that hit Copenhagen. Endeløsstræde disappeared when the houses were rebuilt.

Notable buildings and residents

All the buildings in the street date from the years immediately after the fire of 1795 and all of them are listed on the Danish registry of Protected buildings and Places. Carlsberg-founder J.C. Jacobsen's first brewery, known as Bryggergården, is located at No. 5. The complex also comprises Knabrostræde 11 and 13 as well as several interconnected rear wings. It was built 1796-99 for another brewer, Nicolai Rindom. J. C. Jacobsen's father, Christian Jacobsen, purchased the brewery in 1826. A plaque above the gate commemorates J. C. Jacobsen and his son

Carl Jacobsen Carl Christian Hillman Jacobsen (2 March 1842 – 11 January 1914) was a Danish brewer, art collector and philanthropist. Though often preoccupied with his cultural interests, Jacobsen was a shrewd and visionary businessman and initiated the tra ...

. The inscription reads: "Brygger, dr.phil. Carl Chr. H. Jacobsen fødtes her den 2den marts 1842. Brygger, kaptajn J. C. Jacobsen foretog her året 1838 de første forsøg med fremstilling af undergæret øl". The building was refurbished by the architect Viggo Steen Møller in the early 1950s and now houses the

Ny Carlsberg Foundation NY most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the Northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York NY, Ny or ny may also refer to: Places * North Yorkshire, ...

. The brick building at No. 11 on the opposite side of the street was built for another brewer, Andreas Tronier. A brass plaque to the left of the gate commemorates the

Danish Confederation of Trade Unions LO, The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions ( Danish: ''LO, Landsorganisationen i Danmark'' or simply ''LO'') was founded in 1898 and was an umbrella organisation (the largest of the three national trade union centers in Denmark) for 18 Danish ...

which had its first home in the building from 1898 until 1950. Gyldenfeldts Gård (Brolæggerstræde 9/Knabrostræde 16) was built for Adjutant General Gyldenfeldt in 1795–98. The other buildings in the street are No.1 (1797, C. F. Hollander), No. 2 (1808), No. 3 (1797, Lauritz Thrane), No. 4 (1808, A. C. Wilcken), No. 6 (1798), No. 8 (1797, C. C. Martens ), No. 12 (1796), Brolæggerstræde 13/Rådhusstræde 1 (1798,

Andreas Hallander Andreas Hallander (13 November 1755 – 3 April 1828) was a Danish master carpenter and architect who made a significant contribution to the city of Copenhagen. Together with the buildings of Johan Martin Quist, his classically styled apartment h ...

), No. 14 (1798) and Brolæggerstræde 16/Nytorv 11 (1798, C. F. Hollander).

Cultural references

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Denmark–Norway, Dano–Norwegian dual monarchy. He was infl ...

's comedy ''Uden Hoved og Hale'', when the god Vulcanus visits Earth to attend a comedy, he is recommended the German comedies in Brolæggerstræde: "Yes, if it so, my dear Monsieur Vulcanus, then it is best that you go to the German comedies in the Brolægger-Stræde; for there you can see sieges, field battles, witchcraft and the history of half a century at once." ("Ja, hvis saa er, min kiære Monsieur Vulcanus, saa er det bedst, at I gaar paa de Tydske Comedier i Brolægger-Strædet; thi der kand I faa at se Beleiringer, Feldslag, Gespenster, Hexerie og et halvt Hundrede Aars Historie paa eengang ...").

History

Notable buildings and residents

Cultural references

References

External links