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Buildings you probably didn’t know existed in Copenhagen

Discover the city's different and odd buildings

Get to know some cool buildings with a breathtaking background

Some visit Copenhagen to be inspired by outstanding architecture. The most famous buildings are easy to find, But there should probably be more unknown buildings that still shine a little? So I found a number of them that caught my interest, and just had to find out more.

Osram House

This is the former headquarters of the Osram company. It was one of the first buildings to be built using the shock concrete method. Shock concrete is a way to remove water to make it even stronger. The architect saw endless possibilities for spectacular buildings using this new technique, but wanted to work more restrictively. Built in 1952-53.
Valhalsgade 4

The Osram company is famous for it´s light bulbs

Linoleum House

This quite anonymous house was built in 1931and Its name comes from the resemblance to the linoleum flooring of the time. However the architect´s inspiration was found in the venetian style.
Åboulevard 84-86

Made with the most common brick colors in Denmark, red and yellow

The Balloon Hangar

Away by Islands Brygge you will find this strange building with a very large gate. Nowdays it is used as a riding hall, but was built by the military back in 1917 to store large balloons.
Artillerivej 73

Large doors reveal its history

Badeanstalten København

Now it is a fashionable hotel but long before it was a modern bathhouse. The concept was taken from Sweden and introduced to the Copenhageners in 1903.
If you look up in front of the building, you can see the word “renlighed” (cleanliness) high up on the facade. Inside the hotel there are still traces of the time when this was a temple of cleanliness.
Studiestræde 59-63

Hotel Ascot opened in the building in the early 1970s

Zeppelinerhallen

This building originally comes from Germany. Because after WW1 restrictions were imposed on arms production and the hall was dismantled and sent to Denmark. To sum up, the facade has been changed to better suit the requirements of today and now it looks more like a modern building.
Islands Brygge 55

Here in Copenhagen the hall was first used as a machine shop

Culture Tower on Knippels Bridge

The tower is a unique building and also a culture cafe unknown to many. In fact, here in the tower you can have your coffee, eat healthy food, see exhibitions and listen to a lecture. Live music also occurs. All with a spectacular 360 view of the canal. The tower was built in 1937 and has never before been regularly open to the public. Get updated info at their website.
Knippelsbro 2

The tower is anonymous on the outside but on the inside the culture is sprouting

Onkel Toms Hytte

This is a rather strange house. In short, it has been moved a few times, and its unique shape, only 3 meters wide allowed it to sway in strong winds!
Also Some rumor claims that the house was on the grounds of the Tivoli in 1905 for a colonial exhibition. Moreover, in the house two children from the Danish West Indies were kept for public viewing. Here you can read about one of the children’s fates.
Bjerregårdsvej 15

Note the dragon heads on the roof of this building

The round houseboat at Kalvebod Brygge

A beautiful example of a spectacular house on water. And its exclusive location among modern buildings makes it even more interesting.
Kalvebod Brygge

Just walk along the canal and you will soon see this floating luuxury house

The Yellow Palace

This is far more than just a another yellow palace. In fact, it is financed by the slave trade. The palace was built in 1764-67 by the slave trader Frederik Bargum. And like the other colonial powers, he bought slaves from the kings inland and shipped them to the West Indies, where they were sold to the sugar plantations on all the Caribbean islands.
Amaliegade 18

More buildings in the city have been financed by the slave trade

The floating church

In Sydhavn there is a rather unusual houseboat. Actually it is a church anchored in the canal. And churchgoers have to walk across the gangway when mass is called. So we have to hope there aren’t too big waves that day.
By the way, You can learn more about Sydhavn here.
Abel Nobels Bro, Sydhavn

In the background the highest church towers seem to be the chimneys at H.C. Ørstedsværket

The house with a tree through the roof

Over at christiania there is this strange house. So aware of the tree’s inner power has probably led the homeowner to let it live on in harmony with man.
Christiania, the path along the water, south side, near Øresundsmiljøskolen

We will certainly see more of this in the future

Østre Gasværk Teater

Formerly just Gasværket, a Danish theater housed in the closed Gasværk on Østerbro in Copenhagen. The theater hall is located in the round brick shell, which housed the old gas tank until 1979, and is one of Copenhagen’s most magnificent theater rooms.
Nyborggade 17

A former gas holder that has become a theater

Konsistoriehuset

This house is one of the oldest preserved buildings in Copenhagen – perhaps even the oldest. In fact, it is dated back to around 1420. The Konsistoriehuset escaped unscathed through both the Copenhagen fire in 1728 and the English bombardment in 1807. Nowadays, the building is used as a meeting room for the board of the University of Copenhagen.
To see the house you have to go through the big gate at Frue Plads. The gate is open on weekdays.
University of Copenhagen, Frue Plads

konsistoriehuset
Maybe not so unique because someone has to be the oldest

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Nordhavn

Specialty shops not to miss in Copenhagen