Look up! Or how to get a different view of Copenhagen

Explore the city a few meters up

It’s all so close but still so easy to miss

Exciting things happen as long as you look up slightly. Shop windows certainly attract when you stroll around Copenhagen. But a lot happens just a few meters above. Not least right above the main doors, it usually hides something interesting. I will show some exciting examples.

The falling angel

Next to the Royal Theater on Kongens Nytorv is the richly decorated Brönnum’s House. The building housed, among other things, a very popular theater cafe where celebrities such as H.C. Andersen was often seen. Hirschprung, who was great in art, also had a residence here in the upper floors.
But now to the falling angel. During the construction of the house, a serious accident occurred: A 19-year-old bricklayer’s apprentice fell from the scaffolding and lost his life. So in memory of this tragic event, it was decided to let one of the adorning angels simply “trip”. You can see it high up on the facade.
August Bournonvilles Passage 1

The house was built in 1866

Tivoli’s founder’s residence

Georg Carstensen asked King Christian 8 for permission to build an amusement park, inspired by London’s so-called Vauxhall Gardens, on the old ramparts. “When the people are having fun, it doesn’t politicize”, he argued, and it made an impression on Christian 8. From 1843, Carstensen was given the license for 5 years in København or one of the city’s suburbs to build a so-called Tivoli under the name of Kjøbenhavns Tivoli og Vauxhall, and on August 15, 1843, Tivoli opened its doors for the first time.
Gammel Strand 40

The color of the sign is close to that of the facade, so it is therefore easy to miss

The old salvage company

Em. Z. Svitzers Bjergnings Enterprise had it´s office here. At the start in 1833, the company’s equipment consisted of a cutter, a collar dinghy and a rowing boat with 12 oars, which was stationed in Kastrup on Amager. In 1842, the first professional diving equipment was purchased from England.
Today the company is part of the Mærsk group.
Are you interested in other exciting buildings in Copenhagen? Click here.
Kvæsthusgade 1

Look up and discover a diver
If you are walking in nyhavn, don’t miss this one

The sugar refinery in Nyhavn

The figure above the gate carries a sugar form and sugar top. It dates from the time when the Römer Sugar Refinery was located here.
Nyhavn 11

You can’t miss this sugary statue as soon as you look up

The stationary store

Christian Petersens papirhandel with accounting books carved in granite on the facade!
Store Kirkestræde 1

Sugar
Everything for the happy book keeper

The old oriental trading company

The sign tells us that oriental goods were sold here, including tea and porcelain. It was merchant Jørgen Alsing, who started here in 1765.
These signs also served as house markers before street addresses were introduced.
Nyhavn 15

Sign
Eight – the number on the sign marks the cadastral number of the time

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 also 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.
Here you can see how the building looks on the inside today.
Studiestræde 59-63

Badeanslalten
You may have to zoom in to see the text

The red hat

Over at Store Kannikestræde there is a sign with a distinguished red old hat. I’ve actually passed by here so many times without spotting it! By the way, along this street there is more exciting to discover just above the entrance doors, look around!
From the hat, it is only a minute’s walk to Runde Taarn.
Store Kannikestræde

I have passed here so many times without seeing it

The Mercury sculpture

If you can take your eyes off all the shop windows when you walk along the shopping street Købmagergade, you will soon see the god of trade and commerce high up in the sky.
Købmagergade 42

Here you can look up properly as the sculpture is at the top of the building

Copenhagen fire 1728

The fire in Copenhagen in the 18th century caused great devastation. Here is a sign (from 1732) above a door on Gråbrødretorv that mention the event.
It says, among other things: What the fire has consumed God has foretold.
Gråbrødretorv 1

This one is easy to spot above the door

Solar power in the city

When it comes to measures for the environment, many experiments are carried out. Here, two buildings have been combined with a structure that carries solar panels.
Eriksgade

The panels here provide energy for the street lighting

Chr. IX gade

Here on the house gable, right at one corner of the king’s garden, you will find this impressive work that really stands out.
Chr. IX gade 7

The shop below offers really stylish furniture

The brewer and his wife

It is easy to miss J.C. Jacobsen and his wife Ottilia as they stand looking out over the Carlsberg historic brewery area.
Elefantporten, Carlsberg Byen

They are found just above the famous elephant gate

Another house on the roof

High above the tourist-dense area around Nyhavn, someone has found peace with this impressive extension. The fact that it also faces the canal does not make the location any less impressive…
High above the tourist-dense area around Nyhavn, someone has found peace with this impressive extension. The fact that it also faces the canal does not make the location any less impressive…
Havnegade

Classic and modern in a nice mix

The black raven

The building was built by steersman and beer bottler Christian Wendelboe. The black raven is his brand.
Nyhavn 14-16

The famous artist Carl Locher has lived at no. 16

The 17th century sign on Faksegade

This very large sign belonged to the craftsman’s guild and signaled their existence and the possibility of accommodation for like-minded people.
Faksegade

Even though it has been around since 1691, the condition is excellent

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