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o f th e island and from th e c o n s tru c tio n o f th e canal w h ich devides th e area on
th e D u tc h system . A c e rta in am o u n t o f land was also re c la im ed from th e sea
d u ring th e cou rse o f th is w o rk .
T he n ew tow n s h ip ’s c h a rte r gave it th e status o f »købstad« , and c o r r e
sponded rough ly to th a t o f a m o d e rn c ou n ty b o ro u g h , and th e in d ep en d en c e
th a t th is gave to it, le d to a c e rta in am o u n t o f strife b e tw e e n th e citizens o f th e
capital and th e burgesses o f th e n ew tow n . T he same in d e p en d en c e gave c e r
tain e con om ic advantages, and led to th e se le c tio n o f Ch ristian shavn as th e site
o f m any com m e rc ia l en te rp rise s.
From this time onwards shipbuilding was an important activity in the area
around Grønnegaards Havn. Several of Copenhagen’ s larger ventures originated
in this neighbourhood (ill. p. 7), and it is in fact, from an historical point of
view, one of the most interesting parts o f Christianshavn. The Royal Archives
and the Copenhagen city records and other archives have been searched for
material to this book, but a complete treatment of the documents concerning
this area would necessitate a work many times the size o f this book.
It is o f p a rtic u la r in te re s t at th e m om e n t in th a t th e n ew m ach ine shops and
adm in istra tio n offices be ing b u ilt fo r B &W w ill com p le te ly a lte r th e w h o le o f
th is p a r t o f C o p en h ag en ’s w a te rfro n t and it is fo r th is reason th a t th is bo o k has
b e e n pu b lish ed .
T H E A N C I E N T W I N T E R H A R B O U R
O F C O P E N H A G E N
Grønnegaards Havn was originally a natural creek, and its importance lay in
its proxim ity to the capital. It lay close to Revshalen, the point of land from
which plied a ferry to Copenhagen (ill. p. 9).
About the year 1600 king Christian IV founded a closed harbour in the
immediate neighbourhood of the castle of Copenhagen intended to shelter the
Royal Danish Navy (ill. p. 1 1 ) , and later on the king (ill. p. 13 ) ordered the-
building of the Knippels Bridge to connect the capital with the newly estab
lished town.
A N A P P L E O F D I S C O R D F O R T W O C I T I E S
Though th e tow n was, fo r th e m o st p a rt, b u ilt on re c la im ed land, th e re w e re
num ero u s dispu tes c o n c e rn in g th e d em a rc a tio n of bu ild in g sites, especially
tho se on th e w a te r fro n t.
A p a rtic u la rly long d raw n -o u t affair was th a t co n ce rn in g th e p ro p e rty of
Hans Knip. This g en tlem an has gained a c e rta in deg ree o f im m o rta lity in th a t
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