S_KøbenhavnFraBispetidTilBorgertid

H A V N B E F O R E T H E H A V S O E A B S A L O N

H istory relcdes very little cibout Havn b efore the days o f Absalon,

the

name o f the city telts ns, København ( Cop enh a g en ), earlier called only Havn

(P o r t) and m en tioned fo r the first time in the year 1053, had grown up in

connection with the natural harbour betw een the shore o f Zealand and the

isle o f Amager. From topographical research and old maps it may be con-

cluded that tw o main rocicls ( V. and N3. in the map at page 15) led to the

harbour and a fer ry connecting with the island o f Amager and, presum ab ly,

Sweden.

often happens near a harbour or a ferry, a town gradually rose

on the high grounds within reacli o f the main roads.

Although the towns in Scania (Sw ed en ) are usually m en tioned as the

principal bases o f the herring fish ery in the Souncl and the Scania-Market,

it is obvious that many inhabitants o f Zealand must have taken part in this

fishing.

The map at page 17 shows a settlem en t surrounded by a system o f horse-

shoe shaped moats, which seems to date far back, but as no special name

has ev er been known fo r it, it is most likely that it was a part o f Havn

itself. The moats were later utilizecl as mill-ponds.

W h en leder the ramparts w ere erected (perhaps at the time o f Absa lon ),

the centre o f the town eviden tly shifted to the presen t Nørregade (N 2 in

the map cd page 15), which led to the main square o f the town. The Church

o f Our Lady was situated in this street. The town had changed into a trading-

community »Købmannahavn«. Nørreport, the northern gate through the

ramparts, was erected at the end o f Nørregade, and the old main road to the

fe rry (the presen t Købmagergade) was connected with this gate only by a

secondary road (see map at page 220).

T H E HA Y S O E T H E H I S H O F S

The foundation o f Copenhagen is genera lly presum ed to have taken plcice

in the year 1167, when Bishop Absalon built the castle »Havn« (P o r t) on

Strandholm en

«,

one o f the holms between Zealand and Amager.

The growing importance o f the town as a trading centre manifested itself

in the name which in that period came to prevail, portus mercatorum , the

Dcinish version, Købmændenes Havn ( the Merchants’ P o rt) being the origin

o f København, the presen t Danish name o f the city. The figure at page 220

shows the town area frcimed by the mediæval ramparts (Absalons Vold ).

The figure cd page 23 gives an impression o f the sccdtered d evclopm en t o f

the mediæval town. The stages o f developm en t o f the town by 1535, 1650,

1750, and 1850 may be seen from the maps pages 25

—

27.

The parcelling-out o f the monastery lands about the end o f mediæval times

(fig. page 29) cciused new streets to be laid out. Other changes were caused

partly by alterations to the fortifications, pcirtly by the great fires.

The conflagrations have rem oved practically all mediæval buildings from

the town cf. fig. at page 39. The grea ter number o f the olclest buildings are

Baroque cincl Classicism, but edso a few Renaisscince buildings have been

preservecl. A t the pages 55— 56 vcirious types o f buildings from the oldest

parts o f the town are shown. The pictures cd page 50 show vcirious types of

houses from the Renaissance to the 19th century.

Re-building a fter the fires mainly took place by erection o f tenement

houses with severe over-building o f the sites with back buildings anel side

buildings, in part with houses o f a poo r quality o f construction and with

insufficient height o f the rooms. Building conditions in the old part o f the

town were further aggravated by the constant overcrowd ing o f the sites and

the extension o f the height o f the houses (c f. fig. page 52).

HAVN BEFORE THE

DAYS OF ABSALON

THE OLDEST NUCLEUS

OF THE TOWN

THE DAYS OF THE

BISHOPS

DEVELOPMENT FROM

1535 TILL 1850

THE STREETS

TYPES OF BUILDINGS