224 / 318
The town o f Havn was only a part o f the landed prop erty which Valdemar
the Great donated to Absalon before 1167; although it was situated in the
middle o f the D istrict o f the Castle o f Copenhagen, it nevertheless form ed
a separate community having own laws. The town-site p rop er was bounded
by »Absalon s Vold« (Absalon ’s Ramparts), whereas the town commons must
be snpposed to have extended to the later boiindaries on Valby, Solbjerg
(F red erik sb erg ), Utterslev and Gentofte. The exten t o f the town lands was
increased in the course o f time. W h en in 1523 the lakes were further dam-
med up on account o f the fortification o f the town, F rederik the First donated
the arable land o f the destroyed village o f Serridslev to the Corporation of
Copenhagen (fig. page 222). The town’s possession some time later o f the
towns o f Nyby and Emdrup, on the other hand, did not last very long, and
their areas were not actually made a part o f the town lands (page 221).
The town site received its first m a jor extension during the reign o f
Christian the Fourth (fig. page 223). The king acquired large areas west of
St. Jørgen’s Lake, which were added to the king’s new farm , and were thus
lost to the town, since the independent municipality o f F rederiksberg grew
up on the lands o f the farm, which also embraced the fields o f the old
village o f Solbjerg. Also Bispeengen, form erly under Utterslev, was added
to the farm and hence to Frederiksberg, whose boundary lines on Copen
hagen have, in the course o f time, undergone various changes (see page
224—225).
In return fo r the rights to the lakes and the so-called Kalvehave, the town
received Ordrup Lake, some fish-ponds, and Ryvangen, the boundary line
o f which on Gentofte was adjusted in rather recen t times (page 226).
The extension o f the fo r tif ications gradually absorbed the major part o f
the town lands, but Christian the Fourth ’s construction o f the new Østervold
(Eastern Ramparts) led to a considerable enlctrgement o f the town site
proper. Here the so-called Ny-København (N ew Copenhagen) with the Ama
lienborg section cirose.
Christianshavn, which had originally been d eveloped by Christian the
Fourth as an independent country town, was incorporated into the town in
1674. The new Frecleriksholm section was laid out in the 1660es on reclaimed
land behind the extended V estervold (W es te rn Ram parts).
A t clifferent times various royal and ecclesiastical enclaves pcissed to the
town (page 227-229).
The greatest enlargement o f the town area was e ffe c ted through the
annexation o f the whole o f Brønshøj as well as parts o f the parishes of
Hvidovre and Sundby in the years 1901-02 (fig. page 229). Since then only
minor alterations o f the boundaries have taken place.
In the course o f time the town area has been enlcirged by reclciiming and
dumping on a greater or smaller scale. Thus the Slotsholm grew, and the
already mentioned sections o f Frederiksholm and Christianshavn came into
existence. Also the shore north o f Nyhavn was regulated in this manner,
and here, in 1707, the timber yards were constructed which in 1765 were
rem oved to other reclaim ed land at Kallebodstrand. By fillings-in the area
of the municipality has been enlarged by about 520 ha in Sjælland ( Zealand)
and by about 450 ha in Amager (fig. page 231 and 233).
From this century mciy be m entioned the fillings-in at Svanemøllebugten,
Islands Brygge, the eastern shore o f Amager, and Kalvebod Strand.
Form erly permission to reclaim land was given partly to private persons,
partly to the port, the municipality, or other public authorities. There is
probably now a tendency to let the town-planning authorities have a voice
in this matter, and only to grant perm ission to reclaim land to the muni
cipality, the port authority, or a governm en t agency.
T H E G II O W T H O F T H E T O W N A H E Æ
THE TOWN AND THE
TOWN-LANDS
EXTENSION OF THE
TOWN BY CHRISTIAN IV
THE SEPARATION OF
FREDERIKSBERG FROM
THE TOWN-LANDS OF
COPENHAGEN
RYVANGEN
EXTENSION OF THE
TOWN TOWARDS THE
NORTH
CHRISTIANSHAVN
( see also page 67)
FREDERIKSHOLM
( see also page 145)
INCORPORA TIONS IN
THE YEARS 1901— 02
RECLAIMING OF LAND
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