Det Harboeske Enkefruekloster ( English: Harboe's Refuge for Widowed Ladies) is a Late Baroque building on

Stormgade Stormgade ( lit. "Storm Street") is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from Frederiksholm Canal to H. C. Andersens Boulevard where it turns into Tietgensgade before continuing along the rear side of Tivoli Gardens and Copenhagen C ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark. The charity was founded by Christine Harboe (née Baroness Fuiren). The building was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1918.

History

Early history

The lot was originally acquired by ''landdrost'' Simon de Pethum when Stormgade was created together with the rest of the new Frederiksholm neighbourhood. The house was possibly designed by court architect

Lambert van Haven Lambert van Haven (16 April 1630 - 9 May 1695) was a Danish-Norwegian architect, master builder and painter. He was born in Bergen, the son of the artist Solomon van Haven who had already succeeded in winning the favour of the Danish-Norwegian mo ...

. He lived in the building with his wife and 11 children.

Eilersen and Harboe families

In 1700, Lambert van Haven's widow sold the property to Baroness Margrethe Fuiren (née Eilersen, 1648–1708), widow of ''lensbaron'' Diderik Fuiren. The new owner was the mother of Christina Fuiren. The two baronesses lived in the house until Christina's marriage to former war minister Jens Harboe. Margrethe Fuiren died in 1708 and in 1711 the wealthy couple extended the house in Stormgade with the assistance of

Elias David Häusser Elias David Häusser (25 June 1687 – 16 March 1745) was a German- Danish architect working in the Baroque and Rococo styles. He is most known for designing the first Christiansborg Palace which was almost completely destroyed in a fire in 1794. ...

who had also designed the 1st Christiansborg Palace. Jens Harboe died after six years of marriage, leaving one of the richest widows in Denmark. She owned the estates Støvringgaard, Gerdrup and Lyngbygaard.

Harboe's Refuge for Widowed Ladies

Christina Harboe died in 1735, shortly after her return from a journey to Paris and London. Before her departure, she had created a will which turned her property in Stormgade into a residence for 12 pious widows in need from the upper classes. Thurah's expansion. Illustration from

Erik Pontoppidan Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan (24 August 1698 – 20 December 1764) was a Danish author, a Lutheran bishop of the Church of Norway, a historian, and an antiquarian. His Catechism of the Church of Denmark heavily influenced Danish and Norwegian rel ...

's ''Danish Atlas'' The building was extended with two bays and an extra floor by

in connection with its conversion into a foundation. In 1754–60, the building was expanded and adapted under the supervision of

Lauritz de Thurah Laurids Lauridsen de Thurah, known as Lauritz de Thurah (4 March 1706 – 5 September 1759), was a Danish architect and architectural writer. He became the most important Danish architect of the late baroque period. As an architectural write ...

. He created a building identical to the existing one and connected the two by a low gateway wing. In 1772,

Caspar Frederik Harsdorff Caspar Frederik (Friedrich) Harsdorff (26 May 1735 – 24 May 1799), also known as C.F. Harsdorff, was a Danish neoclassical architect considered to have been the leading Danish architect in the late 18th century. Early life and training ...

merged them into one building, topped by a large

Mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

. The property was listed in the new cadastre of 1756 as No. 280 in Western Quarter. In 2000, Realdania Byg took over the heavily neglected building and put it through a major renovation under the direction of Jens Baumann.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Det Harboeske Enkefruekloster
Det Harboeske Enkekloster
18th-century establishments in Denmark 18th century in Copenhagen Baroque architecture in Copenhagen