The Holstein Mansion is a

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

town mansion 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 ...

in central

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 history of the property dates back to the late 17th century but the name and current design of the building is from the 1750s when it was owned by the Holstein family and expanded by royal sculptor

Jacob Fortling Jacob Fortling (23 December 1711 – 16 July 1761) was a German- Danish sculptor, architect and industrialist, described as one of the most industrious people in the Denmark of his day. He came to Denmark at age 18 and embarked on a successful ...

. Once home to the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

, it housed government offices until 2015. Today it has bee
completely renovated
and converted into private apartments.

History

Early history

The original house was built for

Hofmarschall The ''Hofmarschall'' (plural: Hofmarschälle) was the administrative official in charge of a princely German court, supervising all its economic affairs. Historically, every civil service was regarded as court service (e.g. the Russian nobility i ...

Henrik Ulrik Lützow in 1687. The two-storey, nine-bay house was possibly designed by General Building Master

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 ...

. Lützow's property was listed in Copenhagen's first

cadastre A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represented graphically in ...

of 1689 as No. 261 in the city's West Quarter (Vester Kvarter). In 1706, the house was expanded with a wide bay at both ends of the main wing and two perpendicular wings to the rear. The architect of this expansion was possibly Johan Conrad Ernst.

Holstein family

In 1726, Privy Councillor Johan Georg Holstein purchased the mansion. It was after his death in 1739 passed on to his son

Johan Ludvig Holstein Johan Ludvig Holstein, Lensgreve til Ledreborg (7 September 1694 – 29 January 1763) was a Danish Minister of state from 1735 to 1751. The Danish colony Holsteinsborg on Greenland (now Sisimiut), was named after him. He was the ancestor of the ...

. In 1739, he also acquired the

Ledreborg Ledreborg is a palatial mansion near Lejre, to the southwest of Roskilde on the Danish island of Zealand. Today's Baroque architecture, Baroque building was completed in 1746 by Minister of State Johan Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg, Johan Ludvig Hol ...

estate near

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

. He kept the town mansion in Stormgade as his winter residence. The property was in the new cadastre of 1756 listed as No. 281. Christian Gedde - Vester Kvarter Mo

The mansion was after Johan Ludvig Holstein's death in 1763 passed on to his son Christian Frederik Holstein. In 1767, he commissioned court sculptor

to carry out another expansion of the Holstein Mansion. The property was after Christian Frederik Holstein's death in 1799 passed on to his son Christian Edzard Holstein-Ledreborg. His property in Stormgade was listed in the new cadastre of 1806 as No. 187.

changing ownersm 18071827

The house remained in the hands of the Holstein family until it was acquired by

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice Christian Colbjørnsen in 1807. In 1810, Colbjørnsen sold the property to Amond Ammondsen. Ammondsen, a ship captain who had made a fortune on the China trade, was active on Copenhagen's turbulent property market during the exonomic crisis that followed the British bombardments of 1801 and 1807. On 7 January 1810, he had sold the smaller property Vandkunsten 8 after owning it for less than a year. In 1811, he sold the Holstein Mansion to Bille Schack. Later the same year, Bille Schack sold it to Christian Cornelius Lerche of Lerchenborg. Lerche had recently retired from his position as prefect of Holbæk County. In 1818, he was created a count.

Royal Museum of Natural History

The Holstein Mansion was acquired by the Crown in 1928. It was originally subsequently refurbished under supervision of

Jørgen Hansen Koch Jørgen Hansen Koch (4 September 1787 – 30 January 1860) was a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical Denmark, Danish architect. He was chief of the national Danish building administration from 1835 and director of the Royal Danish Academy ...

. It was supposed to serve as a residence for Princess Caroline and Prince Ferdinand after their marriage. It was instead put into use as premises for the new Royal Museum of Natural History. The naturalist

Peter Wilhelm Lund Peter Wilhelm Lund (14 June 1801 – 25 May 1880) was a Danish Brazilian paleontologist, zoologist, and archeology, archeologist. He spent most of his life working and living in Brazil. He is considered the father of Brazilian paleontology as wel ...

was associated with the museum. He made several journeys to South America and is particularly known for his examinations of limestone caves in Brazil. The zoologist

Johannes Theodor Reinhardt Johannes Theodor Reinhardt (3 December 1816, in Copenhagen – 23 October 1882, in Frederiksberg) was a Danish zoologist and herpetologist. He was the son of Johannes Christopher Hagemann Reinhardt. Biography He participated as botanist in t ...

was appointed inspector of the Royal Museum of Natural History's 1st Department (mammals and birds) in 1848. He had previously participated in the Galathea Expedition 1845-47 and visited Lund in Brazil in 1848.

Later history

A new building for the Natural History Museum was inaugurated in

Krystalgade Krystalgade (literally "Crystal Street") is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark, connecting Nørregade to Købmagergade. Copenhagen Central Library and the Great Synagogue of Copenhagen are located in the street. History The street is men ...

in 1871. The new museum building was designed by Christian Hansen. The building in Stormgade was sold to the insurance company ''Den almindelige Brandforsikring for Landbygninger'' (now

Alm. Brand Alm. Brand (until 2002 Alm. Brand af 1792) is a Danish financial services group operating within the markets for non-life, life and pension insurance. History The company was founded in 1792 and its activities were originally limited to mutual ...

). The Ministry of Housing purchased the building when Alm. Brand moved to new premises on the

Midtermolen Midtermolen is a pier which extends north from India Quay in the Southern Free Port of Copenhagen, Denmark, dividing the dock into an east and west basin. History The wharf was constructed as part of the original free port which was construct ...

in the Southern Freeport in 1971.

Architecture

The current exterior of the building mostly dates from Fortling's expansion in 1756. He added an extra floor topped by a balustrade decorated with vases and statues. The complex also comprises the two perpendicular rear wings from 1706 and a half-timbered building in the yard from the second half of the 17th century. File:Holsteins Palæ cph.JPG, The central part of the facade File:Holstein Mansion - heraldic statuary.jpg, Heraldic statuary above the doorway File:København - Holsteins Palæ (30883036522).jpg,

Today

The building was converted into 12 apartments in 2016. They vary in size between 90 and 386 square metres.

List of owners

* (1683-1700) Henning Ulrich von Lützow * (1700-1711) E.U. Does * (1711-1718) Valentin von Eickstedt * (1718-1726) Andreas Weyse * (1726-1730) Johan Georg von Holstein * (1730-1750)

* (1750-1780) Christian Frederik Holstein * (1780-1807) The von Holstein family * (1807-1810) Christian Colbjørnsen * (1810-1811) Amond Ammondsen * (1811) Knud Bille Schack * (1811-1827) Christian Cornelius Lerche * (1827-1872) The Crown * (1872-1971) '' Den almindelige Brandforsikring for Landbygninger'' * (1971-) Ministry of Housing

References

External links

Stormgade

Source

Source

Source
{{Copenhagen historic houses 1687 establishments in Denmark Baroque architecture in Copenhagen Buildings and structures of the Holstein family Houses completed in 1687 Houses in Copenhagen