Hotel Astoria is a design hotel located next to the

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

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 building is an early example of Functionalist architecture in Denmark. The hotel consists of a long slender wing forming a barrier between the urban space in front of the main entrance to the Central Station, which partly opens to the underground rail lines, and Reventlowsgade, the street on the Vesterbro side of the station. An example of

architecture parlante ''Architecture parlante'' ( French: ) is architecture that explains its own function or identity. The phrase was originally associated with Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and was extended to other Paris-trained architects of the Revolutionary period ...

, the building is intended to resemble a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

, It was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 2019.

History

20th century

In 1881, Tømmerpladsvej was renamed Reventlowsgade. The new Copenhagen Central Station was inaugurated on the northeast side of the street in 1908. The first section of Reventlowsgade was initially separated from Bangegårdspladsen (the space in front of the new central station) by a wall. It was later decided to use the extremely narrow site for the construction of a new railway hotel. Hotel Astoria 1935

The building was designed as a station hotel for the

Danish State Railways DSB, an abbreviation of ''Danske Statsbaner'' (, ''Danish State Railways''), is the largest Danish train operating company. It's also the largest train operating company in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on ...

by Ole Falkentorp, who had started his career in the State Railways' design office before forming his own practice. The hotel was built from 1934 to 1935 as the first modern luxury hotel in Copenhagen."Astoria"
''HotelBoard''. Retrieved 6 May 2011. The hotel was inaugurated on 6 April 1935. It contained 91 single and double rooms. DSB's

travel agency A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destina ...

was located on the ground floor.

21st century

In 2007, Hotel Astoria was taken over by DGI-byen. The new owner commissioned GUBI to redesign the interior while preserving many of the original features. Relying on black and white set off by tones of deep purple and greyish blue, a new colour scheme was selected and the building was fitted out with artistically designed, custom-made furniture. On 1 July 2011 the hotel was taken over by Zleep Hotels. On 1 January 2014, Brøchner Hotels took over management of the hotel. On 1 October 2021, CIC Hospitality took over management of Hotel Astoria.

Architecture

The hotel consists of a long slender wing forming a barrier between the urban space in front of the main entrance to the Central Station, which partly opens to the underground rail lines, and Reventlowsgade, the street on the Vesterbro side of the station. An example of

, the building is intended to resemble a

, with its connotations of travel and movement encapsulating the essence of the site, and as an expression of the fascination with progress and technology which was typical of the time. It consists of an expressive constellation of

cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

volumes, culminating in the narrow facade looking out over

Vesterbrogade Vesterbrogade () is the main shopping street of the Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Vesterbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. The 1.5 km long street runs from the City Hall Square, Copenhagen, City Hall Square in the east to Pile Allé in Frederiksbe ...

which is topped by a "

hood ornament A hood ornament (or bonnet ornament or bonnet mascot in Commonwealth English), also called a motor mascot or car mascot, is a specially crafted model that symbolizes a car company, like a badge, located on the front center portion of the Hood ...

" in the shape of a winged wheel bearing a crown, a sculptural representation of the old logo of the

. The vertical, exterior hotel sign is in the full height of the building. At the other end of the building, there is a cylindrical

staircase tower A staircase tower or stair tower (, also ''Stiegenturm'' or ''Wendelstein'') is a tower-like wing of a building with a circular or polygonal plan that contains a stairwell, usually a helical staircase. History Only a few examples of staircase ...

with a helical window. The revolving doors, the first in Denmark, are still present at the main entrance. Next to the main entrance is a relief of the hotel's logo, a winged suitcase, created by the sculptor Svend Rathsack. Great care was taken by E. Schmidt, the technical designer, in drawing up the detailed specifications for a building which was to be constructed using Asger Skovgaard Ostenfeld's recently developed deformation technique for reinforced concrete structures. The finish on the four-inch-thick walls with metal-framed windows was achieved by manual bush hammering.Karl-Eugen Kurrer, "The history of the theory of structures: from arch analysis to computational mechanics", Ernst & Sohn, 2008, p.755. The building was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 2019. The hotel has been an inspiration for Peter Clash's design of the

RIBA Award ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as "usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

-winning Sleeperz Hotel in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. A drawing of Hotel Astoria is engraved on Ole Falkentorp's tombstone.

Today

One of the luxury rooms has been maintained exactly as it was in 1935. The former ground-floor premises of DSB's travel agency is now occupied by a pizzaria.

Gallery

Image:Astoria Hotel - DSB logo.jpg, The DSB logo Image:Hotel Asoria, Copenhagen - detail.jpg, Image:Sculptured bas-relief, Astoria Hotel.jpg, The relief next to the main entrance. Image:The spiral staircase, Astoria Hotel.jpg, The spiral staircase.

References

External links

Pictures and renderings
from the Royal Danish Art Academy Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Astoria Hotel Astoria 1930s architecture in Denmark Hotel buildings completed in 1935 Hotels established in 1935 Hotels in Copenhagen Listed hotels in Copenhagen Hotel Astoria Railway hotels Hotel Astoria