Rantzausgade is a street in the

Nørrebro Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current N ...

district of

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 Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. It runs from

Åboulevard Åboulevard () is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with H. C. Andersens Boulevard in the city centre and Borups Allé, it forms a major artery in and out of the city. The road is built over Ladegårds Å, a canal originally bui ...

in the southeast to

Jagtvej Jagtvej () is a major artery in the Nørrebro and Østerbro districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from Åboulevard, Ågade on the border with Frederiksberg in the southwest to Østerbrogade in the northeast, linking Falkoner Allé with Strand ...

in the northeast where its name changes to

Borups Allé Borups Allé is a major artery in the northwestern part of inner Copenhagen, Denmark. The 3.2 km long street runs from Jagtvej at Nuuks Plads in the southeast to Bellahøj in the northwest. Just before Hulgårdsvej, part of Ring 2, Borups A ...

History

Rantzausgade was originally called Nordvestvej ("Northwest Road") and only reached as far as Brohusgade where it ended in a wooden fence. Being located within the so-called Demarcation Line which followed Jagtvej, that is on the

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

(in the original military sense of the word) outside Copenhagen's fortifications, only minor buildings could be built in the area. The area on the other side of the fence continued down to the Ladegård Canal to the south and was used for market gardens. They were particularly known for their production of

rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...

. When the area was built over from the 1870s on, developing into a dense working-class neighbourhood, one of the poorest in Copenhagen, it became known as ''Rabarberkvarteret'' ("The Rhubarb Neighbourhood"). The term ''rabarberkvarter'' has in Danish since developed into a derogatory, generic term for a poor, late 19th or early 20th-century working-class neighbourhood with low housing standards. The

Nordbanen The North Line () is a railway line which connects the centre of Copenhagen with several of its northern suburbs, and the cities of Birkerød, Lillerød and Hillerød in North Zealand, Denmark. It is one of the six radial lines of Copenhagen's S ...

railway line crossed the street from 1894 on its way from Copenhagen's second central station at

Axeltorv Axeltorv is a public square in central Copenhagen, Denmark, located across the street from Tivoli Gardens' main entrance on Vesterbrogade. History Axeltorv was inaugurated on 8 November 1917. The grounds were formerly part of Vester, Nørre and � ...

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

. The railway crossing disappeared in 1930 when the

Boulevard Line The Boulevard Line () is a long partly underground railway between Copenhagen Central Station and Østerport Station in Copenhagen, Denmark. The quadruple track railway carries today one dual track for the Copenhagen S-train system and another d ...

opened. Tram line No. 13 operated through the street from 1915 until 1965 on its way from the City Hall Square to Lyngbygade (Now Hillerødgade).

Notable buildings and residents

Glud & Marstrand's former metal goods factory is located at No. 22-24. It was converted into a combined restaurant, wine store and wine bar by Kenn Husted in 2017. Brorson's Church (No. 49) is from 1901 and was designed by

Thorvald Jørgensen Thorvald Jørgensen (27 June 1867 - 15 May 1946) was a Danish architect, most known for his design of Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament, after it had been destroyed in a fire. He has also designed a number of churches in ...

, who also designed

Christiansborg Christiansborg Palace (, ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament (), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme Court of Denmark. Also, ...

as well as several other churches in Copenhagen.

Artworks, memorials and urban design

The artwork Secret Garden (''Den hemmelige have'') was designed by

Morten Stræd Morten is a common male given name in Denmark and Norway. Approximately 22,138 have this name as a given name in Norway and about 52 people have it as a surname. The origin of the surname is less clear. Notable people with the name include: People ...

in connection with the creation of three new urban spaces between Rantzausgade and the Agade Cycle Bridge in 2011.

Transport

A bus trap is located at the site where the bikeway crosses Rantzausgade. The street is served by bus lines 12, 18 and 66.

Cultural references

In his memoir, ''En rabarberdreng vokser op'' ("A Rhubarb Boy Grows Up"), the writer Christian Christensen describes his childhood, growing up in a working-class family living on Nordvestvej.

References

External links

{{coord, 55.6868, N, 12.5488, E, source:wikidata, display=title streets in Nørrebro