Strandgade () is one of the principal streets in the

Christianshavn Christianshavn () is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of the city centre by the Inner Harbour, ...

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 along the full length of the neighbourhood, following the waterfront of the Inner Harbour, from Christian's Church in the south-west to

Grønlandske Handels Plads (Kongelige) Grønlandske Handels Plads (English language, English: "(Royal) Greenland Dock") is a waterfront area at the end of Strandgade in the northwestern corner of the Christianshavn neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. The area is bounded ...

in the north. The northern part of the street is a

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

for motor vehicles while a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists across Trangraven is currently under construction.

History

Origins

Strandgade is one of the streets seen in Johan Semp's plan for Christianshavn from 1617. The original intention was only to build along the south-east side of the street, away from the water, while the beach provided private harbour facilities for the lot owners, who could easily transfer goods from ships to their warehouses and storage cellars. This solution was repeated along both sides of Christianshavn Canal. The lots along the street did not sell well and in the end the king gave them away to wealthy citizens from Copenhagen on condition that they built "good commerce houses" on them.

Development along the west side

PTP Strandgade - Asiatisk Kompagnis Bygning

Danish East India Company The Danish East India Company () refers to two separate Danish-Norwegian chartered company, chartered companies. The first company operated between 1616 and 1650. The second company existed between 1670 and 1729, however, in 1730 it was re-founde ...

and

Danish West India Company The Danish West India Company () or Danish West IndiaGuinea Company (') was a Dano-Norwegian chartered company that operated out of the colonies in the Danish West Indies. It is estimated that 120,000 enslaved Africans were transported on the ...

established their headquarters north and south of

Torvegade Torvegade () is the central thoroughfare of Christianshavn in Copenhagen, Denmark, linking the city centre by way of Knippel Bridge with Amagerside Copenhagen at Christmas Møllers Plads. The street crosses Christianshavn Canal at Christianshavn ...

/ Knippels Bridge respectively. In 1730, the site on the north side of Torvegade was taken over by Danish Asia Company, a reconstruction of Danish East India Company. They completed a new head office on the site in 1738. Denmark's first dry dock, later known as

Old Dock The Old Dock, originally known as Thomas Steers' dock, was the world's first commercial wet dock. The dock was built on the River Mersey in Liverpool, England, starting in 1710 and completed in 1716. A natural tidal pool off the River Merse ...

, opened just north of there in 1739.

Extension of the street

Originally Strandstræde only reached as far north as Bådsmandsstræde. The area north of Wilder's Bridge was not reclaimed until Andreas Bjørn established a shipyard there in 1735. Strandgade was later extended through the area after it had been divided into

Wilders Plads Wilders Plads is a waterfront area located just north of Wilders Kanal, a branch of Christianshavns Kanal, in the north-western corner of the Christianshavn neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. The area is bounded by Christianshavn Canal to the ...

, Krøyers Plads and Grønlandske Handels Plads.

Later history

Architecture

The east side of the oldest section of the street is still completely dominated by the historic townhouses, although many have been altered, extended or replaced over the years. Dating from the 1620s, the house row at No. 28-32 has some of the oldest houses in Christianshavn. The

Mikkel Vibe House The Mikkel Vibe House () is a historic property located at Strandgade 32 in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is believed to be the oldest building in Christianshavn and takes its name after Mikkel Vibe who was mayor of Co ...

at No. 32 was built by Mikkel Vibe who was mayor of Copenhagen. Other notable houses along this stretch of the street are the

Lehn House The Lehn House (Danish language, Danish: Lehns Gård) is a historic townhouse on Strandgade in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is also known as the Tordenskjold House (Danish language, Danish: Tordenskjolds Gå ...

at No. 6,

Rhode House The Rhode House ( Danish: Den Rhodeske Gård) is a historic property located at the corner of Strandgade (No. 14) and Torvegade in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of central Copenhagen, Denmark. History Early history The property was part of a l ...

at No. 14, Behagen House at No. 26,

Sigvert Grubbe House The Sigvert Grubbe House (Danish language, Danish: Sivgert Grubbes Gård) is a Renaissance architecture, Renaissance style townhouse situated at Strandgade 28 in the Christianshavn neighborhood of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The property compris ...

at No. 28-30 and

Andreas Bjørn House The Andreas Bjørn House is a historic property located at the corner of Strandgade (No. 46) and Bådsmandsstræde in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built for Andreas Bjørn in 1734 and listed on the Danish reg ...

at No. 46.

Today

The most notable visitor attractions in the street are

Danish Architecture Centre Danish Architecture Center ( Danish: Dansk Arkitektur Center), (DAC), is Denmark’s national center for the development and dissemination of knowledge about architecture, building and urban development. DAC’s objective and legitimacy consist i ...

North Atlantic House North Atlantic House () is a cultural centre located on the harbour front in Copenhagen, Denmark, dedicated to preserve, promote and communicate culture and art from the North Atlantic area. It is made as a cooperation between Denmark, Iceland, G ...

and Christian's Church. Other institutions in the street include the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, the Environmental Agency and

Architects' Association of Denmark The Danish Association of Architects ( Danish: , abbreviated to AA), is an independent professional body for architects in Denmark. History The Danish Association of Architects was founded at the initiative of L. A. Petersen on 21 November 187 ...

Nordea Nordea Bank Abp, commonly referred to as Nordea, is a Nordic financial services group operating in northern Europe with headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea". The Nordic countries are considered ...

's Danish headquarters occupy the entire waterfront south of Torvegade.