Nyhavn 20, also known as the Boel House (Danish: Boels Gård), is a listed property overlooking the Nyhavn canal in central Copenhagen, Denmark. A plaque on the facade commemorates that Hans Christian Andersen lived in the building when he had his first fairy tale published.
History
Vodenhoff family
Early history
The site was formerly part of Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve's large property at the corner of Kongens Nytorv and Nyhavn. In Copenhagen's first cadastre from 1689 it was listed as No. 54 in St. Ann's East Quarter.[1] On 5 January 1700, Gyldenløve ceded the property to dowager queen Charlotte Amalie. A narrow strip of land along the canal, from Charlottenborg to Møntgade (now part of Holbergsgade), was used for the construction of a row of very small, identical houses for low-ranking officials at the dowager queen's court. The houses were given numbers from 3 to 22.[2]
In the new cadastre of 1756, No. 19–22 (now Nyhavn 22–)24) were listed as No. 292–295 in St. Ann's East Quarter.
By royal resolution on 3 February 1770, it was decided to sell the houses at auction. The aim was to have them replaced by taller buildings that matched the houses on the other side of the canal and were more suitable for a location next to Kongens Nytorv. In conjunction with the sale, it was decided to widen the very narrow street along the canal. The properties were instead expanded with a strip of Charlottenborg gardens. The auction took place on 24 March 1770.
Bodenhoff family
Giertrud Birgitte Bodenhoff
At the auction, No. 12–18 (aka No. 285–201) were all sold to merchant (kommissinær) Andreas Bodenhoff. The building now known as Nyhavn 20 was constructed for him in 1778–68. He lived at Nyhavn 31 on the other side of the canal and had previously also built Nyhavn 12. The building was probably constructed by master timber Samuel Blichfeldt (1749-1787).[3]
After Bodenhoff's death in 1894, his son Andreas Bodenhoff Jr. took over the building as well as his father's timber business. When his brother, Rasmus Bodenhoff died in 1795, he also took over the family's shipyard in Christianshavn. He married the daughter of his mother's sister, Hjertrud Birgitte Rosted. Just five months after the wedding, Andreas Bodenhooff Jr. fell ill and died. Gjertrud Bodenhoff, who at just 19 years old had become the richest widow in the city, lived in the building. She was popular among the poor for her philanthropic work among them. In 1698, she died under suspicious circumstances. It is believed that she was buried alive and subsequently woken up and murdered by tomb raiders.[4]
From 1 September 1834, Hans Christian Andersen was a lodger on the second floor, renting two rooms from Karen Sophie Larsen who was the widow of a skipper. Andersen's sleeping room faced the courtyard and the Botanical Garden which was then located in Charlottenborg's garden, while his combined living room and study faced the canal. In a letter to Henriette Hanck from 1 January 1835, on her request, Andersen made a detailed description of his home at Nyhavn 20.[5]
Andersen wrote his first fairy tales while living in the building. They were published in May 1835. The small booklet contained the stories "The Tinderbox", "Little Claus and Big Claus", "The Princess and the Pea" and "Little Ida's Flowers". He published a total of six booklets, with Fairy Tales Told for Children in the period 1835–1842, followed by New Fairytales published in the period 1843–1848. Andersen also wrote the novels O.T. and Kun en Spillemand (1837), and completed The Improvisatore while he lived at Nyhavn 20. In his diary, he describes an episode where he suddenly felt cold while working on The Improvisator. When he opened the door to the neighbouring room, he found that his landlady and the maid had opened the windows and poured water on the floor, so that her four children could slide on it when the water froze. On 1 December 1838, Andersen had grown so tired of the conditions that he moved to Hotel du Nord which was located at the site where the Magasin du Nord department store lies today.
The painter Wilhelm Marstrand was a resident in the building in 1843–44. His next home was located at Frederiksholms Kanal 12. The medical doctor C. E. Fenger lived in the building right after he had become a professor in Chinese medicine at the University of Copenhagen.
1880 census
The property was home to 34 residents at the 1880 census. Hans From Arboe, an insurance expert, resided on the ground floor with his wife Anna Dorthea Arboe (née Nielsen), their three children (aged three to 14) and one maid. Julie Albertine Nathalie Glad, widow of a ship captain, resided on the first floor with three of her children (aged 21 to 34) and one maid. Christian Frederik Nielsen, an office clerk, resided on the second floor with his wife Thyra Agnete Nielsen (née Petersen), their three children (aged one to five) and one maid. Christian Dige, a bookkeeper, resided in the other second-floor apartment with his wife Amalie Juliane Vilhelmsen Dige (née Nielsen) and one maid. Emma Severine Hansen (née Jensen), widow of a royal lackey, resided in one of the third-floor apartments with his wife Sophie Anna Kristine Hansen, their 10-year-old daughter and two lodgers. Jens Christian Rasmussen, a barkeeper, resided in the basement with his wife Caroline Amalie Rasmussen and their 23-year-old daughter.[6]
20th century
The building was listed by the Danish Heritage Agency in the Danish national registry of protected buildings in 1918. Holger Prior, a coffee wholesaler, was based in the building until the 1950s.[7] The company Boels Food purchased the building in 1960. The company had been founded by Esper Boel when he purchased Lundby Dairy on the island of Falster in 1941. Nyhavn 20 became the new headquarters of his company. In 1967, he also acquired the manor house Kjærstrup at Holeby on the island of Lolland.[8]
Architecture
The building is ten bays wide and has two three-bay wall dormers.
Today
Most of the building has now been converted into rooms for neighbouring Hotel Bethel.
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