page_title: Vestergade
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Vestergade / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The street Vestergade seen on a detail from Gedde's map of Nørre Kvarter in Copenhagen, Denmark
context_page_description: Vestergade is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark, linking Gammeltorv in the northeast with the City Hall Square in the southwest. The street defines the southern boundary of Copenhagen's Latin Quarter. Most of the buildings in the street date from the years after the Copenhagen Fire of 1795.
context_section_description: The name Vestergade ("West Street") testifies Gammeltorv's original status as the most important square in Copenhagen. In the Middle Ages, Vestergade was Copenhagen's main street, linking the square with the Western City Gate at its western end. The north side of the street was lined with guesthouses. The city gate was moved a little further to the south in 1668 but Vestergade maintained its role as the principal entrance road for traffic coming from the west. The street was completely destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728 and again in the Fire of 1795.
  In 1865, Vestergade was home to a total of 17 inns and guesthouses. The number then began to decline, both as a result of the decommissioning of the city's fortifications, the increased importance of the railway and the large and modern hotels that opened on Vester Voldgade in the 1880s. In 1877, nine inns were left in the street and in 1888 the number had dropped to seven: Sjælland ("Zealand"), Rosen ("The Rose"), Vinhuset ("The Wine House"), Tre Hjorter ("Three Deer"), Garvergården ("The Tannery"), Gardergården ("The (Royal) Guards' House") and Kronen ("The Crown"). In 1894 the number was down to five and by 1929 only Tre Hjorter was left.
  Both in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, it was proposed to widen the street and make it more straight but each time it was stopped by opposition from citizens and organisations.
caption: Vestergadeas seen on Gedde's maps of Copenhagen from 1757
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