Overgaden oven Vandet 54–56
Overgaden oven Vandet 54–56 is a complex of Late Neoclassical buildings situated at the corner of Overgaden Oven Vandet and Bådsmandsstræde, adjacent to Søkvæsthuset, in the Christianshavn neighborhood of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The two buildings originate in a two-storey bourgeois townhouse from the first half of the 18th century but were both heightened to five storeys by silk hat manufacturer and developer in the 1840s. The two buildings were individually listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1945. History. 18th century. The site was originally part of a large lot owned  by the crown. In 1641, it was ceded to Peder Gregersen. The property was listed as No. 96 in Christianshavn Quarter in Copenhagen's first cadastre of 1689 and was at that time owned by Hans Nansen the Younger (1635-1713). He was active in trade on Iceland. On 27 December 1670, he was appointed as member of Kommercekollegiet. In 1671, he wwas also appointed as a member of Admiralitetskollegiet. In 1688, he was appointed as president of Copenhagen. The large property continued all the way to Bådsmandstsræde in the northeast and Dronningensgade in the southeast.It is unclear when  the first buildings were constructed but an old glass manufactory is mentioned in 1708 and the property was home to a family of four people prior to the Copenhagen Fire of 1728. They were joined by nine families with a total of 53 family members who had been left homeless by the devastating fire on the other side of the harbour. The first description of the building is from 1745. The main wing along the canal street was constructed in brick with one storey over a walk-out basement. The facade was crowned by a three-bay gabled wall dormer . A two-storey secondary wing extended along Bådsmandstræsde and was followed by an eight-bays-long, one-storey, hald-timbered building. On the other side of the courtyard was a five bayslong and two storeys high half-timbered side wing. A garden with fruit trees, other plants, statues and a pavilion is also described in connection with the sale. The building may at some point have replaced an earlier timber-framed building. In 1753 the property was sold to pastor at the Church of Our Saviour Hans Leming. His property was listed as No. 175 in the new cadastre of  1756. The half-timbered buildings were demolished in 1761. The main wing along the canal was at the same time heightened to two storeys. Buntzen family. The property was later acquired by Anders Buntzen (1733-1810). On 17 June 1772, he was granted citizenship as a merchant ["grosserer") in Copenhagen. On 29 December 1774, he was wed to Marie Margrethe Ache (1752–1811). Their household comprised their daughter Anne Bolette Buntzen, their son Andreas Buntzen (1781–1830), the wife's mother Bolette Achem Anne Cathrine Buurmeister, an office clerk in the family's trading firm, a caretaker and two maids at  the time of the 1787 census. Andreas Buntzen Jr. was still living with his parents in the building at the 1801 census. His sister had married the military officer Frederik (Friederich) Julius Christian de Saint-Aubain. (1754–1819) in 1798 and they were now residing in an apartment at the corner of Torvegade and Strandgade. On 6 April 1800, Buntzen Jr. was wed to Camilla Cécilie Victoire Du Puy (1790–1871). She was a daughter of the composer Edouard Du Puy (c. 1770–1822) and the actress Julie Henriette Pauline Moulineuf (aka "Montroze", died 1833). The family's property was listed as  No. 177 in the new cadastre of 1806. Ownership of it passed to Andreas Buntzen Jr. following his father's feath in 1810. His and his wife's home was a lively meetingplace for members of the extensive Buntzen family. It was also frequented by some of the prominent cultural figures of the time, including Jens Baggesen, Thomasine Gyllembourg (née Buntzen, his cousin) and Peter Andreas Heiberg. Buntzen's nephew , who published his books under the pseudonym Carl Bernhard, has described life in the building in "Et år i København" ("One Tear in Copenhagen"). Buntzen's trading firm ran into  economic difficulties during the economic crisis that followed the war with England, culminating with its bankryptcy in 1820. He therefore had to sell the property in 1822. 1840 census. The property was home to 17 residents in three households at the 1840 census. (1781-1944), pastor of Our Saviour's Church, resided on the first floor with his wife Tagea Dorothea Schack (née Erasmim 1786–1841), three of their children (aged 20 to 24), one male servant and one maid. Hans Arreboe Clausen (1806–1891), a merchant trading on Iceland, resided on the first floor with his wife Asa Sandholdt (1815-1899 ), their nine-year-old son Holger Peter Clausen, his sister-in-law Madam Høling and her three-year-old daughter, one apprentice and one maid. Peter Christian Abildgaard Holten, an employee at the Hambroske Møller, resided on the ground flor with the seamstress Karen Marie Hansen. H. P. Lorentzen's 1844-46 redevelopment project. The property was acquired by in the middle of the 1840s. He had made a fortune on the production of silk hats and saw a lucrative business opportunity in investing his money in creating new homes for Copenhagen's booming population through densification of old low -density sites. The city had still not been allowed to develop outside its old bastioned fortification ring and new homes for the fast-growing population was therefore in very high demand. Lorentzen's redevelopment plans for the property were therefore aimed at exploiting the site to the utmost. In 1845, No. 177 was divided into No. 177 A (Overgaden Oven Vandet 54) and No. 166B (Dronningensgade 75). In 1846, he heightened the existing building along the canal to five storeys. He also constructed two new side wings, attached to the main wing via two secondary staircases, flanking a central courtyard . In 1846–147,he also used a strip of land along Bådsmandsstræde for the construction of four new five-storey apartment buildings. These buildings were converted into separate properties as No. 177 C (Overgaden Oven Vandet 56), No. 177 D (Bådsmandsstræde 10), No. 177 E (Bådsmandsstræde 12/Dronningensgade 79) and No. 177 F (Dronningensgade 77). No. 177 C contained a corner shop flanked by two apartments on the ground floor and two times two apartments on each of the upper floors. Lorentzen would later engage in a number of other redevelopment projects, most notably on the east side of Nikolah Plads (seven  new apartment buildings) and in Nyboder. 1860 census. The property was home to 61 residents at the 1860 census. Niels Jensen Lund, a hotelier, resided on the ground floor with his wife Oline Lund, their two-year-old daughter and one maid. Christian Christensen, a firewood retailer, resided on the ground floor with his wife Hanne Rosine Christensen. Hans Nic. Hoff Bay, an auctioner, resided on the first floor with his Severine Andrea Bay, their two daughters (aged 12 and 14) and one maid. Johan Frederik Looft, a between the building and the northeastern side wing of No. 54 is  extremely narrow, testifying to how Lorentzen's 1840s redevelopment of the site made an effort to make the most out of the site. Today. Overgaden Oven Vamdet 56 is owned by Ejerforeningen Overgaden oven Vandet 54, It contains two shops on the ground floor and two condominiums on each of the upper floors of the front wing. The northeastern side wing contains three more condominiums and the southwestern side wing contains a single condominium. Overgaden Oven Vamdet 56 is owned by E/F Overgaden Oven Vandet 56. The two times two apartments on each floor were merged into two times  one apartment on each floor. The shops in the ground floor have also been converted into residential apartments. Commemorative plaque. A bronze plaque on the facade of No. 45 commemorates the Aksel Hugo Reimer Madsen (1923-1945), a member of the Danish resistance movement, who was killed at the site on 5 May 1945. The inscription reads "Here died in combat / for / Denmark's independence / Reimer Madsen / on 5 May 1945 |your fight was / not in vain".