Old Artillery Barracks, Christianshavn


The Old Artillery Barracks, also known as Irgens House after an earlier owner, was the first of three barracks to be established in the Christianshavn district of Copenhagen, Denmark. The complex has been converted into apartments and is listed.

History

The first buildings on the site were probably built in the 1620s or 1630s. In 1664, they were acquired by Joachim Irgens who carried out comprehensive alterations and extensions, creating the complex seen today.
The complex was from 1851 to 1883 owned by merchant Peter Borre. Borre and his business partner Peter Fenger were in 1760 granted a royal privilege to establish a sugar refinery in the complex but the plans were most likely not realized. Borre was instead appointed as manager of the country's newly monopolized tobacco industry in return for 12½ % of the government's incomes from the tobacco trade. The monopoly existed until 1778. Borre's daughter, Birgitte Kirstine Borre, married the merchant Charles August Selbye, a neighbor, on 26 November 1777.
The property was converted into barracks for the Artillery in 1789. The larger Bådsmandsstræde Barracks opened on a nearby site adjacent to the Christianshavn Rampart in 1836 but the Old Artillery Barracks remained in use until 1923.

Architecture

The complex is bounded by Strandgade to the west, Bådsmandsstræde to the north and Wildersgade to the east, forming the northern part of a block which is completed by Sankt Annæ Gade to the south. The buildings seen today mainly date from 1700, although further alterations took place in 1779. They are built in brick with yellow dressing and tile roofs.
The complex surrounds a cobbled interior courtyard with large trees. A free-standing building in the courtyard dates from 1750.