Titken House

Titken House
Titkens Gård
General information
Architectural style Baroque
Location Bredgade 60, Copenhagen
Country Denmark
Coordinates 55°41′8.59″N 12°35′29.82″E / 55.6857194°N 12.5916167°E / 55.6857194; 12.5916167Coordinates: 55°41′8.59″N 12°35′29.82″E / 55.6857194°N 12.5916167°E / 55.6857194; 12.5916167
Completed 1756
Design and construction
Architect Lauritz de Thurah

The Titken House (Danish: Titkens Gård) is a listed property situated at the corner of Bredgade (No. 60) and Fredericiagade (No. 18) in the Frederiksstaden district of central Copenhagen, Denmark.

History

The Titken House in the late 19th century

The site was acquired by the wealthy grocer Niels Titken in 1754. The building was constructed in 1754-1756. It has been suggested that the architect was Lauritz de Thurah since he has signed an estimate of needed materials but this has been questioned (see below).[1] Titken's grocery store was originally located in the cellar with entrance from Fredericiagade.

The building was expanded with the construction of Fredericiagade 18 in 1935. The navel officer and shipbuilder Henrik Gerner (1741-1787) had lived the last years of his life at the site (Fredericiagade 18) from 1784 to 1787. Nearby Gernersgade is named after him. Another navel officer, Jost van Dockum (1753-1834), had lived at the same address in 1784-1797. He would later be in charge of the Orævestenen Battery during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. Fredericiagade 18 was rebuilt in 1835. The officer and politician Peter Frederik Steinmann (1812-1894 lived at Fredericiagade 18 in 1853–54. He would later serve as Minister of Defence in 1874–75.[2]

The building was listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places by the Danish Heritage Agency in 1918.

Architecture

The building seen from Fredericiagade

The Titken House is built to a simple Baroqu style design]] and consists of three storeys over a high cellar. The 11 bay long facade on Bredgade is only broken up by a three-bay median risalit tipped by a low triangular pediment. The facade on Fredericiagade is six bays long and features a two-bay triangular pediment.

In their book Danmarks Arkitektur, Byens huse - byens plan, Sys Hartmann and Villads Villadsen questions the assumption that the building was designed by Lauritz de Thurah. They find it unlikely that he would have followed Eigtved's guidelines for buildings in Frederiksstaden to the extent that is the case and with such a meeager result. They describe the 11-bay facade on Bredgade as monotonous and the median risalit with its triangular pediment as " crabbed". The two-bay triangular pediment on Fredericiagade is described as notoriously disharmonic and the roof that continues all the way down to the too tall windows is compared to "a hat pulled all the way down to the eye brows". The main entrance was originally located uin the median risalit. It was accessed by was of a sandstone staircase and opened to a vestibule. This is also different from most of De Thurah's buildings where the main entrance is usuaklly placed in a gateway in one of the sides.

Hartmann and Villadsen concludes that the facade amy have been designed by some of Eigtved's associates after his death in 1754 and that Lauritz de Thurah may just have approved them.

Fredericiagade 18 is six bays wide and has a central gateway which opens to the courtyard.

References

  1. ↑ "København, Bredgade 60/Fredericiagade, Titkens Gård" (in Danish). arkark.dk. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  2. ↑ "Bredgade 60 / Fredericiagade 18" (in Danish). indenforvoldene.dk. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
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