Buildings

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The Old Town features 75 buildings from 20 Danish towns while another three are in storage awaiting later reconstruction. The oldest structure is a warehouse from Aalborg (c. 1550) and the youngest is a garden pavilion from the Danish National Exhibition of 1909 in Aarhus. The majority of the structures are from the mid 18th to early 19th centuries in typical half-timbered renaissance style. The largest buildings are the Coin Master's Mansion from Copenhagen (c. 1683), the Mayor's House from Aarhus (c. 1597), a merchant's house from Aarhus (c. 1723) and the Aalborg Estate from Aalborg (c. 1570 and 1807). Many smaller buildings of diverse persuasions are scattered around the site, ranging from ordinary residences to a small dock for boat construction, a tobacco barn, watermills and a windmill.

Coin Master's Mansion

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The Coin Master's Mansion erected in 2009.

The half-timbered Coin Master's Mansion was built in 1683 on Borgergade 25 in Copenhagen's Nykøbenhavn neighborhood. The mansion was constructed by the royal Master of the Mint Gregorius Sessemann as the residence for royal coin masters and it was used as such up to 1752. The building was large and presentable for its time but after a few decades it came to appear old fashioned and it was eventually renovated and altered a number of times. The first major renovation took place in the 1700s when many Baroque elements were added and it is the result of this renovation that was eventually reconstructed in The Old Town. First the exterior was painted to resemble stone and in 1720 a Baroque staircase was installed to replace the exterior stairs and galleries which were removed. In the 1760s the interior decor and furnishings was updated in the Rococo style.[1][2]

From the 1700s to the mid-1800s Copenhagen experienced a population boom but the defensive ramparts ringing the city limited outwards expansion so housing became denser and apartments smaller. As a result the mansion was renovated again in the early 1800s; the timber framing was plastered over, the bay window and front dormers were removed and a large window was installed on the first floor. The large apartments were divided into smaller rental units and the building became a regular apartment building. In the late 1800s Nykøbenhavn gradually became a slum and in 1938 the Interior Ministry determined it had become hazardous for human habitation. As a result the neighborhood was redeveloped and most buildings demolished through the 1940s and 1950s. The director of Copenhagen's City Museum, Christian Axel Jensen, took initiative to save the building and in 1944 it was dissassembled, registered and stored in a warehouse at Vestre Cemetery. Originally the intent was to reconstruct it in an open-air museum in Copenhagen but the plans never materialized and in 1995 it was given to the Old Town which which in 2009 reconstructed it in its c. 1750 Baroque version.[1][2]

Mayor's House

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The Mayors Mansion

The Mayor's House is a significant Danish half-timbered renaissance building with some unique architectural features. It was the first building in The Old Town and is still one of the central pieces in the town, located centrally on the corner of Torvet (The Square) and Algade. It was built in 1597 on Lille Torv in Aarhus on the corner of Vestergade and Immervad where present-day department store Magasin du Nord is situated. The name of the building refers to three mayors who owned it around 1700 although this name was not used until later; in the 1800s it was known as the Secherske Gård (Sechers' House).[3][4]

The mansion is a half-timbered, three winged structure in three stories with a jettied storey carried by wooden corbels. The panels of the exterior walls are patterned brickwork and in the courtyard there are galleries to all three sides. The mansion was used as a merchant's house until 1872 when it was divided into apartments and smaller shops. It was taken apart in 1908 and reconstructed the following year in Tangkrogen for the Danish National Exhibition of 1909 where it was used as the museum for the historical exhibition of crafts and historical interiors. After the exhibition the mansion remained as the sole structure on the exhibition grounds until 1913 when it was finally moved to its current location in Det Jydske Haveselskab, the precursor to The Old Town. In 1914-22 the ground floor was used for a local-historical photo exhibition while the first floor was furnished. Today the whole building contains a cavalcade of furniture from 1600 to 1850 along with a small 1700s store.[5]

Merchant's Mansion

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The merchant's mansion from Aarhus is the main parts of a large mansion originally located at Brobjerg Port (Brobjerg Gate), later named Frederiks Port (Frederik's Gate), the city gate at the end of Frederiksgade on the city limit at the time, opposite present day city hall.

The mansion was rebuilt in The Old Town in 1942. Facing the street there is a grocery, residential wing and large grain storage in the attic and the stable and garden are situated in the back. The merchant's mansion is now home to one of the regular exhibits in the museum, The Merchant Mansion of 1864.

The mansion was built in 1723 by a merchant at the end of Frederiksgade on the corner of Sønder Allé. It was originally known as S. M. Holsts gård (S.M. Holst's House).

The building was reconstructed on The Old Town in three wings and two stories. The main building has a jettied first floor carried by corbels. The first floor was originally used for grain storage.

The building was used by merchants up to 1937, as a home, for storage and with a store, when it was given to the Old Town. In 1939 it was taken down and in 1942 erected again in the museum.

The building was erected on Toldbodsgade at Lille Torv close by the harbor, across from the Aarhus Custom House. Today it's used to showcase the life of a merchant in c. 1864 with store, office and waiting rooms for customers along with a number of private rooms used by the merchant family. Much of the interior and furnishings is from the family Wistoft who lived in Raae's House in Studsgade. One of the wings contains the lathe operators workshop and store, innaugurated 1941.

Aalborg Estate

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The Aalborg Estate consists of five buildings, two from c. 1570, one from c. 1585, one from c. 1634 and one from c. 1807. The complex was part of the same merchant's estate in central Aalborg and was rebuilt in The Old Town in 1926 and 1934 and one building now doubles as a brewery. http://www.dengamleby.dk/viden/huse-fra-hele-danmark/huse-fra-nordjylland/aalborggaarden/ http://www.byhistorie.dk/aalborggaarden/

Aarhus Mill

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The Renaissance House

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Lorem Ipsum er ganske enkelt fyldtekst fra print- og typografiindustrien. Lorem Ipsum har været standard fyldtekst siden 1500-tallet, hvor en ukendt trykker sammensatte en tilfældig spalte for at trykke en bog til sammenligning af forskellige skrifttyper. Lorem Ipsum har ikke alene overlevet fem århundreder, men har også vundet indpas i elektronisk typografi uden væsentlige ændringer. Sætningen blev gjordt kendt i 1960'erne med lanceringen af Letraset-ark, som indeholdt afsnit med Lorem Ipsum, og senere med layoutprogrammer som Aldus PageMaker, som også indeholdt en udgave af Lorem Ipsum. http://www.dengamleby.dk/viden/huse-fra-hele-danmark/huse-fra-aarhus/renaessancegaarden-1593/

Helsingør Theater

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  1. ^ a b "Møntmestergården" (in Danish). The Old Town. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Mæntmestergårdens dramatiske historie" (in Danish). The Old Town. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Borgmestergaarden" (in Danish). The Old Town. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Stilarter i borgmestergaarden" (in Danish). The Old Town. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Borgmestergården (Den Gamle By)" (in Danish). Aarhus City Archives. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.