Nyboder District

The Nyboder district, in Copenhagen

The Nyboder district is a picturesque ensemble of ochre-coloured terraced houses, built for the sailors of the Danish royal navy. The Copenhagen audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this residential district willed by Christian IV from 1631, whose name means "new little houses", that counted more than six hundred buildings in rows and testifies to the glorious naval past of the city.

History

The Nyboder district is recognised at once by its houses of an ochre colour that does not go unnoticed, standing on either side of the streets. It is a residential district built on the impulse of King Christian IV, from 1631. The city was then in full expansion, and the king intended to make Copenhagen a great developed city. Faced with a growing population and increasingly numerous soldiers, he decided to build there a district capable of hosting the military of the navy and their families, each having a terraced house whose kitchen was shared with the neighbour. The first houses, located outside the ramparts, were progressively integrated as the city grew. The name of Nyboder means moreover "new little houses" in Danish. In 1641, ten years after the beginning of the works, there were already more than six hundred terraced houses, arranged in some twenty rows. The current buildings are however not the original ones: formerly single-storey, they were rebuilt over time, and the district preserves today all the charm of this naval past.

What to see

Here you wander in a picturesque district of ochre-coloured terraced houses, built from 1631 by Christian IV for the sailors of the navy and their families; its name means "new little houses", and there were more than six hundred buildings in rows, witnesses of the naval past of Copenhagen. The Nyboder district has a unique charm. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Nyboder district lies in the centre of Copenhagen, reachable on foot. It is a residential district in free access, that you discover during a walk along its rows of ochre houses; a museum, the Nyboders Mindestuer, tells its history nearby.

Why was the Nyboder district of Copenhagen built?

It was built from 1631 on the impulse of King Christian IV to lodge the military of the royal navy and their families, in a city in full expansion; its name means "new little houses", and there were in 1641 more than six hundred ochre terraced houses arranged in rows, of which the district keeps today the charm.

Where is the Nyboder district in Copenhagen?

In the centre of Copenhagen, in Denmark.