Christian IV’s Brewery

While Copenhagen’s many spires tell a story of power and wealth, the Lapidarium of Kings – also known as Christian IV’s Brewery – tells a story of the army.

At the furthest corner of Slotsholmen is one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings, the Lapidarium of Kings, and stepping into the building is quite an experience. Inside the Lapidarium, you can look directly into the eyes of plaster casts and sculptures of, among others, Christian IV, who had the building erected as part of Copenhagen’s coastal defenses before Christianshavn was built. You can still see traces of its original function as a fortress, such as the arrow slits in the building’s medieval brick walls. The 2.5-meter-thick walls and the vaulted construction of the ground floor attest to the need for a fortification strong enough to withstand the force of cannon fire.

Replacing Guns with Hops

owever, just ten years later, the bastion was converted into a brewery for the navy’s thirsty soldiers who docked in the war harbor Christian IV had constructed to serve as an assembly point for the many functions of his large army. Traces of the brewery can still be found inside the building. There are marks set into the beams, presumably to indicate how high the grain was to be loaded. There are also traces of the heavy copper kettles, kegs and hop vats that were used to brew beer.

Clear Language and Simple Materials

The old brewery is a simple construction made of stone, granite and brick, timber and cast iron. The walls are whitewashed and the incredible amount of light that enters the rooms is worth a visit in itself. There are no frills and no unnecessary decoration, but that’s also what makes the building so distinctive and interesting: it speaks a clear language, and the many natural materials such as wood, limestone and brick bring the building to life in a unique and tactile way.

Survivor of Two Fires

Today, the building is characterized by its enormous red-tiled roof and its red medieval stone gables and facade. However, the roof is not original. The first roof was made of slate and was quite a bit lower than the current roof, but the brewery has burned down and been rebuilt twice, with new roof pitches and heights, most recently in 1768. The 1768 version of the brewery survives today. The thick walls and strong stones have stood the test of time, so even though some have been replaced along the way, the lower levels belonged to the original fortress.

The brewery closed after the second and final fire. For the next several hundred years, the building was used as a storage facility, among others by the armory next door – today known as the Danish War Museum. In 2010, it was decided to open the building to the public and after a major renovation, it opened its doors to visitors in 2013. The reason it became a lapidarium is that the building is very difficult to heat. But that isn’t a problem for silent sculptures and plaster casts of Denmark’s kings, fishermen and fishermen’s wives that took up residence in the building and that now breathe new life into the king’s old brewery.

Near the Lapidarium of Kings

Slightly behind the old brewery, you’ll find another building that tells more stories about Christian IV: the old armory that has been preserved as the Danish War Museum. On the opposite side of Frederikholms Kanal, you’ll find the brewery’s mastodontic, modern counterpart made of glass and steel: BLOX, home of Danish Architecture Center. The National Museum of Denmark is also located on the same side of canal. All cultural attractions that make up the Copenhagen Cultural District.