Hotel Prindsen

Facts

The best inn in town

By Mette Høj, Cand.mag. i forhistorisk arkæologi og etnologi (2 stories)

The tale of Hotel Prindsen dates back to the beginning of the 18th century when it opened as an inn by royal decree in Roskilde's main street, Algade. In the 19th century innkeeper Captain Sveistrup was at the helm. He made Prindsen famous throughout Denmark for quick service and good eating and drinking". After his death, a group of local citizens took over the inn in 1874. They demolished the old buildings and built a palatial new three-storey building designed by the architect of the Royal Danish Theatre. Today, Prindsen is a listed building. "

Partly a public place

Selected entry

Middle class ball

Story written by Mette Høj

Time / Periode 1700 1884

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" In his book Livsens Ondskab, writer Gustav Wied recreates the atmosphere in the ballroom of the Hotel Prindsen: "… the large gas chandelier was lit and beside the six gilt pier glasses, the candelabras shone. Head to head, in close rows sat the audience; the gentlemen in evening dress and the ladies in their most amazing finery. There was an almost devout silence in the room. One hardly dared draw breath, one was so excited." Prindsen was not just Roskilde's most popular inn, but both before and after its conversion it was the setting for the cultural and social whirl of the town. Prindsen has a Victorian style theatre and ballroom with cherubs, gold-leaf ornaments and columns painted to create illusions. The ballroom was restored in 2000. "