Noahs Ark, Studiestræde 8, Copenhagen

Facts

The animals went in two by two

By Hanne Fabricius, Cand.phil. arkæolog, ph.d.-stipendiat (13 stories)

Studiestræde 8 in Copenhagen was built in 1798 as a modest rental housing complex with a five-storey front building and a four-storey building behind. The flats were cheap, small and rough because cheap housing was needed for the poor after the fire in 1795. The complex was called Noah's Ark" or just "The Ark", as people and animals lived closely together in the flats. In 1801, it housed 109 people. The back building was demolished in the 1960s but the front building was listed in 1996. The Ark had no electric lighting until World War II. "

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They saved Noah's Ark

Story written by Hanne Fabricius

Time / Periode 1798 1807

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Noah's Ark was the childhood home of Thomas Overskous (1798-1873), actor and theatre historian. He was playing in the yard in 1807 when the British began bombarding Copenhagen. Suddenly the front building was hit and all the tenants gathered in the entrance to the back building. The landlord's pigs escaped but were caught again and were shut in an empty kitchen on the first floor. An old woman ran across the yard with her skirts pulled up over her head. And finally everyone left the building. But the landlord and his maid worked for three days without stopping and saved The Ark. They managed to neutralise 18 bombs and put out five burning arrows. Even though The Ark was damaged, it was possible to rebuild it.