The Jens Lauritzen House is a Neoclassical property at Nytorv 7 in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark. Home to the Association of Folk High Schools in Denmark, the building is now also known as (English: The House of Folk High Schools).
History
18th century
The site was part of two properties in 1689. One of them was listed as No. 149 in Snaren's Quarter and owned by brewer Hans Mikkelsen. The other one was listed as No. 150, owned by brewer Søren Pedersen. They were later merged into a single property. By 1756, it was listed as No. 132, owned by brewer Oluf Beck.
Lauritzen and the new building
The property was later acquired by brewer and merchant Jens Lauritzen. His property was home to 11 residents in two households at the 1787 census. Lauritzen resided in the building with two clerks (), one brewer's apprentice (), a caretaker (), a coachman, a housekeeper, and a maid. Christen Jensen Ebstrup, a second hand-dealer, resided in another apartment with his wife Mette Maria and their three-year-old granddaughter Anna Margrethe.
Together with most of the other buildings in the area, Lauritzen's property was destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1795. A new building was constructed for him in 17951796. It is believed that the building was designed by Andreas Kirkerup.
Lauritzen's property was home to three households at the 1801 census. Jens Lauritzen resided in one of the apartments with his second wife Anna Marie Hansen, a 17-year-old granddaughter of his first wife's sister, a 28-year-old nephew, one brewer, one brewer's apprentice, a caretaker, a coachman and two maids. Ditlev Friderich Feddersen, a royal bailiff (), resided in the building with his wife Dorthea Catharina Staal and three maids. Christine Knudsdatter Lercke, a beer seller (), resided in the building with her six children (aged two to 13) and one maid. Peder Foltmer, another beer seller (), resided in the building with his wife Karen Sørensdatter.
The property was listed in the new cadastre of 1806as No. 87 in Snaren's Quarter. It was owned by Lauritzen's widow at that time.
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The property was home to 36 residents in five households at the 1840 census.. Hertz Isaac Loria (1783–1856), a textile merchant, resided on the ground floor with his wife Bella (née Meyer, 1794–1882), their five children (aged 10 to 24), a niece, a servant and two maids. Isaac Levysohn, a merchant (), resided on the first floor with his wife Hanna Levysohn (née Nathansen), two male employees and two maids. His wife Hannah Nathanson (1822–1885 later married Messina-based businessman and consul Axel Fog. Abel Christine Fiedler (1760–1846), widow of Caspar Friederich Fiedler (1744–1811), a glass merchant and director of Kjøbenhavns Brandforsikring (Copenhagen Fire Insurance), resided on the second floor with a daughter and two grandsons, two maids, a caretaker and two lodgers. Daughter Christiane Caroline Sommer was the widow of regiment surgeon and royal surveyor Joachim Otto Sommer (1781–1823). R. Petersen, a grocer (), resided in the basement with his wife Dorthea M. Petersen (née Worm), their two children (aged 11 and 13), two male employees and one maid. Jens Sørensen Thostrup, another grocer (), also resided in the basement with his wife Christine Catrine Thostrup née Luund, and their 20-year-old daughter Caroline Dorothea Thostrup.
The property was home to 35 residents in five households at the 1850 census. H. Levysohn, who had become a widow, was still residing on the first floor with her sisters Bella Nathansen and 26 years old Beate Bollag, the latter's five-year-old son Anton Bollag, one male servant and two maids. Louis Christian Voss, a professor of medicine and royal physician, resided on the ground floor with his wife Thora Voss, their seven children (aged one to 19), one lodger (goldsmith's apprentice) and three maids. Andreas Peter Thomsen, chief justice of Hof- og Stadsretten, resided on the second floor with his sons Ludvig Jacob Manus Ulrich Thomsen and Christian Albert Frederik Thomsen, his sister Caroline Cathrine Thomsen, his foster sister Cathrine Ulrike Byberg, his sister-in-law Christine Marie Gude and two maids. Niels Hansen, a grocer (høler), resided in one half of the basement with his wife Martaa Maria Rossenkeld and one maid. Ole Larsen, another grocer (høker), resided in the other half of the basement with his wife Marie Larsen, their 13-year-old daughter and one maid.
The younger of Thomsen's two sons was the later civil servant and politician Christian Albert Frederich Thomsen (18271894). He married on 14 November 1856 Voss' daughter Thora Michelle Voss.