Gråbrødretorv 15 is åbrøa historic building situated on the south side of Gråbrødretorv in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark. Constructed with two storeys in the first half of the 18th century, as part of the rebuilding of the city following the Copenhagen Fire of 1728, it was adapted into a four-storey, three-winged building in the 1850s. The building was listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1945. The scope of the heritage listing was expanded in 1982. The property belonged to the painter Peter Brünniche from the 1770s to at least 1806. Other notable former residents include the master carpenter and politician , painter Julius Exner and jurist .
History
Early
The property was listed in Copenhagen's first cadastre from 1689 as No. 131 in Frimand's Quarter, owned by university book printer Johan Philip Bockenhofer, Bockenhofer's property continued all the way to Store Helliggeiststræde (now part of Balkendorfsgade) on the other side of the block. His workshop was located in a building in the courtyard, with windows facing the courtyard of Gråbrødretorv 13 (then No. 132, Frimand's Quarter). In 1691, Bockenhofer also bought Gråbrødretorv 13. His acquisition of the property was not motivated in a wish to expand his old property, nor in a wish to replace it with the new one, but merely in a wish to ensure that future development would not compromise the access to natural daylight in his workshop. Some ten days after buying the property, after having registered the necessary easementss, he thus sold the property to skipper Niels Lauritzen Kock.
Bockenhofer's former property was destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728, together with most of the other buildings in the area. A new building, seven bays long and two storeys tall, with a facade crowned by a five-bay-long gabled wall dormer, was subsequently constructed on the site. It is unclear exactly when the new building was completed.
The property was listed in the new cadastre of 1756 as No. 121 in Frimand's Quarter, owned by one Roggenkamp, Giærtner's widow.
Peter Brünniche, 1770s1810s
The property was later acquired by the painter Peter Brünniche (1739-1814). He was the son of the more wellknown painter Andreas Brünniche. He returned to Denmark after spending seven years abroad in 1773. He became a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1776. His artistic output was rather limited. He supplemented his artistic career with a successful business as a building painter, something that brought him into conflict with the Building Painters Guild.
Brünniche's property was home to 19 residents in three households at the 1787 census. Brünniche resided in the building with his wife Inger Karoline Brünniche /née Egerod), his 11-year-old sister-in-law Ane Frederiche Egerod, painter (employee) Jes Bonsen, painter's apprentice Nels Wansted, a female cook and two maids. Hulricha Eleanora Strøm (née Langehøren), a widow with means, resided in the building with four children by her second husband (aged 19 to 23) and one maid. Sivert Stern, a beer seller (øltapper), resided in the building with his wife Berentine Degn, their two children (aged two and 11) and one maid.
Brünniche's property was home to 24 residents in four households at the 1801 census. The owner resided in the building with his wife Inger Caroline Egeroed, their 10-year-old daughter Johanne Margrethe Brynnicke, his seven-year-old niece Johanne Elise Egeroed, his apprentice Friderich Weng, three maids and two male servants. Sara Cathrine Reutzer, a widow, resided in the building with two maids. Jens Jyde, a wholesale merchant (grosserer), resided in the building with his wife Dorothea Krag, a three-year-old boy in their care (Bendt Christian), office clerk Søren Rønne (employee) and two maids. Mads Pedersen, a watchman, resided in the building with his wife Karen Hendrichsenm their two children (aged seven and 12) and one lodger (soldier).
The property was listed in the new cadastre of 1806 as No. 104 in Frimand's Quarter. It was at that time still owned by Peter Brünniche.
Peter Brünniche's son Boas Brünnich(e) became court bookprinter. He purchased the property a few houses down the square at Gråbrødretorv 3. His daughter Johanne Margrethe Brünniche (17921860) married the civil servant (18021868). They nearby corner building at Skindergade 19 was constructed for them in 1825.