The history about Det lille Apotek
This is described by Lisbeth and Werner Ingemann.
They retired on February 29, 2020, and subsequently handed over the keys to the daily manager of the restaurant for many years, namely
Ann Christina Haar Krag and her husband Henrik Haar Krag.
Det lille Apotek
The pharmacist in Store Brøndstræde no. 4 began to infuse various herbs in spirits and could thereby offer the city’s residents drams with different flavors, which became very popular. From this originates the proverb “bitter is not something you are, it is something you drink.”
In 1720, the pharmacist transformed the place into Copenhagen’s first restaurant and coffee house, and the residents of Copenhagen flocked to this new place and enjoyed the “medicine” the house now offered. Located in the notorious Brøndstræde district, the place became mainly a regular haunt for sailors and ladies of the night.
After the last major fire in Copenhagen in 1808, where the slum district in Brøndstræderne burned down, “Det lille Apotek” reemerged in 1829 in a property on the corner of Store and lille Kannikestræde.
If you notice a decline towards “Det lille Apotek,” it is on a diagonal corner, which is a sign that the property was built or rebuilt after the last major fire in Copenhagen, where one of the reasons the fire was extensive was that the fire hoses could not turn corners because the houses were so close together. Therefore, the corners of many corner properties were cut off during the reconstruction.
It was an old ship captain named Rhode who obtained a license for serving alcohol on the premises, and when several residents of Regensen, led by Christian Winter (1796-1876), urged the students at Regensen to boycott the new economist of Regensen and hence moved the meetings to the basement restaurant on the corner of Store and lille Kannikestræde, “Det lille Apotek,” which contributed to the foundation of the student association there in 1830. This led to students dominating the place for many years, which was also called “Peter Fabers Minde” for a period after the famous resident of the building, with a plaque in his memory on the facade. Peter Christian Frederik Faber (1810-1877) was Denmark’s first telegraph director and is probably best known today as the poet of some of Denmark’s most famous Christmas songs.
As “Det lille Apotek” was a meeting place for both Danish and Norwegian students, it is said that the Danish-Norwegian author Axel Sandemose, who formulated the “Law of Jante,” celebrated his wedding at “Det lille Apotek” by getting himself and the gathered Danish-Norwegian students intoxicated before having to be carried home.
The famous poet Ludvig Holberg was also known in the neighborhood and has a parlour named after him, as well as Peter Faber.
The priests of Our Lady’s Church, the canons, had their homes in Store and lille Kannikestræde, which is why the streets are named as such.
Most well-known in the world is probably H.C. Andersen, Denmark’s great fairytale poet. It is claimed that his regular table is now known as table no. 5 in the Holberg parlour.
It should be noted that at this time, Copenhagen was a very small city, so it is noticeable that many of the poets and writers of that time frequented the whole city, suggesting that Copenhagen should have been twice as large even then.
In the gate of the neighboring property, where the university faculty for law students was housed until 2005, the wall in the gate was colloquially called the “wall of tears,” as it was where the law students’ grades were posted in glass cabinets. Unfortunately, these cabinets have now been removed due to our new technological era.
The Students’ parlour
It is the first parlour you enter when coming from the street. The name originates from a time when mainly law students, lawyers, poets, and writers visited the place. Mentioned are H.C. Andersen, Ludvig Holberg, as well as the famous Norwegian writer Axel Sandemose (the one who wrote the law of Jante), which we Danes have embraced. Sandemose celebrated his second wedding here at the place, and it is said that he was carried home by Norwegian and Danish students.
To the left of the entrance, you see the “grand piano table” as it is shaped like a grand piano, serving as a memory of the well-known conductor Leo Mathiesen, who started his great career here in the 1940s.
In the windows, there are 4 hand-painted stained glass windows with Water Nymphs and Forest Gods. The windows are original and date back to the construction of the property in 1829, but there is no explanation as to why nymphs and gods are depicted on them.
All the large paintings on the walls are faithful copies of the original wall paintings that existed everywhere but had deteriorated over time.
The large painting with the red building and the green tree is a courtyard environment from “Regensen” further up the street at no. 2, likewise the painting with the arched passage from the same building, facing Købmagergade.
The painting with the yellow half-timbered building is the courtyard setting of the old Admiral Gjeddes Gård, still located diagonally across from “Det Lille Apotek” in Store Kannikestræde no. 10. This courtyard used to be considered a manor before the 18th century, with land around the entire neighborhood. There is still an old nostalgic inn with all sorts of antiques, curiosities, wall paintings, and much more.
In the back part of the property, Copenhagen’s oldest preserved street from the 18th century can still be found, with its narrow width of only 2½ meters.
This street is one of the few remnants from the late 19th century when Copenhagen had the last major fire, where most of the city burned down.
It should be noted that the property is privately owned and therefore cannot be visited.
In the picture to the left of the entrance door, you can see both the Round Tower and Our Lady’s Church, and it is believed that the motive is from before 1800 and that the painter must have seen the perspective from Landemærket / Godthersgade before the reconstruction of Copenhagen.
The ceiling lamps, the 4 with domed porcelain shades, are former original oil lamps, especially the 2 with porcelain reservoirs are very old.
The pictures on each side of the arch in the wall are newer copies of silk paintings found at the National Museum, showing what Gray Brothers Square and Gammeltorv looked like before the great fire of Copenhagen.
The Holberg parlour
The parlour is named after the famous poet Ludvig Holberg, who wrote a multitude of great plays, many of which have been performed at the Royal Theater throughout history and still are today. On the walls, there are 3 large old paintings depicting scenes from the plays, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Jeppe of the Hill, and…
In the parlour, there are also old oil lamps and an old brass lamp made from a compass house from an old schooner.
In the display cabinet between the windows, there are, among other things, 2 irreplaceable plate designs from Carlsberg, the origins and purpose of which even the brewery cannot explain. Additionally, there is a vintage plate from the same brewery.
Also in this parlour, there are old oil lamps and a copper lamp over the table in the middle (table 6). According to information, it is made from a compass house from an old schooner.
The doorway to the kitchen is evidence of the property’s age, as the unevenness is due to the settling of the building caused by poor foundation. This is quite common in old properties, as large parts of Copenhagen are built on landfills, as there used to be many more canals and waterways in the inner city.
It should also be mentioned that there are stories claiming that H.C. Andersen’s regular table is table number 5, the table to the left before reaching the servers’ buffet area and the toilets.
Speaking of the toilets, it should also be mentioned that they are a point of interest for many of our guests (the ladies), who often joke “I must go to the throne”. This setup is one of the first where cisterns were installed inside the building instead of the old outhouses in the backyard. The problem was that the street sewers were at a higher level, so in order to create a slope for the pipes, the cisterns had to be raised to surpass the existing sewer system, hence the unique setup.
We have maintained this system, as it is a reminder of times past and as far as we know, we are the only place in the city to have preserved it.
Peter Faber’s Parlour
Originally “The Bar” where many words of wisdom have been spoken, and the place where the waiters also stayed (perhaps a little too much), hence the old sheep bell on the wall to the left. The bell is mounted with a rope through the wall to the kitchen, and is still in use when there is food in the kitchen waiting to be served, the rope is pulled.
On the same wall, there are 12 prints of the first drawings of Carstensen Tivoli, today “Tivoli Copenhagen,” which was located just outside the city at the time, which is now the center of Copenhagen, which can be hard to imagine today but says a lot about the city’s development over hundreds of years.
It was also in this parlour that the popular “liquor key cabinets” hung. Here, one could, upon purchasing a bottle of liquor, get their own key to a cabinet and when one felt like having a drink, possibly with a good friend, come and use their bottle until it was empty, and then, in order to keep their cabinet, buy a new bottle and start over.
In one of the parlour corners, there are 3 wall paintings, 1 large clown motive and two smaller flower motives. They were created by the artist painting a little on the motive when he came in for a beer, and then the beer was free. The history does not say how many beers the paintings have yielded.
On the walls, there are also newer prints of old silk paintings from the National Museum showing respectively: Our Savior’s Church – Amagertorv – East Asian Company House, as well as portraits of H.C. Andersen and C.F. Grundtvig.
The Copenhagen parlour
In 1985, the bar moved to the back parlour, and most of the key cabinets were also moved to this parlour. The parlour used to be a blacksmith workshop and was created in connection with the expansion of the original restaurant premises in the early 1950s, and it was here that the bar was moved, only to be eventually closed down in 1989 when there was a lack of space for dining guests. The old key cabinets have been preserved, as they are such a beautiful craftsmanship with a nostalgic history and remnants from a bygone era that should be preserved.
The name Copenhagen parlour refers to all the walls being decorated with motives exclusively from the old Copenhagen up to the 1940s.
Info
Many things have happened over the years, including the fact that the first grilled chickens in Copenhagen were served here as “Chicken in Basket”, which was half a chicken and a handful of fries in a basket with a napkin, and a beer in the other hand. A meter of beer has also always been available here.
Since our takeover in 1982, both the premises and the menu have changed character, the parlours have become more homely and some of the old pub atmosphere has changed with bookshelves and sconces on the walls, furthermore, the bar that originally stood in the Peter Faber parlour has been replaced with small tables, just as the back parlour has been changed to a dining area, but all changes have been made with deep respect for the past and the place’s history.
The menu “Resepten” has also changed from only being sandwiches and a little warm food to dishes and open sandwiches for lunch and hot dishes in the evening, as well as various menus, and jokingly we note that we work in a “niche” serving Danish food.
Despite the place’s nearly 100 seats, “Det lille Apotek” is visited annually by around 70,000 guests from all over the world.
We hope that with this brief description, you can form an impression of the place’s past and a bit of the present, and it would please us if we have been able to pique your interest in the place in the future.
We and our employees will certainly do our best to make it a memorable experience to visit “Det lille Apotek” and welcome you more than once.
