Gråbrødretorv 11 is åbrøa property situated on the south side of Gråbrødretorv in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally a brewer's house from 1731, it was adapted and heightened by one storey in the first half of the 1840s. It was around the same time expanded with a four-storey residential building at Valkendorfsgade 20 on the other side of the block. The entire complex was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1932.
History
Early history
Before the Fire of 1728
The site was originally made up of two smaller properties, one towards the square and one towards Valkendorfsgade on the other side of the block. The property facing the square was listed in Copenhagen's first cadastre of 1689 as No. 133 in Frimand's Quarter owned by Master Anders Guntzow, The property in Valkendorfsgade, with four tennencies, was owned by Master Andre's hairs.
A no longer existing, narrow alley separated the buildings from the ones to the west (now Gråbrødretorv 13), providing a durexct link between the square and the street. This alley can be seen on Resen's 1674 map of Copenhagen.
18291789
Both properties were together with most of the other buildings in the area destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728 and subsequently merged into a single property. The present building on Gråbrødretorv was constructed for brewer Bent Bentsen in 1731. In 1756, it was as No. 123 owned by Johan Jørgen Holst. The property was later sold to Peler Christian Kinckel (1730-1800).
Hans and Johanne Marie Swane, 1789-1808
In 1789, Kinckel sold the property to Hans Svane for 21,000 rifsdaler. Hans Swane (1753-1803) was the son of sea captain Lars Swane and Johanne Marie Harboe. His parents had owned the property at Gammel Strand 42 (then No. 12) from 1764. His late father had between 1757 and 1771 captained six expeditions to Canton and Tranquebar for the Danish Asiatic Company. Hans Swane had himself spent five years in Canton from 1773 to 1778. He later visited China three more times with ships of the Danish Asiatic Company, last time as acting supercargo in 1788. On 10 March 1788, he had married Johanne Marie Gad, prompting his wist to substitute his turbulent life at sea with a more secure life as a brewer in Copenhagen.
The property was then a three-storey building with two gables facing the square. Swane resided with his family in the ground floor apartment. The more stately apartments on the two upper floors were let out. The brewery was situated in a perpendicular side wing. Its facade featured a wall dormer with a pulley. The capacity of the copper boiler in the ground floor was 14 barrels of malt. The basement was used for the yeasting and cooling processes. The upper floors were used for the storage of malt and grain. The rear wing () contained a passageway in the ground floor and residential quarters for servants and staff on the upper floors. The three storey building on Kokkegade (now Valkendorffsgade) contained a gateway and stabling for four horses in the ground floor. The upper floors were used as storage space for animal feed, firewood and grain. The building featured a wall dormer with a pulley towards the yard.
In October 1794, Swane was also licensed as a timber merchant. He leased one of the 16 lumberyards near Kalvebod Beach.
Hans and Johanne Marie Swane were at the time of the 1801 census residing in the building with their children Lars Swane; Johanne Marie Elisabeth Swane; Jørgen Swane; Birgithe Francisca Swane and Hans Marius Swane. Swane's sister Birgitte was married to pastor Søren Sørensen Ingemann at Thorkildstrup Rectory on Lolland. Their son Lars Ingemann (1778-) was at the time of the 1801 census also living with his uncle in the home on Gråbrødretorv while he was studying in Copenhagen. A younger son was the later priest and writer Bernhard Severin Ingemann. He was in the early part of his life a close friend of Lars Svane and often visited the family on Gråbrødretorv. A brewer, a brewery boy, a caretaker, two maids and three lodgers were also living there with them. The three lodgers were senior clerk () in Rentekammeret Jørgen Schmidt, student Peder Steer and Fähnrich in the Norwegian Life Regiment Frederik von Munck. The property was at this point also home to one other household, consisting of ship's masterAndreas Falck, his wife Margrethe née Bastian and their daughter Maren Falck.
