Rådhusstræde 1/Brolæggerstræde 13 is ådhusstræa Neoclassical property overlooking Nytorv-Gammeltorv from its location at the corner of Rådhusstræde and Brolæggerstræde in the southeastern corner of the square, in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark. The building was constructed by Andreas Hallander as part of the rebuilding of the city following the Copenhagen Fire of 1795 but owes its current appearance to a comprehensive renovation undertaken in 1851 for lawyer Carl Liebenberg. It was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1918. Former residents include the politician Christian Colbjørnsen, physician and former director of the Danish West India Company Johan Friedrich Heinrich and composer W.H.R.R. Giedde. Posthusteatret, a combined theatre and art cinema, is based in the basement.
History
18th century
The site was made up of two separate properties in the late 17th century. The corner property was listed as No. 126 in Snaren's Quarter in 1689, owned by Christoffer Bang. The adjacent property in Brolæggerstræde was listed as No. 127, owned by brewer Søren Jensen. The old number 126 was listed as No. 108 in 1756 and owned by wine merchant () Frederik Barfred. The old No. 127 was listed as No. 109, owned by cashier of the Fire Insurance Company, Niels Lihme.
No. 108 was still owned by wine merchant Friderich Barfred at the time of the 1787 census. He lived there with his wife Christiane Rasmussen, their daughter Anne Barfred, three lodgers and eight servants and other employees. Søren Munk, secretary of General Post Amtet, was also residing in the building with his wife Johanne Munk, their son Hans Munk, a male servant and two maids. At the time of the 1787 census, No. 109 was home to three Jewish families. One of them consisted of Isaac Jacob Ree, his wife Pessel Coen, their three daughters and a maid. Another household consisted of Joseph Ree, his wife Breine Halle and a maid. The third household consisted of Bendix Levin, his wife Juditte Ree, their three children (aged one to five) and a maid.
Together with most of the other buildings in the area, the two properties were destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1795 and subsequently merged into a single property as No. 108. The current building on the site was constructed in 1797 by master carpenter Andreas Hallander.
19th century
In 1798, Hallander sold the property to the English-born sea captain and general trader John Christmas. Christmas had already bought the Barchmann Mansion in 1800 and did therefore not himself live in the building. He had married Johanne Henriette Heinrich (1771–1808) in 1797, daughter of former director of the Danish West India Company Johan Friedrich Heinrich (1730-1819) and Birgitte née Lexmond (1738–1811).
At the time of the 1801 census, Johan Friedrich and Bertha Heinrich were residing in one of the apartments in their-son-in-law's property in Rådhusstræde. They lived there with their three youngest children, two cooks (one male and one female), a coachman, two servants and one maid. The daughter Elisabeth Heinrich would later marry Christmas' business partner Thomas ter Broch. Heinrich's eldest daughter, Frideriche Sophie Heinrich, resided in another apartment with her two sons (aged two and three), a nanny, two female cooks and a female assistant cook. Her husband, Frederik Christopher, Count Trampe, is not mentioned as a member of the household. The couple was thus apparently not living together at this point. The marriage was dissolved on 1 November 1803. Politician Christian Colbjørnsen resided in another apartment with his wife Engelke Margrethe Falbe, their three daughters, two nieces, a governess, a caretaker, a male servant, a female cook, a nanny and three maids. Werner Hans Rudolf Rosenkrantz Giedde, a chamberlain and former administrative leader of the Royal Danish Orchestra as well as enthusiastic music collector and amateur flutist, resided in the building with his wife Anne Margrethe Brown, his niece Helene Catharine Giedde and Angelique von Holten as well as staff which included at least a coachman, two boys (one of them black) and a couple of maids.
Heinrich is still mentioned as a tenant in the census records from 1801 but purchased the property from his son-in-law later that same year. Christian Colbjørnsen and his family resided in the building until 1807, when they moved to an apartment at nearby Stormgade 10.