Bremerholm The area now known Gammelholm was originally a small island in the strait between Copenhagen and
Amager, which became known as Bremerholm, probably named for the presence there of merchants and ship builders from
Bremen, or simply as Holmen (Danish: The Islet). In the beginning of the 16th century
land reclamations annexed the island to
Zealand and in 1510, under the reign of
Hans of Denmark, a
naval shipyard was established in the area. A
ropewalk at the site is first mentioned in 1555 and an
anchor forge was built in 1563. When King
Christian IV commenced his modernization of the
fortifications of Copenhagen, he extended the city's
East Rampart, taking it straight through Bremerholm to the beach. The
moat in front of the rampart was later expanded to form the
Holmen Canal, which was constructed as a new harbour for the
Royal Fleet, replacing the
Arsenal Harbour further south.
On the King's New Square When
Kongens Nytorv, the King's New Square, was established in 1670 and connected to the waterfront along Bremerholm's northern margin by the
Nyhavn canal, it meant that the city moved closer to the Royal Shipyard. In the years around 1780,
Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve built a large palatial mansion on the corner of the square and the canal, the later
Charlottenborg Palace, and
Caspar Frederik Harsdorff built a house on a neighbouring site,
Harsdorff's House, which was to serve as a model for other town houses in the city. The rope walk came to mark the boundary between the square and rest of Bremerholm.
The Old and New Islets In 1690, the Royal Naval Shipyard moved across the harbour to
Nyholm, the
New Islet, a newly reclaimed area north of
Christianshavn, although a number of activities and facilities remained at Bremerholm which from that on became known as Gammelholm, the
Old Islet. Together, Gammelholm and Nyholm remained for a long time the largest employer in Denmark. ==Architecture==