Most of the buildings in the street date from the years after the Copenhagen Fire of 1795.

The street was named for a public bath house located at its southern end.

In 1496, the street was referred to as Strandbadstræde ("Beach Bath Alley").

The bath house was closed in 1509 but the street kept its name which was shortened to Badstuestræde in the 1740s.

[1] The street was completely destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1795 but rebuilt over the next few years.

17 commemorates that the linguist Rasmus Rask died in the building on 15 November 1843.