Nordre Toldbod

Nordre Toldbod is a waterfront area in Copenhagen, Denmark, located at the north end of Larsens Plads and just south of Kastellet.

Most of the historic buildings in the area were torn down in 1973 when the site was redeveloped but its central waterfront space has remained intact and features a number of structures which bear testament to its former use.

In 1617, the Royal Anchor Forge came into use as a custom house but when the king's grand plans for St. Ann's Rotunda, a monumental naval development, were abandoned and it was decided to convert the Anchor Forge to a naval church in its place, now the Church of Holmen, the custom house was moved to the other side of the harbour where it found a temporary home in a 10-bay building at Christianshavn.

[1] King Christian VI ordered the construction of a new custom house which was completed on the same site in 1734 to a Baroque design by Johan Cornelius Krieger.

Christian VI's custom house at the boundary between Søndre and Nordre Toldbod was torn down in 1891 to make way for a new warehouse for goods in transit, the Frilagerbygningen building.

Most of the land was sold to A. P. Møller-Mærsk which built a new head office designed by Ole Hagen on the corner of Nordre Toldbod and Esplanaden between 1974 and 1979.

The design was inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture and the building originally consisted of two stories with a small one-story appendix topped by a balustrade on each side.

[2] The Gefion Fountain is located immediately outside the Langelinie Gate and portrays the legendary Norse goddess Gefjun driving a group of oxen, a reference to a legend about the creation of Zealand.