The building was originally constructed in the early 1600s as part of a Christian IV's naval harbor project.

Today, the building is used by Folketinget's administration, housing offices for MPs as well as the Copenhagen reading rooms of the National Archives.

Because he made this payment to the king, it is believed that the quartermaster was to blame for the fire, though there is no record that he was prosecuted.

[3] Of the original building, only the robust brick walls, which are more than two meters thick, survive.

A passageway, Proviantpassagen, runs between the west side of the building and the wall that surrounds the Royal Library Garden, linking Rigsdagsgården with the Christians Brygge waterfront.