It connects the main harbourfront at Asiatisk Plads in the west to Christianshavn Rampart in the east via the Snorrebroen bridge.

Construction of townhouses soon began along the western half, while Christianshavn's first church, a temporary wooden structure, was built on the south side of the far end of the street in about 1640.

When the new building, which completely filled the block between Christianshavns Torv and Sankt Annæ Gade, was turned into a women's prison in 1870, the interim facility remained in use for male inmates.

It was purely for pedestrians and had a string (snurre, old form of the Danish word snor) at the middle to stop carriages from crossing, hence giving rise to the name.

[5] The western section of the street, between Strandgade and the canal, is dominated by the 17th and 18th century townhouses with their colourful facades that are found throughout Christianshavn.

14 is the last remains of the original row of one-storey, half-timbered houses which was built on the south side of the street by the lot's first owner, Johan Lauridsen, some time before 1635.

The one on Sankt Annæ Gade lacks the characteristic striped facade which has named its counterpart on Christianshavns Torv Lagkagehuset ('the Layer Cake House').

Also on the south side of the street, closest to Christianshavn Rampart is one of three detached wings of Ved Volden, a modernist housing complex completed in 1938 to designs by Tyge Hvass and Henning Jørgensen.