Vandkunsten (square)

The square takes its name from a watermill that starting in the 14th century supplied Copenhagen Castle on nearby Slotsholmen with water through a system of wooden pipes.

A pumping station was built at the site in 1539 but the water was polluted in connection with one of the many adaptions of Copenhagen Castle and it therefore had to be shut down.

For many years the site was left as a waste dump until it was finally cobbled over upon orders from Christian V; starting 1684 it was used as a fish market.

A memorial plaque on the corner commemorates the Swedish storm assault on Copenhagen which took place February 10 and 11, 1659 at this site0.

[4] The building on the corner of Frederiksholms Kanal (Vandkunsten 1) is from 1910 and was designed by Aage Langeland-Mathiesen.

[5] The water feature was commissioned by Københavns Kunstfond (Copenhagen Art Foundation( from the architect Johannes Magdahl Nielsen in 1907 and inaugurated on 15 September 1910.

The central stele is made of granite with decorative details in bronze and gilded metal.