| Wedell Mansion | |
| Native Name: | Danish: Wedells Palæ |
| Architectural Style: | Baroque |
| Location: | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Owner: | Bendt Wedell |
| Location Country: | Denmark |
| Coordinates: | 55.674°N 12.5772°W |
| Start Date: | 1740 |
| Inauguration Date: | 1742 |
| Architect: | Philip de Lange |
Barchmann Mansion is a Baroque style town mansion overlooking Frederiksholm Canal in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Built in the early 1740s to designs by Philip de Lange, it is also known as the Wedell Mansion (Danish: Wedells Palæ) after the current owner. It was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1918. An extension from 1748 is now home to Johan Borup's Folk High School.
The property was listed in Copenhagen's first cadastre of 1689 as No. 295 in Western Quarter, owned by fodermarskal Søren Jensen.
The present building on the site was constructed in 1740 - 41 by Philip de Lange for affluent Jacob Barchmann. Barchmann did not live in it himself but rented it out to foreign envoys.[1] The original building was extended in 1748, first along the canal and a little later along Ny Kongensgade. Barchmann's property was listed in the new cadastre of 1756 as No. 243 in the Qest Quarter. His widow kept the properties after her husband's death.
on 11 March 1779, Barchmann's former mansion were sold to John & William Brown. The firm went bankrupt in 1787. On 21 February 1788, Brown's properties were therefore sold at public auction. The large corner mansion (No. 341 B) was sold to the lawyer Christopher Hansteen for 12,010 rigsdaler. No. 340 C (now Ny Kongensgade 3) was sold to Ove Malling for 4m865 rigsdaler. No. 341 was sold to warehouse manager Ole Christensen for 11m700 rigsdaler.[2]
In 1795, Hansteen sold the corner mansion to Supreme Court lawyer Carl Henrik Wilster. In January 1800, it changed hands again when it was acquired by Philip Ryan (1766-1808). He was originally from Saint Croix where his father Henry Ryan was the owner of the sugar plantation Mary's Fancy. Ryan had moved to Copenhagen in 1780 where he initially worked for Dunzfeld, Meyer & Co and later started his own trading firm. His new mansion was later the same year sold to John Christmas. On 2 January 1804, it was acquired by Jens Friedenreich Hage. Hage's property was listed in the new cadastre of 1806 as No. 326 in the West Quarter.
On 4 December 1809, Hage sold the mansion to the Jewish merchant Jacob Salomon Meyer (1783-1845).
In 1811 the Barchmann Mansion was acquired by the industrious landowner Jacob Brønnum Scavenius. He had made a fortune in Danish India and on his return to Denmark acquired Ghorslev Manor on Stevns. His widow kept the property after her husband's death. The Scavenius family owned it until 1877.
The property was in 1898 acquired by Willum Frederik Treschow. He left it to Frederik Vilhelm Rosenkilde Treschow. His widow Andrea Bjørn Rothe owned the mansion until her death in 1884.[3]
The property was home to 22 residents at the 1880 census. Andreas Treschow resided on the first floor with one male and five female servants. Henriette Sofie Margrethe Elisabeth Treschaw (née comtesse Rantzau), her daughter-in-law, married to her son Carl Adolph Rothe Treschow (1839-1924), resided in the building with her three children (aged nine to 14), two tutors (one male and one female) and one chamber maid. Augusta Christine Holm (née Aagesen, 1822-1912), widow of Supreme Courty justice Lars Jess Holm, (1791-1851), resided on the ground floor with her stepdaughter Bartholimine Holm and two maids. Frederik Nielsen, a concierge, resided in the basement with his wife and two sons (aged 12 and 12).[4]
The Barchmann Mansion was in 1885 acquired by Mogens, Count Friis. The Frederiksholms Kanal 24 extension was also acquired by him.
In 1923, the house came on the hands of the Wedell family when Inger Wedell née Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs inherited the property from her father, Count Mogens of Frijsenborg.
In 1926, the house was divided into two separate properties when Borup Folk High School moved into Frederiksholms Kanal 24.[3] Since 1982, the remaining part has been owned by the Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs/Wedells family.[5]
The mansion is a three-winged building in two storeys under a mansard roof. The principal facade faces Ny Kongensgade. The original building is seven bays towards the canal and nine towards the street. It is built in red brick and decorated with sandstone pilasters in the giant order, cornice, decorations and a portal. The facade to the right of the portal covers the stables to obtain the symmetry required by the Baroque style.[6] The lateral wing away from the canal is narrow and therefore only has a half mansard. It has two carriage gates and a low mezzanine
The extensions added seven bays along the canal and three bays along the street. The extension along the canal also has pilasters, but in red brick instead of sandstone, and the cornice is omitted.[6]
The building was altered by Thorvald Jørgensen in 1903. The two main wings towards Frederiksholms Kanal and Ny Kongensgade, were listed in 1818 and the listing was extended to include the lateral wing in 2000.[1]
Since 2008 the building has been owned by Bendt Wedell, the second largest private land owner in Denmark, whose other holdings include Wedellsborg and Frijsenborg in Jutland.[7] The Borup Folk High School is still based at 24 Frederiksholms Kanal.