Sølvgade Barracks

Sølvgade Barracks
Sølvgade Kasserne
The building seen from across the canal
General information
Architectural style	Baroque
Location	Copenhagen, Denmark
Country	Denmark
Coordinates	55°41′15.1″N 12°34′48.1″E / 55.687528°N 12.580028°E / 55.687528; 12.580028
Construction started	1769
Completed	1771
Client	Frederick (V).
Design and construction
Architect	Nicolas-Henri Jardin

Sølvgade Barracks (Danish: Sølvgade Kaserne) is a former military facility from 1771 located on the corner of Sølvgade and Øster Voldgade in central Copenhagen, Denmark. The barracks closed in 1926 and the large Baroque complex designed by Nicolas-Henri Jardin then served as headquarters for DSB, the Danish state railways, until 2013, when the building was converted into student apartments.

Until the mid 18th century, soldiers from the garrison in Copenhagen were not quartered in barracks but boarded, usually two and two, with private families around the city. Personnel of the Royal Navy were quartered at Nyboder. In 1765, Frederick (V) ordered the construction of Sølvgade Barracks in the grounds of the former St. Ann's graveyard. Nicolas-Henri Jardin was charged with the design of the new installation which was completed in 1771 under the supervision of Christian Carl Pflueg.

The new barracks were met with opposition from the citizens of nearby Frederiksstaden who had lost an extra source of income. From 1775 the buildings were instead used as a military hospital (Frederiks Plejehus og Almindelig Hospital) but then in 1785 they once again came to serve as barracks. When space became too sparse in the facility, the Laurel House in Rosenborg Castle Gardens was converted into a new home for the Royal Life Guards, Rosenborg Barracks, which was inaugurated in 1786 to a design by military engineer Ernst Peymann

In 1926 the barracks were decommissioned and the complex was converted into a new headquarters for the Danish State Railways. The adaption of the buildings for their new use was carried out by Theodor Petersen between 1926 and 1929. In October 2011, DSB announced their intentions to sell their headquarters at Sølvgade and concentrate their activities at Kalvebod Brygge near Copenhagen Central Station.