Stærekassen

Stærekassen

New Stage
Stærekassen seen from Kongens Nytorv
Address	Kongens Nytorv Copenhagen Denmark
Coordinates	55°40′45″N 12°35′12″E / 55.6792°N 12.5868°E / 55.6792; 12.5868
Owner	Agency for Palaces and Cultural Properties (Denmark)
Designation	Listed in 1995
Type	Event venue (current)
Capacity	775 numbered seats
Construction
Opened	1931
Closed	2008
Architect	Holger Jacobsen

Stærekassen (lit. "The Starling Nest Box"), also known as Ny Scene (English: New Stage) is a theatre building annexed to the Royal Danish Theatre on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen, Denmark. It opened in 1931 to serve a dual purpose as an additional stage for the Royal Theatre and the first home of the new Danish Broadcasting Corporation. The colloquial name, which has now obtained official status, refers to the design of the stage tower in the shape of a box suspended above the street, and in the initial design proposals with a large round window high up as the dominating ornamental feature of the facade.

When the Danish Broadcasting Corporation was founded in 1925, it was based in very small premises on Købmagergade. The first director of the new State Radio was the chamber singer Emil Holm and one of his ambitions was to establish a radio symphony orchestre in Copenhagen. In 1928 the State Radio relocated to rented rooms in the Axelborg building on Vesterbrogade, a former bank headquarters, but the need for more suitable facilities, with proper broadcasting studios and a concert hall, soon became evident.

In the same time, the Royal Danish Theatre had been in need of more space ever since the inauguration of its new building in 1874, and in particular a venue which was better suited for the more Naturalistic plays. The past half century had seen a number of proposals for expansions and various existing buildings, such as the Dagmar Theatre, the Court Theatre and even Magasin du Nord, had been brought into play as a possible additional venue for the theatre. Architects such as Christian Hansen, Erik Bunch and Holger Jacobsen had published detailed proposals long before any competition was launched.