Childhood in Copenhagen

Niels’ father, Steen Pedersen, had his workshop on the corner of Klareboderne and Købmagergade. The house  no longer exists, but the spot is marked today by a plaque.  Klareboderne lies in the center of  Copenhagen, in the heart of the old city.  Despite bombardments and fires the general street plan of this part of Copenhagen is much the same today as it was then, and visitors to Copenhagen can see many of the same buildings and plazas and walk the same streets that Niels Steensen did.

One of Niels Steensen’s early childhood memories might well have been of the inauguration in 1642 of King Christian the IVth’s observatory, Rundetårn, just up the street from Klareboderne.