{{Short description|Area of Copenhagen, Denmark}} [[Image:Asiatisk Plads, Copenhagen.jpg|thumb|300px|Asiatisk Plads seen from the [[Inner Harbour, Copenhagen|Inner Harbour]]]] '''Asiatisk Plads''' is a waterfront area by the [[Inner Harbour, Copenhagen|Inner Harbour]] in the [[Christianshavn]] neighbourhood of [[Copenhagen]], [[Denmark]]. It is bounded by Torvegade to the south, next to [[Knippelsbro|Knippel Bridge]], Strandgade to the east and the [[Gammel Dok (building)|Old Dock]] area to the north. It takes its name from the [[Danish Asiatic Company]] which was based at the site from its foundation in 1732 until 1843 when it was dissolved. The [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Denmark)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] is now based in the area, in a purpose-built office complex from 1980 as well as in the surviving buildings of the Danish Asiatic Company, its former head office and two converted warehouses, all of which are listed. Asiatisk Plads is frequently used as a [[metonymy|metonym]] for the Ministry.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} <!-- Related to the metonym claim. -->
==History== ===Danish Asiatic Company=== [[File:Asiatisk kompagni.jpg|thumb|200px|left|The Danish Asiatic Company painted by [[Johannes Rach|Johannes Rach & H.H. Eegberg]] ]] Danish Asiatic Company was founded in 1732 as a replacement for the [[Danish East India Company]] which had been dissolved in 1729. A head office for the company was built at a site just south of [[Gammel Dok (building)|Old Dry Dock]] in 1738 to a design by [[Philip de Lange]]. The complex was later expanded with the addition of two warehouses.
===Jacob Holm & Sønner=== [[File:PTP Strandgade - Asiatisk Kompagnis Bygning.jpg|thumb|200px|Danish Asiatic Company seen from the street in a painting from c. 1888]] The Danish Asiatic Company was dissolved in 1843 and the company's premises at Christianshavn were then acquired by [[Jacob Holm (industrialist)|Jacob Holm]], owner both of a shipyard and what had grown to be the largest shipping company in the country at the time.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/928233.pdf |title=Danmarks ældste forretninger, m.m. - Jacob Holm & Sønner|language=da|publisher=Krak}}</ref>
===Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs=== The southern part of the grounds was redeveloped in 1978-1980 when a new home was built for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to designs by Haldor Gunnløgson (1918–1985) and Jørn Nielsen (1919–1996). The complex consists of three buildings with gables facing the water in accordance with the traditions for warehouses. Their monotonous Modernist designs have been heavily criticized.<ref name=indenforvoldene.dk/>
==Architecture== ===Strandgade 25=== Philip de Lange's former head office for the Danish Asia Company is designed in the [[Baroque architecture|Late Baroque]] style. The facade is decorated with a relief, probably by [[Johann Christoph Petzold]], featuring [[Neptune]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kobenhavnshistorie.dk/bog/kko/a/kko_a-38.html|title=Asiatisk Plads|language=da|publisher=Selskabet for Københavns Historie|access-date=2012-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406013139/http://www.kobenhavnshistorie.dk/bog/kko/a/kko_a-38.html|archive-date=2012-04-06|url-status=dead}}</ref>
A short wall with a gate connects the building to a warehouse which was built at the neighbouring site in 1781 to a design by J. B. Schottmann. To achieve symmetry, the warehouse has a facade similar to that of the head office in terms of proportions and facade pattern while it is a typical warehouse as seen from the water.<ref name=indenforvoldene.dk>{{cite web|url=http://indenforvoldene.dk/strandgade%2025%20-%20asiatisk%20plads%202.html|title=Strandgade 25/Asiatisk Plads 2|publisher=indenforvoldene.dk|access-date=2012-10-29}}</ref>
===Eigtved's Warehouse=== [[File:Danish Foreign Ministry 1.jpg|thumb|Asiatisk Plads]] The site also includes the Eigtved Warehouse which was built for the Danish Asia Company from 1748 to 1750. It is named after its architect, [[Nicolai Eigtved]], who was responsible for the planning of [[Frederiksstaden]] around the same time as well as for many prominent buildings such as [[Amalienborg Palace]].
===Modern buildings=== [[Erik Møller]] Architects refurbished all three buildings and adapted them to the needs of the Foreign Ministry between 1979 and 1982.<ref name=indenforvoldene.dk/>
==Public art, monuments and memorials== [[File:ASIATISK pLADS - MINDETAVLER.jpg|thumb|Commemorative plaques.]] The quay features three abstract sculptures by [[Søren Georg Jensen]]: The Cyclop (''Kyklopen''), The Long Journey (''Den Lange Rejse'') and Figurehead (''Galionsfigur'').
[[Bright Bimpong]]'s sculpture ''Freedom'' was installed on the guay in 2019. Iy symbolizes the enslaved Africans rebellion qaginst Denmark<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hovedstadshistorie.dk/christianshavn/asiatisk-plads/|title=Asiatisk Plads|language=Danish|website=hovedstadshistorie.dk|accessdate=15 September 2019}}</ref>
Two plaques commemorate [[:da:Frits-Johan Blichfeldt Møller|Frits-Johan Blichfeldt Møller]] and [[:da: Hans Jørgen Henry Christiansen|Hans Jørgen Henry Christiansen]], two members of the Danish resistance movement, who were shot on the site by the Germans during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://modstand.natmus.dk/PersonBiografi.aspx?9604|title=Biografi af Frits Johan Blichfeldt Møller|language=Danish|publisher=National Museum of Denmark|accessdate=15 September 2019}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Wilders Plads]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Asiatisk Plads}}
{{Christianshavn, Copenhagen}}
[[Category:Christianshavn]] [[Category:Streets in Christianshavn]] [[Category:Danish Asiatic Company]] [[Category:Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Denmark)]]