Kristen Bernikows Gade

Kristen Bernikows Gade is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It extends north from the major shopping street Strøget to Grønnegade where it turns into Gammel Mønt. Together with Bremerholm, its extension to the south, it forms one of only two places where car traffic crosses pedestrianized Strøget on its way from Kongens Nytorv to the City Hall Square, the other being at Gammeltorv- Nytorv.
History.
In the Middle Ages, the site was an open sewer which continued to the harbor. In 1547, it was decided to convert it into a narrow alley. In 1607, Christian Barnekow (1556-1612), one of Christian IV's men, who acquired a property at the beginning of the street. The alley was from 1520 known as Christen Bernekousstræde and later a Kristen Bernikows Gade.
The department store Chrom & Gldschmit opened on the corner with Østergade (Strøget) in 1887. In 1897, two developers, J. Fisker and A. Volmer, purchased the buildings long the street. An initial proposal for a renewal of the buildings along the street by the architects Henrik Hagemann and Alfred Møller was not used. A competition launched in 1900 was won by Christian Arntzen and Erik Schiødte. The street was widened and all buildings replaced by new ones over the next few years. Crome & Goldschmidt existed until 1971. A new shopping arcade, Cityarkaden, opened in the building in 1974 and existed until 2004.
Notable buildings and residents.
Chrom & Goldschmidt's former building now houses the shopping arcade Galleri K. The building on the other side of the street (No. 2), Cityhus, was designed by Erik Schiødte and Christian Arntzen. The building contains a covered shopping arcade which was created in 1988. Schiødte also designed Barnekowhus at No. 4.
The tabloid "BT" is based in the BT House (No. 8) on the corner with Grønnegade. The building was completed in 1995 and is designed by Henning Larsen.
Today, Kristen Bernikows Gade 1 houses the Embassy of Canada as well as the Danish affiliate of the international media agency group GroupM.