Five and six storey brick tenements from the 1880s, and the Istedgade corner used in Det er nat med fru Knudsen.
What Vesterbro looks like
Five and six storey brick tenements run in straight rows west of the Central Station, most of them dating from the 1880s and 1890s. Plain brick facades sit close to the street, with shops filling the ground floors and narrow courtyards packed in behind each block. The street facades are largely original, and only the worst of the rear courtyard buildings ever came down.
runs the length of the district as its main strip, lined with bars, kebab shops and a fruit stand or two under striped awnings. Side streets like and repeat the same five storey block, with bay windows, turned corners and the odd projecting turret. cuts a straight green strip through the middle, grass and benches between two lanes of parked cars.
, the meatpacking district, sits at the eastern edge of Vesterbro and splits into three sections named for the colour of their walls. The White Kødby is a grid of white tiled halls from 1934 with wide loading yards between them. The Brown Kødby, nearer the station, is red brick from 1883. The smaller Grey Kødby still holds working meat businesses.
Shot in Vesterbro
Det er nat med fru Knudsen shot its corner scenes on Istedgade at Absalonsgade in 1971, facing west toward . The same five storey tenements still stand along the block down to the square. Olsen-banden ser rødt used Kødbyen itself in 1978, at Flæsketorvet 41 in the White Kødby.
Det er nat med fru Knudsen, 1971
The corner where Det er nat med fru Knudsen shot in 1971 faces west down Istedgade toward Enghave Plads. The street still runs as one straight commercial strip the whole way to the square. Street View
Olsen-banden ser rødt, 1978
Olsen-banden ser rødt shot at Kødbyen in 1978, on Flæsketorvet in the White Kødby. The same white tiled market halls and loading yard still stand around the square. Street View
Prenzlauer Berg's five storey Gründerzeit tenements went up in the same 1880s to 1900s window as Vesterbro's own blocks, with plain brick facades over ground floor shops. Rear courtyards behind the street wall match Vesterbro's own crowded yards. Berlin's cobbled sections and taller ceiling heights read differently in a wide shot, so tighter street level frames hold the match best. Try searching Gründerzeit tenement courtyards now.
Södermalm's five and six storey rental blocks date from the same 1880s to 1900s building boom and share plain brick facades over corner shops. The narrow streets between them keep a similar scale at ground level. Södermalm's hills and harbour views break the flat street line Vesterbro keeps, so a shot needs to stay off the ridge to hold the match. Try searching plain brick corner facades now.
The cobbled blocks around Gansevoort Street still carry the low brick market halls New York's own meatpacking trade built in the early 1900s, the closest match anywhere for Kødbyen's own halls and loading yards. Both grew up as purpose built livestock and meat markets in the same working period. Most of the New York halls now hold restaurants and shops behind glass storefronts, so a frame needs to stay tight on the brick and ironwork to avoid the retail signage. Try searching cobbled meatpacking market halls now.
