Bakkehuset

A private visit to the Danish Golden Age
In the first decades of the 1800s, Bakkehuset was buzzing with life and conversations between the married couple Kamma and Knud Lyne Rahbek, who opened their home to writers, artists and scientists of the time. Here, among others, H.C. Andersen and Adam Oehlenschläger frequently visited to share great thoughts, discuss and be inspired. The private home in Frederiksberg was a central corner of the literary and cultural-historical environment that characterised the Danish Golden Age.

The historic rooms
Bakkehuset is an authentic Golden Age home decorated with furniture and decorations from the first part of the 19th century. Four of the museum’s living rooms look much as they did in the time of the Rahbekks, and the front room of the museum displays objects that belonged to the couple. Here you can also see examples of the small, artistic boxes that Kamma Rahbek herself created, sometimes together with guests of the house.

Two other rooms are designed as memorial rooms for the poets Johannes Ewald and Adam Oehlenschläger. Johannes Ewald was one of Knud Lyne Rahbek’s great literary role models. However, he never got to visit the home in Frederiksberg himself, as he died before Rahbek moved in. Adam Oehlenschläger was a close friend of Bakkehuset and also met his wife, Christiane, Kamma Rahbek’s younger sister, here.

Kamma and Knud Lyne Rahbek
Knud Lyne Rahbek was one of the most prominent literary personalities of the period. As a professor of literature, literary critic, magazine publisher, author and co-director of the Royal Theatre, he knew the people who shaped the Golden Age’s understanding of literature and art.

His wife Kamma Rahbek was a creative and intellectual woman who spoke seven languages and had a deep interest in astronomy, music and botany. She shared her husband’s passion for literature, and together they dedicated their time and love to cultural life. As a hostess, she also became the centre of the home and support for the young writers and budding poets who found a meeting place and sanctuary in the couple’s home.

Frederiksberg’s oldest building
Dating back to the 1600s, Bakkehuset is considered to be the oldest building in Frederiksberg. The name refers to its location on Frederiksberg Bakke. Before Bakkehuset opened as a museum in 1925, the house was for many years a country inn and later ideal for rural summer holidays, which became fashionable among the educated and wealthy bourgeoisie in the 1700s. In 2002, the museum opened a new wing where Kamma Rahbek’s kitchen was reconstructed.

The first floor of the museum is home to temporary exhibitions and the permanent art space The New Corner Room, which is a contemporary reflection of Rahbek’s historic living room just downstairs. The museum is surrounded by public grounds and a private museum garden.

Bakkehuset is part of the Frederiksberg Museums, which also includes STORM, Cisternerne and Møstings.