The location of the Kvæsthus seen on a map detail from the 1690s
The street takes its name after the Kvæsthus, a military hospital, which relocated to the site in 1680. It is known that a hospital for boatsmen was founded in 1618 and it was then most likely situated at the Church of Holmen. It was moved to Gothersgade in 1628 and again in 1658 to Sejlhuset at Bremerholm. In 1668, the hospital moved to Børnehuset in Christianshavn and in 1675 to Guldhuset in Rigensgade.[1]
Kvæsthuset in c. 1750
The name Kvæsthus was introduced with the inauguration of the new building for the institution at the corner of present day Kvæsthusgade and Sankt Annæ Plads in 1685. It was designed by Hans van Steenwinckel the Youngest. The institution was later split into a Søkvæsthus for the Navy which remained in the old building and a Landkvæsthus for the Army, which took over Københavns Ladegård, a former farm under Copenhagen Castle.[2]
The naval hospital relocated to the so-called Søkvæsthuset building on Christianshavn in 1777. The building in Kvæsthusgade was then for a while used as a warehouse for textiles that arrived to Copenhagen by ship. In 1827, the building came into use as military barracks. In 1872, it was acquired by DFDS. An area on the east side of the street was reclaimed and the Kvæsthusbroen Pier was built to increase the quayside area and the number of ships that could dock at the site.[3]
No. 1 was built in 1884-1886 with cellar og three storeys for J. P. von Osten. It was later used as headquarters for Em. Z. Svitzers Bjergningsenterprise.[4]
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