Bakkehusmuseet

About the museum

The Bakkehus was built around 1674 as a country inn on the highway to Roskilde and is regarded as the oldest surviving building in Frederiksberg. The man of letters and critic Knud Lyne Rahbek lived here from 1780, first as a summer guest and from 1787 permanently, and acquired the property in 1802, a few years after his marriage to Karen Margrethe "Kamma" Heger.

In the first decades of the 19th century, the couple made the house a center of cultural life in the Danish Golden Age. Their guests included writers, artists, and scholars, among them Adam Oehlenschläger and the young H.C. Andersen, with whom Kamma Rahbek formed a friendship.

After a first small exhibition was approved in 1903, the house opened on June 3, 1925, as a memorial museum for the Rahbeks. In 1935, the historian Louis Bobé donated the house to the municipality of Frederiksberg; since 2013 it has been part of the Frederiksbergmuseerne. The collection comprises around 12,000 letters and manuscripts from the 18th and 19th centuries. In 2017, the restored Romantic garden and an octagonal orangery opened.

In September 2025, the museum was closed as a precaution because of elevated mold levels in several rooms; no date for reopening has been set yet.

Highlights

• Historic living quarters of the Rahbek couple
• Romantic garden modeled on Kamma Rahbek's
• Eventyrakademiet: hands-on space around H.C. Andersen's fairy tales
• Collection of around 12,000 letters and manuscripts
• Café in the octagonal orangery

Permanent exhibitions

• Rahbeks historiske stuer – Furnished living quarters showing the life of the Rahbek couple and their circle in the Golden Age.
• Eventyrakademiet – Interactive exhibition on the friendship between Kamma Rahbek and H.C. Andersen, in which children and adults get creative with fairy tales.
• Kamma Rahbeks romantiske have – Restored garden in the Romantic style with an orangery.

Founded

1925

Operated by

Frederiksbergmuseerne

Admission & discounts

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: not available
• Accessible restroom: not available
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Wheelchair users can enter the house from the garden side using a mobile ramp but need a companion; please let the staff know on arrival. No elevator – staff will help carry walkers up to the upper floor. No accessible restroom. Only guide dogs for the blind and certified assistance dogs are allowed.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Hands-on stations

The Eventyrakademiet is aimed mainly at families with children: writing with quill and ink, shadow theater, recording your own fairy tales in the "H.C. Studio," and acting out fairy tales. Currently not accessible because of the closure.

Getting there & parking

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Bakkehusets Orangeri in the garden with coffee as well as rolls and croissants from its own bakery; in summer, communal dinners at long tables in the garden. Museum shop online.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties: not available
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies: not available

The newly furnished rooms can be rented for meetings, corporate seminars, photo shoots, and other non-private purposes; private parties are excluded.

Plan your visit