The large and spacious building on the corner of Storegade and Louise Augustas Plads was built in 1885 by the last large grocer in town, Wilhelm Johan Burmeister.
It has many fine details and represents a typical German administration building in the so-called “Swiss chalet style”. The façade facing Storegade is in red bricks, while the other façades are in yellow bricks with patterns in red bricks and plastered niches.
The gable triangles are decorated with “owl holes” and dentil cornices. The roof has wide eaves, exposed beam ends and a low pitch. It is probably a knee-wall construction.
In 1888, Burmeister leased the building to the German Post Office, “Kaiserliche Post”. Until then, Storegade 9 had been the post office of the town.
Along the current pavement from Storegade to Slotsallé was the “Post Path”, which was fenced and bordered by the neighbouring properties Storegade 16 and 18. Both houses were demolished in 1965, when the municipality built the large car park.
The first two German postmasters did not change the building, but in 1912 a new postmaster named Otto Krämer added the west wing and staircase. Here the expanding telephone exchange was located. This provided more space in the post office and in the postmaster’s apartment, which was on the first floor. It also made the building more symmetrical, as it now appeared with two identical outer bays facing Storegade.
When Burmeister died in 1898, his wife continued as owner until 1920, when the house was purchased by the state for the Danish postal service.
The main entrance originally faced Storegade but was moved to its current location during a major renovation and modernisation in 1980. The postmaster’s residence on the first floor was converted into post and staff facilities. At the same time, the sorting of the post was moved up to the first floor, and a hoisting device that could transport the post upstairs was installed.
When the post office closed in 2001, it briefly served as a social psychiatric institution.
In 2010, KunstPunkt opened its doors for its first exhibition in the building. The idea was to start an art association and artists’ society for artistic amateurs.
Today, KunstPunkt is an association with 200 active artists. There is free admission to the exhibitions.
For the current programme and further information, please see https://kunstpunkt.dk/