The street was created in the 16th century when the king redeveloped a portion of the garden of King John's Wine House in Vingårdsstræde. A row of narrow houses were constructed along the south side of the new street and let out to civil servants and lower-ranking court employees such as skippers and carpenters. It was known as the "King's Long Row". The street was initially simply called Kongensgade but received its current name when Ny Kongensgade was renamed Store Kongensgade to prevent confusion between the two streets. It is unclear exactly when the name change occurred. The Skippers' Guild House was from 1665 located in the street. The building was a half-timbered Rrnaissance-style building from 1606 with a large system of courtyards and rear wings. The Skippers' Guild sold the building in 1804 and relocated to the corner of Bremerholm and Holmens Kanal. The building in Lille Kongensgade was demolished in 1881/82. Many of the buildings on the north side of the street were rear wings associated with properties on the more prominent main street Østergade. An example was A. C. Gamél's property at Østergade 27 and Lille Kongensgade 33. It operated the first coffee roastery in Copenhagen in the courtyard. Vrødrene Andersen, a manufacturer of gentlemen's clothing, was located at No. Østergade 7-9/Lille Kongensgade 8-10 from 1916. Magasin du Nord purchased and demolished the houses at No. 3-11 in around 1910 to pave the way for an extension of the department store which was inaugurated in 1914. The rest of the houses on section between Kongens Nytorv and present-day Bremerholm were acquired in 1911. The four buildings at No. 23-29 were replaced by a low, one-storey extension. The small square Magasins Torv was created around the same time and this gave Magasin du Nord a second entrance which was visible from Strøget. The one-storey extension was heightened in 1959 and again in 1964.
Notable buildings
The buildings at No. 4, 6, 16 and 34 are listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places. No. 6 is from 1767 and houses the restaurant Skindbuksen. The building is nine bays wide and is crowned by a three-bay dormer. The four-bay townhouse at No. 6 was built over three storeys for metalsmith Ulrich Grab in 1675 and later heightened with one storey in 1770. The sixbay building at No. 16 is from 1877-1878 and replaced the smaller rear wing of the much older Karel van Mander House on Østergade. The low building at No. 34 was built for wine merchant Hendrich Nissen in 1728.
