History
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Meet the Personalities behind La Glace
Conditori La Glace was founded the 8th of October 1870 in Skoubogade 3. Even today, the confectionary is still located at this address.

Fstrong>First generation
The founder was Nicolaus Henningsen who was born 1839 in Slesvig. In 1855, he was an apprentice to the confectioner Georg Cantiery in Flensborg and completed his apprenticeship 4 years later in 1859.

Nicolaus Henningsen arrived in Copenhagen in 1860, at the age of twenty-one, where he worked in different confectionaries. During the same year, Henningsen began his recipe book, written in German. The recipes were collected from different places where Nicolaus Henningsen had worked. Many of the recipes are still being used today by La Glace.

On the 8th of October, 1870, Henningsen opened his business in the basement of Skoubogade 3, by the name "Henningsens Kælder" or in English "Henningsen's Basement".

Nicolaus Henningsen married Anina Jørgensen in 1871. In 1874, Anina gave birth to their first son Nicolas. Two years later their second son, Theodor, arrived. Unfortunately, the older Nicolas Henningsen died a few months after the birth of his son in 1876. This was only six years after the foundation of the confectionary.

It was his young wife, at the age of twenty-six, who continued the shop. Anina was known for her beauty in regards to her frame, face, and beautiful hair. She knew how to dress. Anina purchased her clothes at many places including "Børre og Lorentzen" on Østergade. The rumour was that she always showed up at the shop in a silk dress.

In 1881, Anina Henningsen remarried. Her husband was Thorvald Schrøder, who was an employee of "Børre og Lorentzen". It seems plausible that her interest in silk and fabric was part of the reason why this acquaintance began.

In the 75 year anniversary script of 1945, Anina Henningsen was spoken of: The Masters wife was standing behind the counter and surveying the superb treatment of the guests. And with the sweets and cakes, there was also her charm, smiling kindness, and great beauty that ensured the Copenhagen success. Anina Henningsen was known as the beautiful lady of Skoubogade by "Tout Copenhague". A name that was so powerful and sounded so good that is was, not undeserved, inherited by her daughter in law and carried with honour until her death in May 1944.

Thorvald Schrøder was a gifted man, who with life and soul continued the business that he had entered into. He travelled out into the great world and saw how modern confectionaries could be run. He visited Hamburg, Paris, Dresden, and probably Vienna. At home in 1896, he decorated the tall living room over the basement as an extra shop and café. Everything was decorated in white with gold. Behind the counter was a large mirror. Thru an opening in the back wall, there was access to a café room with marble tables on golden feet and Vienna chairs with woven seats. Some of the tables that today are in the lower living rooms are from this period. It was also in the time of Thorvald Schrøder that the name of the confectionary was changed to La Glace and the store received the phone number "Centralen 4646".

Nicolaus Henningsen, the younger, finished his apprenticeship in La Glace and in 1906 married Mariane who had worked at the store since 1898.

Thorvald Schrøder died in 1909 and once again it was the widow Anina that continued running the stop until 1915. At that time, Nicolaus and Mariane Henningsen took over the running of La Glace. Anina Henningsen died in 1925.

Sstrong>Second Generation
Nicolaus Henningsen lived life to the fullest. He knew how to combine his work life and party life. He was a lover of music and composed marches for the Royal Guard. Thru the streets of Copenhagen, the Confectioner March and the Mariane March were played. Mariane Henningsen was also very artistic and enjoyed writing poems and songs. It was also Mariane who, in Neuruppiner style, wrote a song for a party at an artist's home. The song became popular and also became a sort of theme song for Conditori La Glace.

"Kager, Kunst og Kærlighed Kvæler al Besværlighed", or in English "Cakes and Art and Love each day – makes all troubles fade away ".

In 1943, Nicolaus Henningsen died and in this generation it was also the widow who continued running the business. Only one year passed before Mariane also died. None of the two lived to see the end of the war, the restrictions, and the difficulties in running a confectionary with a tradition for high quality.

Tstrong>Third Generation
After the death of Mariane Henningsen, the son Eric Henningsen and the daughter Rigmor Henningsen continued running Conditori La Glace. In 1963, Eric Henningsen died and left no children. Rigmor Henningsen died recently at the age of 97.

Rigmor Henningsen, at the age of 65, decided to sell the business. The buyer was Aage Larsen, a trained confectioner and former owner of Marstrand on Købmagergade.

Tstrong>The Middle Man
Aage Larsen was thorough. Conditori La Glace was having difficulties so it was necessary to make some improvements and rationalizations. He was very effective in his ambition to once again make La Glace a well functioning business. The production of chocolate was halted and many employees were cut. Some of the changes were needed and others were trivial. In any case, La Glace became a healthy and strong business due to the work of Aage Larsen and his wife Gurli.

Fstrong>Fourth Generation
In 1978, Aage Larsen sold Conditori La Glace to Attorney Merethe Stagetorn. It was her husband, Lawyer Ove Stagetorn, who had been negotiation for a foreign client that was interested in purchasing the estate. The client was not interested in putting down a large sum of money in goodwill. The negotiations stopped; however, Ove Stagetorn knew that it was a good business with loyal employees. Aage Larsen was against the idea of selling to someone not in the confection business. It took almost a year before the pieces came together. Merethe Stagetorn had no experience running a confectionary. But the business continued with the same spirit thanks to faithful employees led by Head Confectioner Ebbe Jepsen who had been working at La Glace for a number of years. Merethe Stagetorn completely involved herself in all the traditions of the confectionary and was interested in obtaining all the knowledge she could about the confection business. For the first time in history, the spouse was not involved in every day life of Conditori La Glace.

Fstrong>Fifth Generation
After eleven years as owner, Merethe Stagetorn sold Conditori La Glace to her daughter Marianne Stagetorn on the 1st of July 1989. Marianne Stagetorn was 22 years old and pursuing a business degree in small business which she completed in 1990. She realized that this was a job for life and soon began her apprenticeship in 1990 as a confectioner in La Glace. She graduated in February 1993 with honours. Marianne married Peter Kolos in 1991. Her husband has his own company and is therefore not involved in the running of Conditori La Glace. Since then, three potential heirs have arrived; Maria born 1995, Andreas born 1996, and Laura born 1998.