The Potato Rows are not just cozy brick houses and child-friendly cycle paths. The neighborhood also hides delightfully insane stories—especially from the days when it was still a mix of artist collective, family idyll, and slightly anarchic charm.
In the mid-2000s, an expressive visual artist and installation maker lived in one of the Potato Rows’ houses—we’ll call him Ruben. He was known in the neighborhood for exhibiting his own works in his front garden, painting with barbecue charcoal, and once illuminating his entire backyard with 137 LED lamps shaped like flashing apples.
Today’s Anecdote
The Ascended Sofa and the German Embassy
But his most outrageous project came one summer night, when he had been reading about “urban buoyancy” and declared: “My sofa must ascend to the heavens.”
Mission: Sofa Launch
With the help of a few overconfident architecture students, Ruben built a sort of improvised weather-balloon installation. The idea: to fasten his old, foul-smelling sofa to a sea of helium balloons and let it rise above the city rooftops as a flying artwork. A kind of “Banksy meets Peter Pan.”
And he did it. At 03:41 in the morning, the sofa lifted off. Slowly, majestically. It floated over Østre Anlæg and began drifting toward the city center.
People thought it was a PR stunt. One child on a bicycle supposedly said:
“Dad, I think God is throwing furniture now!”
And then it all went wrong.
The sofa did not land. It drifted across the King’s Garden—and struck the corner of the roof of the German Embassy on Kristianiagade. A guard saw it, hit the alarm, and suddenly the embassy’s full security protocol was in motion. They thought it was a political action—or worse: a creative threat.
The police were called. The sofa balloons were shot down (yes—by a security guard with a shotgun), and Ruben was later found back in the Potato Rows… sitting in a garden chair, staring at the sky and mumbling:
“It was free. For a moment.”
Ruben got off with a warning—and a strong request not to “launch household furniture over diplomatic buildings.” The remains of the sofa were returned in three bags and a sackful of punctured balloons. The embassy’s official statement?
“No diplomatic relations were harmed—only curtains and nerves.”
MORE ABOUT THE COFFEE
AFTERNOON CALM House Blend
Origin
Ascarive
coffee roast
Taste Notes
Dark chocolate,
roasted hazelnuts
Enjoy the rich aroma and flavour of Brazilian coffee with less caffeine—crafted for those who want the full experience without the strong stimulation. The blend brings together beans that highlight dark chocolate, roasted hazelnut, and gentle sweetness, carried by a velvety body. The result is a versatile, comforting coffee, perfect for easy mornings or relaxing evenings—where flavour and balance meet calm enjoyment.
