Meet the owner of the world’s oldest gay bar
Inside Copenhagen’s Centralhjørnet, the world’s oldest gay bar, owner Kenny Hoffland keeps a 108-year legacy alive with drag shows, disco balls, and a vision of queer nightlife that’s inclusive for everyone.
Kenny Hoffland’s bar in Copenhagen, Centralhjørnet, has many things.
Rainbow lights woven between about a hundred tiny disco balls – a combination that massages colorful hues into the bar’s brown interior. Long tables and chairs that hug the outline of the bar where both LGBTQ+ and straight patrons sit. There’s even a scent of tobacco in the air because, yes, smoking is allowed.
But the Hoffland’s bar is special for another reason: it’s the oldest gay bar in the world, officially opened in 1917, and Hoffland is the latest owner to carry on its 108 year legacy.
Coming to Centralhjørnet
Hoffland’s journey to becoming the owner of Centralhjørnet began after he sold a wine business he owned in Jutland. After then moving to Copenhagen in 2003, Hoffland “tried everything” until 2008 when he walked into a drag show in Centralhjørnet. The rest was history.
“I started cleaning in the morning and then was in the bar for a few hours in the afternoon,” Hoffland says.
Hoffland became the owner of Centralhjørnet in 2022 after its former proprietor and one of his best friends decided to retire. But that hasn’t stopped the two from performing in drag shows hosted at the bar.
A Drag Queen Struts into a Bar
“When we do a show together we call ourselves En Tyk Med Det Halve,” Hoffland says.
Hoffland started doing drag in 2004, a year after moving to Copenhagen, helped by a background in theatre he got in Jutland.
The duo’s name is a playful reference to Copenhagen’s pølsevogn [sausage carts] — and to Hoffland’s past, when he was “25 kilos larger.” He says their name means “two big sausages with everything”.
Their routine usually consists of “live singing and taking the piss on people”.
Copenhagen’s Gay Scene
Centralhjørnet and the other gay bars of Copenhagen are all located within a short walk of one another, on a map it sort of looks like a triangle. According to Hoffland, it’s hard to open a gay bar outside of the shape.
“A lot of people try to open gay bars outside of that area and they all fail,” Hoffland says. “It’s convenience, you don’t want to get in a taxi to go somewhere.”
However, a smaller LGBTQ+ bar scene is something that Hoffland says makes the community there special. He says “everyone knows everyone in some kind of way.”
Looking Ahead
Hoffland describes Centralhjørnet as a “straight friendly gay bar” and has attributed this inclusion to the bar’s longevity.
“I talk to elderly gay guys and that’s the only thing we’ve been fighting for is to be able to live a normal life like anyone else without having to worry about anything,” Hoffland says.
“That’s the goal.”
