Rosenborg Castle History

The castle was commissioned by the Danish king, Christian IV. Rosenborg Castle, originally a summerhouse, was built in 1606 and reflects a Dutch Renaissance style, with red brick and gray sandstone.

The castle houses a cultural history museum that contains royal collections, tapestries, and artifacts representing Danish culture from the 15th to 19th centuries, including the crown jewels, the Danish crown regalia, and a coronation carpet. The museum also hosts special exhibitions throughout the year. Traktørstedet, a restaurant, and café lies adjacent to the castle.

It is located in KongensHave (“The King’s Garden”), or Rosenborg Castle Garden, in Copenhagen. The castle garden is the oldest royal garden in Denmark and a very popular tourist attraction, with over 2.5 million people visiting them every year.

Although the castle is a royal one, it was the seat of the Danish kings only until 1710. After that year the castle was used by the Danish Royal family only when emergencies occurred.

Rosenborg Castle Location

Rosenborg Castle is located in Copenhagen, Denmark at the following address: Øster Voldgade 4A 1350 København, Danemarca. Use this map to get directions.

Rosenborg Castle Map

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In spite of later alterations, the Kronborg Palace is essentially the creation of Frederick II and the outstanding symbol of his royal power.

The original Krogen or ‘Ørekrog’ was laid out in the 1420s by Erik of Pomerania.

A high curtain wall with wall walks and a gatehouse enclosed three stone buildings: the royal residence at the northeast, the palace and ceremonial hall at the southwest, and, to the southeast, a building that probably contained the chapel.

By the mid-16th century, the fortifications were obsolete, and new plans were ordered from Hans von Diskow but they were only partially realized. From 1574 Frederick started a fresh project and rebuilt Krogen, adding projecting bastions and curtain walls, under the direction of Hans van Paeschen.

The name was changed to ‘Kronborg’ in 1577, the year that Antonis van Obberghen replaced van Paeschen. By 1585 the castle had become a magnificent royal residence and one of the strongest fortresses in northern Europe: a symbol of Danish royal power, erected with funds from foreign merchant ships.

Kronborg was repaired by Christian IV after fire damage in 1629 and sacked and occupied by the Swedes between 1658 and 1660.

In the 18th century, the Kronborg fortress was extended and the castle was restored, serving as a garrison from 1785 to 1924; the palace chapel was restored from 1838 to 1843. Other restorations were carried out from 1866 to 1897 and from 1925 to 1937. In 1915 the Trade and Shipping Museum was installed in the north wing.

The plan of Kronborg Castle was determined by its predecessor, which it effectively encapsulated, its outer surround corresponding to the medieval curtain. Frederick II’s rebuilding began with the great cannon tower over the southern part of the palace, while the old royal residence was extended to the west for the Castellan’s apartments and the administrative offices. The castle chapel was installed in the south wing.

By 1579 a third story had been added to the south wing to accommodate the tremendous ceremonial hall, and the octagonal stair-tower heightened and equipped with a balcony for trumpeters.

The other wings were then raised to match. The fourth wing to the east, facing the Öresund, was built as a narrow, three-story connecting corridor, with closed galleries in the upper two stories, leading directly from the queen’s apartments to the chapel and the ballroom.

The castle was originally built with red brick walls and sandstone details; from 1580, beginning with the south wing, it was faced with sandstone. The roof tiles were replaced with copper.

The finished building was a four-wing complex, crowned by the wall walks between the towers with their pointed spires. Its medieval core is apparent in the uneven depth of the wings and the irregularity of the window axes.

Renaissance ideas are confined to the architectural details, of which the finest are the rusticated ground floor on the courtyard side of the east wing and the classically composed display gable façade of the south wing with the corner tower ‘Kakkelborg’. In addition to the architectural ornament, these parts display figural sculptures (Classical gods, Old Testament kings, and Christian Virtues) celebrating the king’s might. The king’s status as the ruler of the seas provided the theme of the bronze Neptune fountain, supplied by Georg Labenwolf in 1583.

The only main room to survive is the palace chapel (consecrated 1582), an aisled hall whose vault is supported by Tuscan columns with pronounced entasis. The ballroom above lost its carved wooden ceiling, wall paintings, and two alabaster and marble fireplaces in the fire of 1629, but it has been reconstructed in all its imposing dimensions.

Christian IV’s rebuilding of 1631–1637 under Hans van Steenwinckel included alterations to the spires and dormers and in the royal apartments new doorframes, fireplaces, and ceiling paintings by Hans’s brother Morten Steenwinckel (1595–1646) as well as ceiling paintings (1635) by Gerrit van Honthorst. For the ballroom, the largest project, the King ordered ceiling paintings to supplement Knieper’s tapestries, showing heroic episodes from Denmark’s history

Kronborg is a masterpiece of the Netherlandish Renaissance, designed by Netherlandish architects and including Netherlandish decorative influences. During the 1570s and 1580s, it provided work for numerous Netherlanders, especially after the fall of Antwerp in 1576.

Kronborg was thus the main port of entry for Netherlandish influence on Renaissance architecture and painting in Denmark. Through the illustrations in Braun and Hogenberg’s Civitatis orbis terrarum the castle became known throughout Europe, as may be seen in William Shakespeare’s setting of Hamlet there.

Kronborg Castle Location

To reach the Kronborg Castle follow the map provided below, to the following address: Kronborg, Helsingør, 3000, Denmark.

Kronborg Castle Map

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Frederiksborg Castle History

The medieval village of Hillerød can be deduced from the first mention, in 1275, of a manor house, Hillerødsholm, built on an islet in a marshy area surrounded by forests.

In 1560 King Frederick II acquired Hillerødsholm and converted it into a royal residence, renaming it Frederiksborg. The plan of the existing castle is still based on Frederick’s hunting lodge, with the buildings disposed on three islets in an artificial lake (dammed in the 1560s).

The servants’ buildings on the first islet have been preserved, with heavy corner towers at the north bearing the King’s motto and the date 1562 in iron ties.

Other surviving buildings include the pantry wing (the 1580s), on the west bank in front of the third islet, and the baths, built by Hans Floris in the park northwest of the lake.

The buildings are of red brick, with some stepped gables and details in light sandstone, following Netherlandish building traditions, which are most pronounced in the baths.

Records, excavations, and two views by Hans Knieper—one on a tapestry, which originally hung in the ballroom at Kronborg Castle, Helsingør, and the other on a panel painting, originally at Frederiksborg Castle(Mariefred, Gripsholm Slott)—show that the royal residence was on the third islet; it was a double house, probably already in existence and altered in 1575 by the King.

On the middle islet, there was a large half-timbered kitchen building with, facing west, a chapel embellished with Italianate Renaissance gables.

Christian IV, who was born at Frederiksborg, probably planned to convert the manor into a princely residence in a European manner soon after his accession. In 1599 work began on a pleasure palace known as Sparepenge (destroyed in 1720), which served as a temporary residence on the north bank of the lake from 1602 to 1611 while the main castle was being built on the third islet.

The quadrangular castle was built in phases to 1623: first the royal residence to the north, then the west wing with the chapel (interior arranged 1608–1617) beneath the ballroom, as in Kronborg Castle, and finally the princesses’ wing and the low terrace wing to the south.

At the outbreak of the Kalmar War (1611–1613), the main exterior was completed, and there followed three new buildings on the middle islet: the house of the lord of the manor, the chancellery, and a huge gate tower by the bridge to the first islet, where the buildings from Frederick II’s reign were allowed to remain to stand, contrary to the original intentions.

The first architect of Christian IV’s castle is unknown. Hans van Steenwinckel I, whose son Hans II was attached to the building program from 1614, has been suggested, but only the names of the leading craftsmen, including Jørgen Friborg ( fl 1588–1625) and Caspar Boegaert (d 1612), are mentioned in the records.

The apparent lack of a chief architect until after the Kalmar War may explain the inconsistencies in planning.

The French-inspired plan of the castle’s main building with its cour donner opening axially onto the basse-cour of the middle islet, above the low terrace wing, was only partially achieved because neither Sparepenge nor the old buildings on the first islet are on the north–south main axis.

In the main castle building the symmetrical requirements of the Renaissance style are broken by the large clock tower on the chapel wing, while the three wings are effectively independent houses superficially merged to form a whole.

There are numerous instances of improvisations and changes during building.

The Frederiksborg Castle thus combines old and new. The exterior, like its predecessor, is in Netherlandish Renaissance style, red brick buildings with sandstone details, embellished by sweeping gables and imaginative spires.

The resulting picturesque quality was evidently more important than the rigorous requirements of symmetry.

Moreover, of the greatest importance for the builder was the lavish sculptural decoration, which glorifies Christian IV as the leading Protestant prince through themes from astrology and ancient mythology (the Mint gate-house, the terrace wing and marble gallery, and the Neptune Fountain of 1615–24 by Adriaen de Vries; original now Stockholm, Drottningholms Slott) and ancient Roman and Danish history (e.g. pedestal statues of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, and emperors and legendary kings in the window gables).

This triumphal process culminates in the chapel, the entire decoration of which can be seen as a demonstration of the King’s theocratic princely ideal.

The chapel, with its gallery system, represents a further development of the architectural traditions from the Protestant princely chapel of the 16th century (e.g. in Germany at Schloss Hartenfels, Torgau, and Schloss Wilhelmsburg, Schmalkalden) and is closely related to the recently built chapel at Koldinghus Castle, Jutland.

It is the only stateroom to be almost entirely preserved from the time of the castle’s original building.

The ballroom, with its tapestries by Karel van Mander II (c. 1579–1623) depicting Christian IV’s coronation and victories in the Kalmar War (now only partially known through copy drawings of 1858 by Heinrich Hansen (1821–90) and Frederick Christian Lund (1826–1901)), and the King’s private oratory, installed and decorated from 1615 to 1620 in the north end of the chapel, with paintings by Pieter Lastman, Adriaen van Nieulandt, and others, were destroyed by fire in 1859 and can be reconstructed only from early descriptions and representations prior to that date.

In 1659 Frederiksborg was occupied by the Swedes, who removed several art treasures, including the Neptune Fountain (replaced in 1888 by a copy).

The interior of the Mint gate-house and the secret passage, added to the west side of the main palace building from 1612, was redecorated as an audience chamber in 1681–8 in glorification of the absolute monarch Christian V by his chief architect, Lambert van Haven. In 1720 a formal garden in the French style was laid out north of the lake (where Sparepenge was formerly situated) by Johan Cornelius Krieger.

The kings now resided at Frederiksborg rarely, and it was only with the onset of 19th-century Romanticism that the building became a commemorative castle to the glorious past of Denmark–Norway, and a royal residence once again under Frederick VII (1848–1863). The fire in the main castle in 1859, however, spared only the chapel and the gatehouse. This was felt to be a national catastrophe, and a rebuilding program was soon started under the direction of Ferdinand Meldahl.

In 1875 the exterior of the main palace was essentially completed, and in 1877 the Nationalhistoriske Museum på Frederiksborg was established at the initiative of the brewer Jacob Christian Jacobsen, under whose direction the interior was reconstructed with funding from his newly established Carlsberg Foundation.

The town of Hillerød was always dependent on the castle since it was difficult to persuade people to settle in that remote, wooded region. It became a place of residence for building workers, courtiers, and foreign guests, and the castle chapel was its parish church from 1631.

Owing to the fires of 1692, 1733, and 1834 no significant historic buildings have been preserved from before the Neo-classical period of the early 19th century, the most important example of which is the former grammar school (1834) by Jørgen Hansen Koch (1787–1860).

Among more characteristic buildings from the second half of the 19th century, the most important is by Vilhelm Holck (1856–1936) in a historicist style inspired by Christian IV’s Renaissance castle(e.g. the town hall, built 1887–8, and the ‘Sparekassen’ bank, built 1898–1900).

Frederiksborg Castle Location

Frederiksborg Castle is located at the following address: Slotsgade 54, 3400 Hillerød, Denmark. Use this map to get help with directions:

Frederiksborg Castle Map

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Fredensborg Palace is situated 40 km northwest of Copenhagen, Denmark.

The summer residence of the Danish court was originally a hunting seat, built between 1719 and 1722 for Frederick IV.

Fredensborg Palace History

The Fredensborg Castle comprised a corps-de-logis and an octagonal forecourt surrounded by single-story buildings. The corps-de-logis, the nucleus of the layout, is a centralized building with a square hall in the middle, two stories high and surmounted by a four-sided cupola.

The plan of the building is derived from the Palladian villa type, but the shape of the cupola gives the exterior a French rather than Italian appearance. The central hall is undoubtedly inspired by a similar room in the Palazzo Albergati in Bologna, attributed to Baldassare Peruzzi, which Frederick visited twice.

The original building was gradually enlarged by the addition of other structures, for example, a chapel wing placed between an orangery and a guest house connecting the corps-de-logis with the stables.

This wing was erected in 1742, together with ten smaller buildings that flanked the entrance to the castle. In 1741 the second story of the corps-de-logis was raised, and the four minaret-like chimneys were built.

From 1754 to 1756 the main building was augmented with four pavilions at the corners, with a link building between the two of them. The final alteration took place in 1774–1776 when the forecourt buildings were raised by one story.

Fredensborg Denmark Location

Fredensborg is located 40 km northwest of Copenhagen, Denmark. Get help with directions using the map provided bellow

Fredensborg Denmark Map

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A two-kilometer-long (1.2 miles) canal with eight bridges encircles the palace. The castle houses the Royal Reception Rooms, Queen’s Library, audience chambers, Sovereign in Council Rooms, Knight’s Hall, Throne Room, Chapel, Danish Parliament (Folketing), Supreme Court, and the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Riding Ground Complex is surrounded by the Royal stables and contains the Theatre Museum and the equestrian statue of King Christian IX. The Danish Royal Library Gardens also lies in close proximity to the palace.

Christiansborg Palace – History

The first building on the current site of Christiansborg Palace dates back to as early as 1167 when Absalon’s castle was built here. It was destroyed in 1369 by the Hansa League. It currently is in ruins, but given its age, the ruins are well preserved.

Soon after Absalon’s castle was destroyed a new castle was built in its place, the Copenhagen Castle (Københavns Slot). This new castle was the property of the Bishop of Roskilde until 1417 when Eric VII occupied it and transformed it into a royal residence. Copenhagen castle underwent many restorations made under Christian IV and Frederick IV, but these weren’t all successful, as in the 1720’s the walls started to loosen.

Thus King Christian VI demolished Copenhagen Castle and a new palace complex was built in its place, the Christiansborg Palace. It was a big palace built in the baroque style, but it did not last for long as in 1794 it was destroyed by a fire.

The second Christiansborg castle building started in 1803 and was completed in 1828. This palace was used as a Royal residence for only 11 years by King Frederick VII. Just like the first building it burnt down in 1884, although some parts, like the chapel of the palace, were saved.

The third and last Christiansborg was built between 1907 and 1928. During this last construction project, the ruins of Absalon’s castle and Copenhagen castle were revealed.

Christiansborg Palace Visitor info

Today, the Christiansborg Palace is open for visits. Combined access to the Royal Reception Rooms, the ruins, and the royal stables cost 95 DKK (around $18). Discounts for students, children, groups, and families are available. The public galleries of the Parliament as well as the Royal Chapel are free to visit during service hours.

Christiansborg Palace Location

Christiansborg lies in the center of Copenhagen so it is easy to be found. There are many signs leading to it too.
Get directions using this map following this address. Prins Jørgens Gård 1, 1218 København, Denmark

Christiansborg Palace Map

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Amalienborg Palace History

Although originally built as the home of four noble families, Amalienborg was bought by Danish King Frederick V.

Amalienborg Palace is composed of four similar-looking Rococo-style palaces surrounding an octagonal courtyard. At the center of the court is an equestrian statue of Frederik V, the founder of Amalienborg.

The four palaces are Christian VII’s Palace (Moltke’s Palace), Christian VIII’s Palace (Levetzau’s Palace), which houses the Queen’s reference library and a museum portraying the Glücksburger dynasties, Frederik VIII’s Palace (Brockdorff’s Palace), and Christian IX’s Palace (Schack’s Palace).

Amaliehave (Amalie Garden) is the new green oasis of Amalienborg, established in 1983. It is located between the palace and the harbor and provides breathtaking views of surrounding attractions like the Marble Church and Opera House.

Amalienborg Palace Location

Amalienborg Palace’s adress is Christian VIII’s Palæ, 1257 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Get help with a location using this satellite map.

Amalienborg Palace Map

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