HISTORY
Amalienborg was built in the 1750s as the midpoint of the surrounding Frederiksstaden quarter, which comprises the strip between Bredgade Street and the quay, stretching from Sankt Annæ Square to the Kastellet fort. The four palaces were originally built as homes for the nobility, but were taken over by the Royal Family after the fire at Christiansborg in 1794.
Amalienborg is named after the summer palace Sophie Amalienborg, which was built in the years 1667-73 for Queen Sophie Amalie, approximately on the site of the current Amalienborg. It was a magnificent villa of Italian inspiration, and was the setting for the most glorious court festivities, but already burnt down 1689 in connection with Christian V’s birthday celebrations. For the occasion an opera house had been built next to the palace, and this proved to be a fire trap when the decorations caught fire during a re-enactment of the birthday performance. Around 180 people died, most of whom were children of the aristocracy, and the fire spread to the palace, which quickly burnt down.
In the years following the fire there were several building plans, but nothing happened until a group of important merchants presented a plan for the area in 1749. The proposal was re-imagined on a larger scale by Lord Chamberlain A.G. Moltke, who because of Frederik V’s dissolute lifestyle effectively ruled on the King’s behalf. He saw the opportunity to celebrate the King and the absolute monarchy by having a new quarter built to mark the House of Oldenburg’s 300th Jubilee, which had been celebrated the year before. Things were arranged in such a way that the King handed the Amalienborg area to Copenhagen’s Magistrate, who gave the plots to high standing builders from the aristocracy and the upper middle class – in such away, naturally, that the leading builders got the most attractive plots.
Eigtved’s Town Plan
The court’s master builder Nicolai Eigtved, who was a prominent exponent of the so-called rococo style, was chosen to be responsible for the Frederiksstaden quarter. Eigtved made his town plan for the Frederiksstaden quarter, and the plans for the central monumental architecture in the form of the Amalienborg palaces and Frederik’s Church, in a short space of time. Eigtved also made guidelines for all the other building work in Frederiksstaden, and approved all plans himself in order to ensure the greatest possible “equality and regularity” in the streetscape. He was presumably also responsible for the quarter’s other palaces.
Frederiksstaden was designed to be an ideal society, and the town plan expresses a vision of what the state should be like. The King (the equestrian statue) gains his power from God (Frederik’s Church), towards which he faces, and is surrounded by a royalist aristocracy (the Amalienborg palaces). The large commercial headquarters along Amaliegade Street symbolise the growing importance of commerce for the well-being of the state, and the many town houses are also intended, on a symbolic level, to represent an industrious bourgeoisie. Frederik’s Hospital (which today is Design Museum Denmark) is evidence of the state’s (which is to say the King’s) concern for society’s disadvantaged. It is not known whether the hospital was part of the earliest plans for the quarter, but according to the foundation stone of 1752 it is to be furnished for 300 patients, which is to say the number of years celebrated at the jubilee for Frederik V’s royal lineage.
Frederiksstaden was finished – with the church as a marked exception – in the 25 years that followed the founding in 1749. Building work began in 1750, and the first town houses were finished the following year. All of the nine palaces in Frederiksstaden were built within the first decade, and the same was the case with Frederik’s Hospital, which was finished in 1757. The most important elements of the town plan will be briefly described here.
The Amalienborg Palaces
The four identical rococo palaces form, with the corner pavilions, an octagon, which Nicolai Eigtved presumably found inspiration for in unrealised plans for the square in Paris which later became known as the Place de la Concorde. The appearance of Amalienborg’s palaces is a characteristic, very light rococo style which combines German and French stylistic elements.
While the other plots in Frederiksstaden were distributed by Copenhagen’s Magistrate, the King reserved the right to choose the builders of the Amalienborg palaces. It was, naturally, a privilege to be given one of the four plots. The one with the best position was reserved for Lord Chamberlain A. G. Moltke, who built the current Christian VII’s Palace which was – and is – the most impressive of the palaces. Moltke offered the task of building the current Christian IX’s Palace to the young baron Severin Løvenskiold, who due to lack of money had to hand the project over to the Schack family after a couple of years. Moltke himself helped with the completion of the palace, in that he put his own craftsmen to work on the project. The current Frederik VIII’s Palace was built by Baron Joachim Brockdorff, and the current Christian VIII’s Palace by Count Christian Frederik Levetzau.
Nicolai Eigtved died in 1754 and therefore didn’t manage to see his masterpiece completed, although Moltke’s Palace, which Eigtved also decorated within, was inaugurated before the architect’s death.
The Equestrian Statue
The task of immortalising Frederik V on horseback fell to the young Frenchman Jacques-Francois-Joseph Saly, who was brought to Copenhagen in 1753. Since the task was to glorify the absolute monarchy, Saly chose to show Frederik V resplendent on his horse as a Roman Emperor wearing a cuirass and laurel wreath. Several years of work with sketches and plans were required before he was satisfied with the result, and it wasn’t until 1764 that the statue could finally be cast in bronze. There was still no plinth, however, but there were mounting money problems, as the equestrian statue was a strain on Asiatisk Kompagni, who had taken on the financing in 1754. Saly had therefore to make the plinth rather more modest than planned, with four plaques that represent the King as the protector of art, science, industry, and commerce. Once the plinth had been made and the square paved, the statue was finally unveiled in 1770. The boundary around the monument was put in place in 1774.
The original budget for the statue was 35,000 “rigsdaler”. This was an unrealistically low estimate for a project of this type, but on the other hand the actual price ended up being extremely high. The costs eventually amounted to over half a million rigsdaler, which was much more than it cost to build the rest of Amalienborg. One could – and still can – take pleasure in the fact, however, that it is one of Europe’s finest monuments of its type.
Frederik’s Church (The Marble Church)
Although the church was the most ambitious element of Frederiksstaden, a remarkable 145 years were to pass between Frederik V laying the foundation stone on 30 October 1749 and a completed church standing on the plot.
Eigtved’s church was rejected because the rococo was beginning to go out of fashion even as the Amalienborg palaces were being built. Alternative proposals for a church were obtained which followed Eigtved’s concept: a round, central nave, with a large dome borne by a drum, flanked by two small bell towers. A neoclassical church was begun 1756 in Norwegian marble on the basis of drawings by Nicholas-Henri Jardin, but in the long run this proved to be too expensive. After Frederik V’s death in 1766 the budget was at first halved, and in 1770 the King’s doctor, Friedrich Struensee, convinced Christian VII to stop the work, which had by then reached about nine metres in height.
Thereafter the church lay in ruins for a century. Even though several attempts were made to restart the construction work, there was a lack of will to pay for a church that could in any way match the level of ambition present at the founding of Frederiksstaden. It wasn’t until the financier C.F. Tietgen bought the square in 1874 that anything happened. Ferdinand Meldahl designed a significantly smaller church in a form of Roman baroque, which could be built on top of the original walls, which still stood. Limestone was used for the construction work instead of Norwegian marble, which didn’t prevent the name “The Marble Church” from sticking. The construction of the current church was begun in 1877 and finished in 1894.
The Royal Assumption of Amalienborg
The first Christiansborg Place burnt down in 1794, just 50 years after it was completed. This put the homeless Royal Family in an awkward situation, which was solved with the acquisition of the Amalienborg palaces. Christian VII took over Moltke’s Palace (later Christian VII’s Palace), which was – and is – the most impressive of the four palaces. Crown Prince Frederik (VI) took over Schack’s Palace (now Christian IX’s Palace), and Hereditary Prince Frederik took over Levetzau’s Palace (Christian VIII’s Palace) on the other side of Frederiksgade Street, where Nicolai Abildgaard created his still well-preserved classical interiors on the piano nobile. This meant that the whole of Amalienborg came into royal ownership, as the King already owned Brockdorff’s Palace (Frederik VIII’s Palace), which had been converted into an officer’s school in 1767.
The move was the occasion for more substantial alterations to Amalienborg’s architecture. Firstly an extra floor was inserted between the palaces and the corner pavilions, where there was originally only an intermediate ground floor. The dividing lines can be seen in the facade to this day, and the changes gave Amalienborg a more massive appearance than it originally had. Secondly the architect of the alterations, C.F. Harsdorff, was instructed to build the Colonnade, which is the columned structure that links the two southerly palaces. The purpose of the Colonnade was simply to make it possible to get from one palace to the other without using a carriage, as Crown Prince Frederik (VI) had, as the functioning head of state, many errands to his father Christian VII, who suffered mental illness. Although there were only a few metres between the palaces it would not do for the royalty to walk in the street, and therefore a closed passage was made on top of the Ionic columns.
The Royal Family’s stay at Amalienborg was seen as a temporary solution, as everyone anticipated a rapid rebuilding of Christiansborg. In the meantime Amalienborg turned out to function wonderfully as a residence, and even though a second and then a third Christiansborg were built, they weren’t enough to make the Royal Family move back to the Slotssholmen islet. Apart from the fact that Amalienborg is a uniquely beautiful work of architecture, it also has the practical advantage that the generations can divide the palaces between them. In the more than 200 years Amalienborg has been a royal residence it has thus been the tradition that the monarch has resided in one palace, while the heir to the throne has lived in another, and this is how it is still used today.
The four Palaces
According to Eigtved’s master plans for Frederikstad and the Amalienborg Palaces, the four palaces surrounding the plaza were conceived of as town mansions for the families of chosen nobility. Their exteriors were identical, but interiors differed. The site on which the aristocrats could build was given to them free of charge, and they were further exempted from taxes and duties. The only conditions were that the palaces should comply exactly to the Frederikstad architectural specifications, and that they should be built within a specified time framework.
Building of the palaces on the western side of the square started in 1750. When Eigtved died in 1754 the two western palaces had been completed. The work on the other palaces was continued by Eigtved's colleague and rival, Lauritz de Thurah strictly according to Eigtved’s plans. The palaces were completed in 1760.
The four palaces are:
Christian VII's Palace, originally known as Moltke's Palace
Christian VIII's Palace, originally known as Levetzau's Palace
Frederick VIII's Palace, originally known as Brockdorff's Palace
Christian IX's Palace, originally known as Schack's Palace
Currently, only the palaces of Christian VII and Christian VIII are open to the public.
Christian VII's Palace
Christian VII's Palace is also known as Moltke's Palace, and was originally built for Lord High Steward Adam Gottlob Moltke. It is the southwestern palace, and has been since 1885 used to accommodate and entertain prominent guests, for receptions, and for ceremonial purposes.
Moltke’s Palace was erected in 1750–54 by the best craftsmen and artists of their day under the supervision of Eigtved. It was the most expensive of the four palaces at the time it was built, and had the most extravagant interiors. Its Great Hall (Riddersalen) featured woodcarvings (boiserie) by Louis August le Clerc, paintings by François Boucher and stucco by Giovanni Battista Fossati, and is acknowledged widely as perhaps the finest Danish Rococo interior.
The mansion formally opened on 30 March 1754, the King’s thirtieth birthday. Due to Eigtved's death a few months later, final work such as the Banqueting Hall, was completed by Nicolas-Henri Jardin.
Immediately after the Christiansborg Palace fire in February 1794 and two years after the death of the original owner, the royal family, headed by the King Christian VII, purchased the first of the four palaces to be sold to the royal family, and commissioned Caspar Frederik Harsdorff to turn it into a royal residence. They occupied the new residence December 1794.
After Christian VII’s death in 1808, Frederick VI used the palace for his Royal Household. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs used parts of the Palace in the years 1852-1885. For short periods of time in the intervening years the palace has housed various members of the royal family while restoration took place on their respective palaces. In 1971-1975 a small kindergarten was established at the palace, and later a schoolroom, for Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim.
After 200 years the facade, decorated by German sculptor Johan Christof Petzold, was severely damaged, causing parts of Amalienborg Place to be closed to prevent injury. In 1982, exterior and interior restoration began that completed in early 1996, Copenhagen's year as European Capital of Culture. In 1999, Europa Nostra, an international preservation organisation, acknowledged the restoration with by presenting a medal.
The palace is occasionally open to the general public.
Christian VIII's Palace
Christian VIII's Palace is also known as Levetzau's Palace, and was originally built for Privy Councillor Count Christian Frederik Levetzau in 1750–60. It is the northwestern palace, and was the home of Crown Prince Frederik until 2004. After his marriage to Crown Princess Mary, they moved into the Chancellery House at Fredensborg.
After Eigtved's death in 1754, royal architect Lauritz de Thurah carried out supervision of the building's construction according to Eigtved's plans.
The palace was sold by the entailed estate of Restrup, which had been established in 1756 by Levertzau, the late owner. The family set one condition when they sold the building— that the Count’s coat of arms should never be removed from the building. It can still be seen beside that of the monarch's.
The King's half-brother Frederik bought the palace in 1794, and painter and architect Nikolai Abildgaard modernized the interiors in the new French Empire style. The palace was named Christian VIII’s Palace after his son, Christian Frederik, who grew up in the palace, took over the building in 1805 upon the death of his father, and would become king in 1839.
Christian VIII died in 1848, and the Queen Dowager, Caroline Amalie, died in 1881. From 1885 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs used parts of the Palace, but moved in 1898 when the Palace became the residence of Crown Prince Christian (X) and Princess Alexandrine. After the death of Christian X the Palace was placed at the disposal of Prince Knud, the Heir Presumptive.
Today, there is little left of the remaining rococo interior; much of the interior reflects the changing taste and style of its residents over the years.
In the 1980s the palace was restored as residence for the Crown Prince, storage facilities for the Queen’s Reference Library and a museum for the Royal House of Glücksborg. The museum features private royal apartments from 1863 to 1947 including original fittings and furnishings.
Frederick VIII's Palace
Frederick VIII's Palace is also known as Brockdorff's Palace. It is the northeastern palace, and was the home of Queen Dowager Ingrid until her death in 2000. It has recently been renovated and is the home of the Crown Prince Frederik and the Crown Princess Mary.[2]
It was originally built for Count Joachim Brockdorff in the 1750s. Brockdorff died in 1763, and Lord High Steward Adam Gottlob Moltke acquired the palace. Moltke sold it two years later to king Frederick V.
From 1767 it housed the Danish Military Academy, also known as the Army Cadet Academy (Landkadetakademi). In 1788 naval cadets replaced the army cadets until the Academy moved to another location in 1827.
The following year the palace was prepared to house king Christian VIII’s son, Frederick VII, who ascended the throne in 1848, and his bride, Princess Vilhelmine. Architect Jørgen Hansen Koch successfully and thoroughly refurbished the palace in French Empire style in 1827–28.
After the marriage was dissolved in 1837, various members of the royal family lived in the palace. In 1869, it became the home of Frederick VIII. In 1934, it became the home of King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid.
Christian IX's Palace
Christian IX's Palace is the southeastern palace, and is also known as Schack's Palace. It has been the home of the royal couple since 1967.
Building work was commenced in 1750 by Eigtved, and was supervised first by architect Christian Josef Zuber and later by Philip de Lange.
It was originally commissioned by Privy Councillor Severin Løvenskjold, but in 1754 he had to give up due to economic difficulties. The project was taken over by Countess Anna Sophie Schack née Rantzau and her step-grandson Count Hans Schack. A fire shortly after the change of ownership delayed completion by a couple of years.
On 7 January 1757 Hans Schack married Countess Ulrikke Auguste Vilhelmine Moltke, daughter of Adam Gottlob Moltke, and as his son-in-law had use of the best artists and craftsmen to complete the interiors.
In 1794 the palace was taken over from private residence by the Regent, then Crown Prince Frederick, and his wife, Crown Princess Marie. He died in 1839, and she in 1852. The palace was used after her death by, among others, the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It was later the home of Christian IX until his death in 1906. The home remained untouched afterwards until 1948. In 1967 the Palace was restored for the successor to the throne, Crown Princess Margrethe and Prince Henrik.
Royal Guard
Amalienborg is guarded day and night by Royal Life Guards (Den Kongelige Livgarde). Their full dress uniform is fairly similar to that of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army: a scarlet tunic, blue trousers, and a navy bearskin cap. The guard march from Rosenborg Castle at 11.30 am daily through the streets of Copenhagen and execute the changing of the guard in front of Amalienborg at noon. In addition, post replacement is conducted every two hours.
When the monarch is in residence, the King's Guard (Kongevagt) also march alongside the changing of the guard at noon, accompanied by a band that plays traditional military marches. The Guard Lieutenant (Løjtnantsvagt) is always alerted when Prince Henrik or another member of the royal family are reigning in absence of the Queen. There are three types of watches: King's Watch, Lieutenant Watch and Palace Watch. A King's Watch is when Her Majesty the Queen takes up residence in Christian IX's Palace. A Lieutenant Watch is when Crown Prince Frederik, Prince Joachim, or Princess Benedikte, takes the place as regent, when the monarch is unable to. A Palace Watch is when no member of the royal family is in the palace, and it is the smallest one.
Amalie Garden
Amalie Garden is an oasis between the city and the harbour where you can relax among fountains, sculptures, trees and flowers. The garden is one of Copenhagen's youngest parks. It was designed by the Belgian architect Jean Delogne and opened in 1983.
CURRENT SITUATITON
The museum in Amalienborg Palace is a popular sight to see in Copenhagen. It covers royal history of the Danish constitutional kings and queens.
The Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen is the official residence of the Danish monarch. Two of the four Amalienborg rococo palaces are open to visitors. The Amalienborg Palace Museum (Amalienborgmuseet) is in the Christian VIII palace and comprises mostly the studies of the kings of the past century and a half, as well as some of the original neoclassical representation rooms of Amalienborg. The representation rooms that are still in use in the adjacent Christian VII palace may be seen on guided tours but for this part of the palace reservations are essential.
