Frederiksberg Palace
Encyclopedia
Frederiksberg Palace is a Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

 residence, located in Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg Kommune is a municipality on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It surrounded by the city of Copenhagen. The municipality, co-extensive with its seat, covers an area of and has a total population of 98,782 making it the smallest municipality in Denmark area-wise, the fifth most...

, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, adjacent to the Copenhagen Zoo. It commands an impressive view over Frederiksberg Park
Frederiksberg Park
Frederiksberg Park is one of the largest and most attractive greenspaces in Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjacent Søndermarken it forms a green area of 64 hectares at the western edge of Inner Copenhagen...

, originally designed as a palace garden in the Baroque style. Constructed and extended from 1699 to 1735, the palace served as the royal family’s summer residence until the mid-19th century. Since 1869, it has housed the Royal Danish Army Officers Academy
Royal Danish Army Officers Academy
The Royal Danish Army Academy educates and commissions all officers for the Royal Danish Army. The Army Academy function was initiated in 1713 by request of King Frederick IV on inspiration from the Naval Academy....

.

Style and history

As crown prince, Frederick IV
Frederick IV of Denmark
Frederick IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel .-Foreign affairs:...

 had broadened his education by travelling in Europe. He was particularly impressed by the architecture in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and, on his return to Denmark, asked his father, Christian V
Christian V of Denmark
Christian V , was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 to 1699, the son of Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

, for permission to build a summer palace on Solbjerg
Solbjerg
Solbjerg is a south-western suburb of Aarhus in Denmark and one of the outer suburbs of Aarhus. It is located 17 km. from the city centre and has a population of 3,144 .-References:...

 as the hill in Valby
Valby
' is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Located in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, it is a heterogeneous mixture of different types of housing - including apartment blocks, terraced housing, areas with single-family houses and allotments, as well as remains...

 was then known.

The original building, probably designed by Ernst Brandenburger
Ernst Brandenburger
Ernst Brandenburger was a Danish master builder and entrepreneur who, through his collaboration with Christof Marselis and Wilhelm Friedrich von Platen, left his mark on Danish Baroque architecture during the early reign of King Frederick IV.-History:Brandenburger was engaged as master builder...

, was completed in 1703 for Frederick IV
Frederick IV of Denmark
Frederick IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel .-Foreign affairs:...

 as a small, one-storey summer residence. The first major extension, when it was converted into a three-storey H-shaped building, was completed in 1709 by Johan Conrad Ernst
Johan Conrad Ernst
Johan Conrad Ernst was a Danish architect and royal master builder. He was the son of Johan Adolf Ernst, a successful linen merchant who had immigrated from Nuremberg and had a luxurious residence on Amagertorv in Copenhagen....

, giving the palace an Italian Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

 appearance. It was Lauritz de Thurah
Lauritz de Thurah
Laurids Lauridsen de Thurah, known as Lauritz de Thurah , was a Danish architect and architectural writer. He became the most important Danish architect of the late baroque period...

 who executed the third and final extension from 1733 to 1738 when the palace received extensions to the lateral wings encircling the courtyard.

Frederick IV spent many happy years at the palace. In 1716, he received the Russian czar Peter the Great
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...

 at Frederiksberg Palace and in 1721, shortly after the death of his first wife, Queen Louise
Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow was Queen consort of Denmark and Norway as the first spouse of the King Frederick IV of Denmark....

, he married his mistress Anne Sophie Reventlow
Anne Sophie Reventlow
Anne Sophie Reventlow was a Danish noble, royal mistress, spouse by bigamy and, later, queen consort of Denmark and Norway 1721–30, the second spouse of king Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway....

 there. Christian VII
Christian VII of Denmark
Christian VII was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death. He was the son of Danish King Frederick V and his first consort Louisa, daughter of King George II of Great Britain....

 who was married to the English princess Caroline Matilda also spent some time in the palace. Their son, who was to become Frederick VI
Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI reigned as King of Denmark , and as king of Norway .-Regent of Denmark:Frederick's parents were King Christian VII and Caroline Matilda of Wales...

, loved the palace and lived there both as crown prince and as king.

After Frederick VI's dowager wife Queen Marie
Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel
thumb|Queen Marie Sophie portrayed by [[Cornelius Høyer]] Marie Sophie Frederikke of Hesse-Kassel was Queen Consort of Denmark and Norway. She also served as Regent of Denmark in 1814–1815.-Background:...

 died at the palace in March 1852, the building lay empty and fell into disrepair. In 1868, it was transferred to the War Ministry and the following year it became the Officers Academy.

The building has twice undergone significant restoration work, first from 1927 to 1932 and later from 1993 to 1998.
During the construction of the original palace building, it was decided that there should be a chapel in the east wing. This probably explains why there is no indication of the chapel from the outside. It actually covers the space behind the six central windows on the ground floor.

Wilhelm Friedrich von Platen and Ernst Brandenburger designed the chapel in the Baroque style. It was inaugurated on 31 March 1710. When the palace was taken over by the Officers Academy, the chapel's furnishings, including the impressive pulpit, were transferred elsewhere. However, they were returned in the 1930s and can still be seen there today.

The palace and the chapel can be visited. They contain imposing stucco work, ceiling paintings, an elegant marble bathroom with a secret access staircase, and the Princesses' pancake kitchen. In 1854, British MP S. M. Peto gave an altar window to the King of Demark for the chapel; the window was designed by sculptor John Thomas and executed by Ballantine and Allan of Edinburgh.

Since 1932, the chapel has been used as the local parish church.

The park

The palace overlooks Frederiksberg Park
Frederiksberg Park
Frederiksberg Park is one of the largest and most attractive greenspaces in Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjacent Søndermarken it forms a green area of 64 hectares at the western edge of Inner Copenhagen...

 which dates back to the first palace in 1703. At that time, it was designed by H.H. Scheel with the assistance of garden architect J.C. Krieger as a strictly symmetrical Baroque garden with waterfalls and rows of linden trees along the palace terrace.

From 1795 to 1804, it was redesigned by Peter Pedersen as an English landscape garden
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...

 with the winding paths, lakes, islands and canals which can be seen today. It was during this period that the Chinese Summerhouse (Andreas Kirkerup, 1801) and the Apis Temple (N.A. Abildgaard, 1804) were added.
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