Karlberg Palace
Encyclopedia
Karlberg Palace is a palace by the Karlberg Canal
on the border of Stockholm
in Solna
. The palace, built in 1630 and the oldest in Solna municipality, today houses the Military Academy Karlberg.
In the park are found, among other things, a "temple of Diana
" (originally dedicated to Neptune
) and the burial site of Pompe, the dog of King Charles XII
.
Notwithstanding the palace remain a military institution, the park is accessible to the public and is open 06-22 daily.
Three medieval villages at the location — Ösby, Bolstomta, and Lundby — were bought by Lord High Admiral
Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm (1574-1650) in the 1620s and subsequently unified into a single estate named "Karlberg" after himself. He then had master mason Hans Drisell build a Renaissance
palace featuring pink plaster and tall gable
s.
As Gyllenhielm's widow died six years after her husband, a lengthy litigation regarding the inheritance followed. Plans in the mid 1660s to transfer the estate to the widowed Queen Hedwig Eleonora were cancelled as Lord High Admiral Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie
(1622-1686) sold one of his palaces to the queen (today Ulriksdal Palace
, also in Solna) and bought Karlberg from the heir of his precursor in 1669.
De la Gardie, at this time one of the most influential men in Sweden, had Jean de la Vallée
(1620-1696) develop the palace into one of the grandest in Sweden. The new palace, H-shaped in plan in accordance to the style of the day, featured two wings and a terrace facing the waterfront, while wings facing north formed an enclosed court yard. Additionally, a church was created in the eastern wing. Some of the red festoon
stucco
ornaments from this era are preserved in the façade, as are the curved cornice
s facing the garden, and the sumptuous stucco ceilings of Carlo Carove together with other exclusive interior details, including walls covered in leather, velvet, and boiserie
s. The park was furnished with an orangery
, pond
s, fountain
s, parterre
s, and boxwood
patterns - all in the manner of French Baroque architecture
.
Following the Reduction
, De la Gardie lost his influence and most of his fortune, and since King Charles XI
declined to buy the palace, De la Gardie was finally forced to hand it over to Johan Gabriel Stenbock to settle a debt and in 1683 Stenbock took over the newly rebuilt palace, only to sell it to the king in 1688. Karlberg thus became where crown prince Charles XII
spent much of his childhood and where he used to hunt wolves in the surrounding forests. His mother, Queen Ulrika Eleonora the Elder
(1656 - 1693), had a school created for orphaned girls where they could create tapestries
, and her son took personal charge over the school to honour his good-hearted mother. When Charles XII died in 1718 his coffin was taken to Karlberg before being interred in the church Riddarholmskyrkan
.
While the Three Crowns Castle
was being rebuilt in the early 1690s, and following the disastrous fire which destroyed it in 1697, the royal family chose Karlberg as their temporary home. The entire court
resided at Karlberg until 1754 when the present palace
was finally completed.
The red panelled
log house
s west of the main building are believed to date back to the 1720s, while the stables carrying four sandstone
vessels were designed by Carl Hårleman
(1700-1753) under Frederick I
(1676-1751) in the 1730s, thereafter rebuild into barracks in the 1790s.
In 1766, Karlberg was made a wedding gift to King (then crown prince) Gustav III
(1746-1792) and Sophia Magdalena
(1743-1813). In the early 1790s Gustav had plans to found a war academy at the Ulriksdal Palace
, plans however interrupted by his death in 1792. As his widow choose Ulriksdal as her private residence, the Kungliga Krigacademien ("Royal War Academy") was instead located at Karlberg where the first generation of cadets started their training later the same year. During the regency
of Gustav's son, Gustav IV (1778-1837), architect Carl Christoffer Gjörwell
(1766–1837) was ordered to enlarge the palace to accommodate the cadets, which in 1796 resulted in the elongated wings today giving the palace much of its character.
and other motorways had their shares. The exterior of the palace was however restored in the 1980s. Furthermore, in 2001 an archaeological examination of a nearby burial site, associated with one of the villages out of which Karlberg once was created, unveiled fragments of runestones — including one from an image stone
and another featuring the proto-Norse Elder Futhark
. Karlberg Palace is owned by the government of Sweden
, and is managed by the Swedish Fortifications Agency
.
Karlbergskanalen
Karlbergskanalen is a canal in western central Stockholm, Sweden.Separating the island Kungsholmen from the northern municipality Solna, it connects Ulvsundasjön to Karlbergssjön and thus forms the western-most part of the nameless body of water which separates Kungsholmen from the northern city...
on the border of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in Solna
Solna Municipality
Solna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, located just north of the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the 'city' of Solna....
. The palace, built in 1630 and the oldest in Solna municipality, today houses the Military Academy Karlberg.
In the park are found, among other things, a "temple of Diana
Diana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
" (originally dedicated to Neptune
Neptune (mythology)
Neptune was the god of water and the sea in Roman mythology and religion. He is analogous with, but not identical to, the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto, each of them presiding over one of the three realms of the universe,...
) and the burial site of Pompe, the dog of King Charles XII
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
.
Notwithstanding the palace remain a military institution, the park is accessible to the public and is open 06-22 daily.
Gyllenhielm
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm (1574-1650) in the 1620s and subsequently unified into a single estate named "Karlberg" after himself. He then had master mason Hans Drisell build a Renaissance
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
palace featuring pink plaster and tall gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s.
As Gyllenhielm's widow died six years after her husband, a lengthy litigation regarding the inheritance followed. Plans in the mid 1660s to transfer the estate to the widowed Queen Hedwig Eleonora were cancelled as Lord High Admiral Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie
Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High...
(1622-1686) sold one of his palaces to the queen (today Ulriksdal Palace
Ulriksdal Palace
Ulriksdal Palace is a royal palace situated on the banks of the Edsviken in the National City Park in Solna, 6 km north of Stockholm. It was originally called Jakobsdal after its owner Jacob De la Gardie, who had it built by architect Hans Jacob Kristler in 1643-1645 as a country retreat...
, also in Solna) and bought Karlberg from the heir of his precursor in 1669.
De la Gardie
Jean De la Vallée
Jean de la Vallée was a French-born architect, who lived and worked in Sweden. He was the son of Simon de la Vallée, who was killed by a Swedish nobleman in 1642. The father had started the planning of the House of Knights in Stockholm, and in 1660 his son finished his father's work...
(1620-1696) develop the palace into one of the grandest in Sweden. The new palace, H-shaped in plan in accordance to the style of the day, featured two wings and a terrace facing the waterfront, while wings facing north formed an enclosed court yard. Additionally, a church was created in the eastern wing. Some of the red festoon
Festoon
Festoon , a wreath or garland, and so in architecture a conventional arrangement of flowers, foliage or fruit bound together and suspended by ribbons, either from a decorated knot, or held in the mouths of lions, or suspended across the back of bulls heads as...
stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
ornaments from this era are preserved in the façade, as are the curved cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
s facing the garden, and the sumptuous stucco ceilings of Carlo Carove together with other exclusive interior details, including walls covered in leather, velvet, and boiserie
Panelling
Panelling is a wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials....
s. The park was furnished with an orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
, pond
Pond
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
s, fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
s, parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
s, and boxwood
Buxus sempervirens
Buxus sempervirens is a flowering plant in the genus Buxus, native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia, from southern England south to northern Morocco, and east through the northern Mediterranean region to Turkey. Buxus colchica of western Caucasus and B...
patterns - all in the manner of French Baroque architecture
French Baroque architecture
French Baroque is a form of Baroque architecture that evolved in France during the reigns of Louis XIII , Louis XIV and Louis XV...
.
Royal estate
Reduction (Sweden)
In the reductions in Sweden, fiefs that had been granted to the Swedish nobility were returned to the Crown.The first reduction under Charles X Gustav of Sweden in 1655 restored a quarter of "donations" made after 1632. In the Great Reduction of 1680 under Charles XI of Sweden the Crown...
, De la Gardie lost his influence and most of his fortune, and since King Charles XI
Charles XI of Sweden
Charles XI also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period in Swedish history known as the Swedish empire ....
declined to buy the palace, De la Gardie was finally forced to hand it over to Johan Gabriel Stenbock to settle a debt and in 1683 Stenbock took over the newly rebuilt palace, only to sell it to the king in 1688. Karlberg thus became where crown prince Charles XII
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
spent much of his childhood and where he used to hunt wolves in the surrounding forests. His mother, Queen Ulrika Eleonora the Elder
Ulrike Eleonora of Denmark
Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark was the Queen consort of Sweden as the spouse of King Charles XI of Sweden.The name Ulrike is a Danish version of the name; in Swedish she is called Ulrika Eleonora den äldre, which in English means Ulrica Eleanor the Elder), to distinguish her from her daughter, the...
(1656 - 1693), had a school created for orphaned girls where they could create tapestries
Tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
, and her son took personal charge over the school to honour his good-hearted mother. When Charles XII died in 1718 his coffin was taken to Karlberg before being interred in the church Riddarholmskyrkan
Riddarholmskyrkan
The Riddarholmen Church is the burial church of the Swedish monarchs. It is located on the island of Riddarholmen, close to the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. The congregation was dissolved in 1807 and today the church is used only for burial and commemorative purposes. Swedish monarchs from...
.
While the Three Crowns Castle
Tre kronor (castle)
Tre Kronor or Three Crowns was a castle located in Stockholm, Sweden, on the site where Stockholm Palace is today. It is believed to have been a citadel that Birger Jarl built into a royal castle in the middle of the 13th century...
was being rebuilt in the early 1690s, and following the disastrous fire which destroyed it in 1697, the royal family chose Karlberg as their temporary home. The entire court
Noble court
The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...
resided at Karlberg until 1754 when the present palace
Stockholm Palace
The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...
was finally completed.
The red panelled
Panelling
Panelling is a wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials....
log house
Log home
A log home is structurally identical to a log cabin...
s west of the main building are believed to date back to the 1720s, while the stables carrying four sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
vessels were designed by Carl Hårleman
Carl Hårleman
Baron Carl Hårleman was a Swedish architect.Hårleman was born in Stockholm, son of the garden architect and head of the royal parks and gardens Johan Hårleman, who hade been ennobled in 1698, and began his architectural training under Göran Josua Adelcrantz...
(1700-1753) under Frederick I
Frederick I of Sweden
Frederick I, , was a prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and a King of Sweden from 1720 until his death and also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730...
(1676-1751) in the 1730s, thereafter rebuild into barracks in the 1790s.
Military academy
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....
(1746-1792) and Sophia Magdalena
Sophia Magdalena of Denmark
Sofia Magdalena of Denmark and Norway was a Queen consort of Sweden as the spouse of Gustav III of Sweden....
(1743-1813). In the early 1790s Gustav had plans to found a war academy at the Ulriksdal Palace
Ulriksdal Palace
Ulriksdal Palace is a royal palace situated on the banks of the Edsviken in the National City Park in Solna, 6 km north of Stockholm. It was originally called Jakobsdal after its owner Jacob De la Gardie, who had it built by architect Hans Jacob Kristler in 1643-1645 as a country retreat...
, plans however interrupted by his death in 1792. As his widow choose Ulriksdal as her private residence, the Kungliga Krigacademien ("Royal War Academy") was instead located at Karlberg where the first generation of cadets started their training later the same year. During the regency
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Gustav's son, Gustav IV (1778-1837), architect Carl Christoffer Gjörwell
Carl Christoffer Gjörwell
Carl Christoffer Gjörwell was a city architect in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the son of Carl Christoffer Gjörwell ....
(1766–1837) was ordered to enlarge the palace to accommodate the cadets, which in 1796 resulted in the elongated wings today giving the palace much of its character.
Modern era
The park, dating back to the 17th century, has suffered gradual encroachment. During the 1860s, the north-eastern corner was cut off by the railway, and a century later EssingeledenEssingeleden
Essingeleden is a motorway that goes from Solna to Stockholm, Sweden, crossing the westmost parts of central Stockholm, by going over Kungsholmen, Lilla Essingen, and Stora Essingen....
and other motorways had their shares. The exterior of the palace was however restored in the 1980s. Furthermore, in 2001 an archaeological examination of a nearby burial site, associated with one of the villages out of which Karlberg once was created, unveiled fragments of runestones — including one from an image stone
Picture stone
A picture stone, image stone or figure stone is an ornate slab of stone, usually limestone, which was raised in Germanic Iron Age or Viking Age Scandinavia, and in the greatest number on Gotland. More than four hundred picture stones are known today. All of the stones were probably erected as...
and another featuring the proto-Norse Elder Futhark
Elder Futhark
The Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Northwest Germanic and Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artifacts such as jewellery, amulets, tools, weapons and runestones...
. Karlberg Palace is owned by the government of Sweden
Government of Sweden
The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...
, and is managed by the Swedish Fortifications Agency
Swedish Fortifications Agency
The Swedish Fortifications Agency is a Swedish government agency under the Swedish Ministry of Finance , tasked with managing government-owned defense-related buildings and land. The agency functions as the landlord for the Swedish Armed Forces , managing various types of military installations...
.