Frederiksborg Castle

Frederiksborg Castle (Danish: Frederiksborg Slot) is a grand palace in Hillerød, Denmark. It was built as a home for King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 1600s, replacing an older castle. It became the biggest palace in Scandinavia from that time.

The castle sits on three small islands in a lake called Slotssøen, and it has a big garden in the Baroque style. In 1859, a big fire damaged the castle, but it was rebuilt using old plans and pictures. Thanks to help from a kind brewer named J. C. Jacobsen, the castle was turned into the Danish Museum of National History and opened to visitors in 1882.

Today, people can visit many beautiful rooms in the castle, including the Valdemar Room and Great Hall, as well as the Chapel and Audience Chamber, which were not badly hurt in the fire. The museum has many portraits and offers a special look at Denmark's history.

History

Origins

The land where Frederiksborg Castle now stands was once called Hillerødsholm and belonged to a noble family in Denmark. In the 1500s, a man named Mogens Gøye lived there in a small building. After he passed away, his daughter and her husband, Herluf Trolle, took over and built a larger manor house.

Later, King Frederick II took over the property and renamed it Frederiksborg, meaning "Frederik's castle." He used it as a place for hunting because it was surrounded by forests and fields. He added walls, towers, and other buildings to make it more like a castle.

Renaissance castle

Frederiksborg Castle was the first castle in Denmark built away from the coast, and it was made for fun and relaxation, not for protection. When King Christian IV, who was born in the castle, became king, he decided to rebuild it in a grand style. Workers tore down the old buildings and constructed a huge new castle with four stories and three wings. The main building was finished around 1610, and the whole castle was completed around 1620, making it the largest Renaissance building in Scandinavia.

Fire and reconstruction

In 1859, a fire broke out in the castle while King Frederick VII was there. The fire spread quickly and damaged most of the building, but some parts like the Chapel were saved. Many valuable paintings were also rescued. People worked together to rebuild the castle, using old plans and paintings to restore it. The castle reopened in 1882 with a museum inside, thanks to donations from a generous person named J. C. Jacobsen.

Architecture

Frederiksborg Castle was built in the style of Flemish and Dutch Renaissance architecture. The main part of the castle, covering the northern islet, is made of red brick with special decorations called stepped gables, tall spires, and sandstone details. The design is mostly balanced and symmetric, except for a large bell tower on the Chapel Wing. Each part of the castle stands on its own but connects to the others to make one big complex.

The King's Wing, the main part, finished in 1604, was followed by the Chapel Wing in 1606 and the Princess's Wing in 1608. The Terrace Wing, finished in 1609, had only one floor. The castle has many towers and turrets, with the highest tower above the Chapel. After a big fire in 1859, most of the castle was damaged, but the Chapel was mostly safe. Today, the Chapel holds important art and serves as a church for the local community.

Neptune fountain

The Neptune fountain is one of the most important sculptures at Frederiksborg Castle. It was designed by Adrien de Vries and made between 1620 and 1622. The fountain shows Neptune, the sea god, as the main figure, with tritons around the edges. The original fountain was taken to Sweden in 1659, but a copy was made in 1888 and is now at the castle. The original can be seen at Drottningholm Palace near Stockholm.

The Museum of National History

The Frederiksborg Museum started on April 5, 1878, and opened to the public on February 1, 1882. It began with paintings saved from a castle fire and grew to include many important cultural items like paintings and furniture. Today, it holds the largest portrait collection in Denmark, showing important people from Danish history.

The museum has 70 rooms across three floors, including special spaces like the Chapel and the Rose Room. It also hosts special exhibitions. The Valdemar Room shows Denmark's history from the 12th to the 17th century with special paintings and the oldest Danish flag copy. The Chapel, consecrated in 1617, features beautiful decorations and the oldest organ in Denmark. The Great Hall and the Rose Room were restored after a fire in 1859 using old paintings as guides. The Audience Chamber, completed in 1689, mixes Renaissance and Baroque styles with impressive paintings and decorations.

Castle parks

Main article: Park of Frederiksborg Castle

In 1850, Frederick VII created a beautiful garden to the northwest of the castle. This garden had winding paths, canals, and lakes. On an island named after his wife Louise, a small wooden house was built where the king could enjoy quiet time and fishing.

To the east of the castle, there is a famous garden called the Baroque Park. It was first designed in the early 1720s by a gardener named Johan Cornelius Krieger for Frederick IV. The garden had a beautiful fountain in the center, with water flowing down terraces to a lake. Neat paths, shrubs, and flowerbeds surrounded the fountain. The garden was kept up until the early 1800s, then left wild. In 1993, people decided to bring the garden back to its old style. Now called Kaskaderne (The Cascades), it reopened in 1996 and is one of Denmark’s most famous gardens. The garden includes special designs with the letters of kings Christian VI, Frederick V, and Margrethe II.

Countess of Frederiksborg

Alexandra Christina Manley became the Countess of Frederiksborg (Grevinde af Frederiksborg) on April 16, 2005. Queen Margrethe II gave her this title just eight days after her divorce from Prince Joachim. The title connects to her wedding to the prince, which happened in the castle's chapel.

Cultural references

Frederiksborg Castle appears in several books and shows. It is a key place in Theodor Fontane’s novel Irretrievable. The castle also shows up in a 1978 Olsen-banden movie called The Olsen Gang Sees Red.

In 2012, it was featured on an episode of the American show The Amazing Race during its nineteenth season. Later, in 2021, the castle was part of a story in an episode of La casa de papel. It is also the main setting in Rose Tremain’s novel Music and Silence, which won an award in 1999.

Frederiksborg in art

Frederiksborg Castle has been painted by many artists over the years. Some famous paintings include works by Lazarus Baratta in 1652, J. C. Dahl in 1814, Christen Købke in 1835, and P.C. Skovgaard in 1841. There is also a painting of the castle's ruins by J. Andersen from 1860.

The story of life at the castle and a big fire in 1859 is told in a novel called Irretrievable by Theodor Fontane.