Charlottenborg Castle

Art Gallery and Academy of Arts
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Charlottenborg Palace is a small city palace in the old town of Copenhagen. The palace is the seat of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and in the rear part is the Kunsthal Charlottenborg with exhibitions of contemporary art.

Pleasure and kitchen garden of a royal mistress

The land on which the castle now stands was once bequeathed by the Danish King Christian IV to his mistress, who had a pleasure and kitchen garden built on it. After her death, it was passed on and a half-brother of Christian V was eventually allowed to build a castle as his residence with his permission. Christian V intended to make the city more modern, and so the castle, initially called Gyldenløves Palais, was built from 1672 to 1683. The plans were drawn up by the Danish sculptor and architect Hans van Steenwinckel, while the work itself was carried out by the Dutch architect Ebert Jansen.

City palace in the Danish style

According to the will of King Christian V, the square Kongens Nytorv (New King's Square), where Charlottenburg Palace was built, was to be surrounded by a series of stately mansions. Thus Jansen built a three-storey town palace in the style of the Danish Baroque. The front, decorated with pilasters, faced the new King's Square, while the north side looked out onto the centrally located Nyhavn (New Harbour), which today is also one of the most important sights in Copenhagen and well worth a visit. The former garden of the palace was the first baroque garden of the city, unfortunately hardly anything of it is preserved.

Widow's seat of a queen

When King Christian V died in 1699, his widow Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel bought the castle. It was extended according to her wishes and renamed Charlottenborg Slot after her. Christian V's widow lived in Charlottenborg Castle until her death in 1714. 40 years later, thus in 1754, the castle complex passed into the possession of the Royal Danish Academy of Arts, which has its seat there until today. In addition, the Kunsthalle Charlottenburg is located there and exhibitions are regularly held in the premises.

Palace Garden - part of the Copenhagen Botanical Garden

The former pleasure and kitchen garden of the royal mistress Wiebke Kruse first became part of the municipal botanical garden in the 19th century, but by the end of the 19th century most of it had fallen victim to the removal of Copenhagen's ramparts and the space freed up was built on and on. If you enjoy flora, the Botanical Garden is now located at Rosenborg Palace.

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