Amalienborg is the winter home of the Danish royal family. It consists of four identical classicizing palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard; in the centre of the square is a monumental equestrian statue of Amalienborg's founder, King Frederick V.

Amalienborg was originally built for four noble families; however, when Christiansborg Palace burnt down on 26 February 1794, the royal family bought the palaces and moved in. Over the years various kings and their families have resided in the four different palaces. Amalienborg is the centrepiece of Frederiksstaden, a district that was built by King Frederick V to commemorate in 1748 the tercentenary of the Oldenburg family's ascent to the throne of Denmark, and in 1749 the tercentenary of the coronation of Christian I of Denmark. This development is generally thought to have been the brainchild of DanishAmbassador Plenipotentiary in Paris, Johann Hartwig Ernst Bernstorff. Heading the project was Lord High Steward Adam Gottlob Moltke, one of the most powerful and influential men in the land, with Nicolai Eigtved as royal architect and supervisor.

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. They were identical from the outside, but different on the inside. The building site for each palace was donated free of charge to the chosen aristocrat to build on, 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 (Levetzau's Palace), Frederick VIII's Palace (Brockdorff's Palace) and Christian IX's Palace (Schack's Palace).

Currently, only the palaces of Christian VII and Christian VIII are open to the public.

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Details

Founded: 1750-1760
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Denmark
Historical period: Absolutism (Denmark)

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User Reviews

Ian MacDonald (5 months ago)
Despite my general disinterest in royalty and jewelry, I still found the museum located here surprisingly fascinating. Seeing just how interwoven the Royal Families of Europe are and getting a sense of the scope of activities they are required to attend was a great use of an afternoon and well worth the admission.
Joseph Collea (6 months ago)
The home of Denmark’s King and Queen. Unfortunately one of them was in residence and as such there were no tours available. Still a beautiful place to visit and take in the wonderful architecture.
Cyntia Pethövá (8 months ago)
Rally nice place which offers nice old buildings, big statue in the middle and cathedral little in the back. The thing I really liked about this place (square) is, that it wasn’t overcrowded.
Brisippus (9 months ago)
Decent place to visit if you have the city pass, but I wouldn’t recommend spending the money for a stand-alone ticket as the items aren’t anything too special (other than the Faberge room which is pretty small). They have free lockers to store your items as you walk around and bathrooms available on the ground floor.
R Vh (10 months ago)
It was a interesting palace. You just walked in to a kind of court and around you there are different buildings. Apparently at every building around lives a part of the royal family and there are underground tunnels so they can visit eachother. We were there when there were guards walking around so that was nice to see. It’s something nice to have visited if you are in the area.
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