In 1661, a debt-ridden King Frederik III had to hand over to one of his creditors, the Dutch merchant Gabriel Marselis, one of the crown properties in Jutland-an estate called Havreballegaard. Two of the merchant’s sons moved to Denmark and settled in the Aarhus area. One son, Constantin Marselis, later got Havreballegaard raised to the status of a baronetcy called Marselisborg. He died childless and entrusted the baronetcy to Christian V. The king gave the estate to his son, Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve.
In the following centuries, there was a series of different owners. The city of Aarhus bought the Marselisborg estate in 1896, and in 1898, a portion of the park was given to the newly-married crown prince couple, Prince Christian (X) and Princess Alexandrine, as a wedding present from Jutlanders. As a part of the gift, the architect Hack Kampmann built, between 1899 and 1902, the existing Marselisborg Palace, which became the crown prince couple’s summer residence. In 1967, King Frederik IX transferred the palace to the then-throne heir, Princess Margrethe, and Prince Henrik, and today, the Royal Couple still use the palace as a summer residence.
The approximately 13 hectare-large park and was laid out by the landscape architect L. Christian Diedrichsen in traditional English style with large sweeping lawns surrounded by trees, small ponds and shrub-covered slopes. In addition, the park contains a number of artworks, a rose garden and a herb garden. The palace is not open to the public, but the park is open for public use when the Royal Family is not in residence at the palace. There is a changing of the guards ceremony with the Royal Life Guard at noon during periods when The Queen is staying at the palace.
References:The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.
The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.
The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.
The history of the castle is the subject of different legends. One of them narrates the origin of the name of castle derived from that of jester Becko for whom the Duke Stibor had the castle built.
Another legend has it that the lord of the castle had his servant thrown down from the rock because he protected his child from the lords favourite dog. Before his death, the servant pronounced a curse saying that they would meet in a year and days time, and indeed precisely after that time the lord was bitten by a snake and fell down to the same abyss.
The well-conserved ruins of the castle, now the National Cultural Monument, are frequently visited by tourists, above all in July when the castle festival takes place. The former Ambro curia situated below the castle now shelters the exhibition of the local history.