Frederiksborg Palace, Hillerød, Denmark

Frederiksborg Palace was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV and is now a museum of national history. The current edifice replaced a previous castle erected by Frederick II and is the largest Renaissance palace in Scandinavia. The palace is located on three small islands in the middle of Palace Lake (Slotsøen) and is adjoined by a large formal garden in the Baroque style.

The oldest parts of the castle date back to the 1560 structure built by Frederick II. Although he remains its namesake, most of the current palace was instead constructed by Christian IV between 1602 and 1620. He employed the Flemish architects Hans and Lorenz van Steenwinckel and the castle follows the Dutch style employed by Christian IV for his new buildings in Copenhagen. After Christian IV's death in 1648, the palace was used mainly for ceremonial events.

The church has also been used as the knight's chapel for the Order of the Elephant and the Order of the Dannebrog since 1693; housed the Danish royal family's art collection, notably works on the life of Jesus by Danish painter Carl Heinrich Bloch; and was the site of the 1720 Treaty of Frederiksborg.

In the 1850s, the palace was again used as a residence by King Frederick VII. While he was in residence on the evening of December 16, 1859, a fire destroyed a large part of the main palace's interior. Reconstruction was funded by public subscription, with large contributions from the king and state, as well as the prominent philanthropist J. C. Jacobsen of the Carlsberg Brewery. Jacobsen also funded the museum of national history that now occupies Frederiksborg.

The Palace Church or Chapel of Orders serves as a local church today and is a part of the museum on the premises. The coats-of-arms of recipients of the Order of the Elephantand of the Dannebrog are displayed on the walls of the church. The museum houses an important collection of portraits and historical paintings.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Ivan Wolthuis (15 months ago)
Spectacular castle experience. The audio tour was informative and not too long. Bags are not allowed inside, but they have lockers available. The building is cold and quite dark, so keep your coat on. Staff was friendly. Organ concert was at 13:30 and quite cool to see. We spent 3.5 hours there. We recommend that you get there right at opening, because you can definitely use all 4 hours they were open. (Limited hours in January). Take a spare battery to be sure your phone stays charged for photos and audio tour. Keep your coat on, because the castle is relatively cold. The museum offered flashlights which came in handy. The castle store was pretty good. After we were kicked out at closing time, we enjoyed walking down the town’s walking street and getting something to eat, on our way back to the train station.

Kailey Parks (2 years ago)
This was the best castle we visiting out of all the castles in Copenhagen - it is beautiful and well maintained - and the gardens were lovely! We are so glad we chose to do a day trip here. Very pleasant. Make sure you check out the cafe on the grounds for lunch, it was delicious.

Fatemeh Makouei (2 years ago)
For sure 5 star! The castle itself is glorious. But the garden..it is just fantastic. There are a lot to see there. We spent about 3.5 hours there and still, we were not tired of it. Will definitely go back to this place

Stratton Ahlborn (2 years ago)
Gorgeous architecture and so much to see! Use the bathroom beforehand and bring a snack so you can take your time enjoying things. Beautiful grounds too if you want to stroll around.

NikDR (2 years ago)
Beautiful castle in the center of Hillerød, north west of Copenhagen. There is a nice way around the castle that one can walk in 20-30 min, plus the castles garden which is very beautiful. Behind the castle there are large Forrest and green areas where one can go for runs, bike tours, or longer walks. Amazing. One can take guided or non-guided tours inside the castle.

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