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Hex mansion or palace was built in the 1770s by the Liège architect Etienne Fayen for the Prince-Bishop of Liège, Franz Karl, Count of Velbrück (1719-1784). As a humanist and nature-lover, the prince-bishop chose this spot in the scenic Haspengouw region on which to build his country house and to lay out a number of gardens, including a Chinese garden, a kitchen garden and a rose garden. Later he added one of the first landscaped parks on the European mainland, inspired by the English landscaping of Capability Brown. The bishop died here in 1784.
The estate is now in the private possession of Count Ghislain d' Ursel, since the third generation. They keep the estate in shape and restore the valuable gardens and heritage.
The rose garden contains an exceptional assortment of about 250 varieties, of which the oldest were present in the original garden. Since 1970 Countess Michel d'Ursel restored and increased the original formal Renaissance garden laid out by Prince Bishop Velbruck in 1770. In 2003 the Garden of Roses was granted the Award of Garden Excellence by the World Federation of Rose Societies.
The gardens and the park are open to the public on selected weekends during the summer months.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.