Frederiksborg Castle

Why it is renowned

Frederiksborg was built for Christian IV as the largest Renaissance residence in Scandinavia.¹ All Danish monarchs but one were crowned or anointed in its chapel from 1671 to 1840, and the Treaty of Frederiksborg that ended the Great Northern War between Sweden and Denmark-Norway was signed there in 1720.¹ It holds the Museum of National History, with the largest collection of portrait paintings in Denmark.¹

The story

Frederick II acquired the estate in 1560 and named it Frederiksborg.¹ His son Christian IV had the old building pulled down in 1599; Hans van Steenwinckel the Elder and then his sons Hans and Lorenz built the new palace in the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance style, finished around 1620.¹ A fire in 1859 ruined most of it; it was rebuilt from old plans with public money and the support of the brewer J. C. Jacobsen of Carlsberg, and the Museum of National History opened in it in 1882.¹ A Baroque garden lies beside the lake.¹

What to know it by

• The Chapel1618Coronation church of the absolute kings, spared by the fire
• The Great HallRestored after the fire of 1859
• The Audience ChamberSpared by the fire of 1859
• Compenius organHistoric chamber organ, played on Thursdays