Rosenborg Castle

Why it is renowned

Rosenborg keeps the Danish crown jewels and the crown regalia in its treasury, with the crowns of Christian IV and Christian V and, in the Long Hall, the coronation chair of the absolute kings and the throne of the queens.¹ The crown jewels are still worn by the sitting queen: Queen Mary wore the Emerald Set after the succession in 2024.² The castle has been open to the public since 1838.¹ Lonely Planet ranks it third among the best things to do in Copenhagen, for its rooms with the former coronation thrones and the crown jewels in the treasury.³

The story

Christian IV built Rosenborg as a summerhouse in 1606 and enlarged it in the Dutch Renaissance style until 1624; Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger and Bertel Lange are named as its architects.¹ It was a royal residence until about 1710, and later only in emergencies, after Christiansborg burned in 1794 and during the British attack on Copenhagen in 1801.¹ Christian IV died in his bedchamber there in 1648.² The castle stands in Kongens Have, the oldest royal garden in the country.¹

What to know it by

• The Crown of Christian IV¹In the treasury
• The Long Hall¹1624Coronation chair, the queens' throne and three silver lions
• The Emerald Set²Crown jewels with a tiara, from the 1840s
• Kongens Have¹The King's Garden around the castle