Fredensborg Palace - Frederiksborg Castle

Route: Copenhagen - Fredensborg Palace - Frederiksborg Castle - Copenhagen
Duration: 6 h
Firstly we will make stop at the Fredensborg Palace which  is Denmark’s Versailles. The beautiful 18th-century baroque palace was built as a hunting palace for Frederik IV and is today often the setting for large official state visits and family events in the royal family. Fredensborg Palace, or as it translates into “the Palace of Peace” got its name as a commemoration of the ending of The Great Northern War in 1722, when the palace was built. It was designed by the best Danish architects of the time, J.C. Krieger, Nicolai Eigtved, L. de Thurah and C.F. Harsdorff. The palace and the palace garden as an entirety exemplify the French baroque style. Fredensborg Palace’s garden is one of Denmark’s largest historical gardens. Long, straight avenues extend from the palace in a star formation, a characteristic of the gardens original French baroque style know from Versailles. A special experience in Frederiksborg palace is the Norseman's valley where 70 sculptures of Norwegian and Faeroese farmers and fishermen are presented.  In July and the first week of August, you can go on a guided tour and visit parts of the palace, the palace chapel, the Private Garden and the Orangery.  Inside the palace, you'll learn a little about the history of the royal family, in the yellow room, there’s a large, unusual family painting by Thomas Kluge which looks as if it was painted in the 1700s.  Around the palace, you will also see where visiting dignitaries have scratched their names on the windowpanes. There are signatures of Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Winston Churchill etched on the glass. It’s a tradition that started in 1841, and to date there are 239 signatures on the window panes all around the palace. They hand presidents and monarchs hand a diamond-tipped pen and a small pane of glass just before they leave. They sign their name, date it, and the Queen decides which window will house the signature. Our next stop we will make at the Frederiksborg castle which is a unique Renaissance castle in Scandinavia. This castle was built by Christian IV in the first decade of the 17th century, as a testimony to the king’s position as a powerful North European monarch. The lavish castle is rich in detail and impressive handiwork, and a visit offers an excellent opportunity to experience the pomp and circumstance of earlier times. Through historical paintings, portraits, furniture, and applied art from various periods the castle tell 500 years of Danish history. On tour through the many beautiful halls of the castle, you encounter kings and queens, noblemen and commoners, events and epochs that contributed to the development and history of Denmark. During the tour you will see the Knights’ Hall is a magnificent room where you can easily imagine the royal parties of earlier times. The richly carved wooden ceiling is impressively rich in detail, and the walls are decorated with large tapestries and portraits of sovereigns, including recent painting of 3 generations; Queen Margrethe, Crown Prince Fredrik, and Prince Christian. The Audience Hall is the audience hall high and low, rich and poor have been allowed an audience with the king since the 1680s. The hall has an authentic baroque interior from the time of Christian IV, an artistic tribute to the absolute monarch. The Castle Chapel where the absolute monarchs were anointed. The Chapel of the Orders was established in 1693-94 during the reign of Christian V, but earlier statutes for the Order of the Elephant dating back to 1679 had already required knights to send their coats of arms to the order’s secretary. Today more than 3,100 Knights and Ladies have received, either the Order of the Elephant (more than 400) or the Order of Dannebrog (more than 2,700). The receiver of the Order of the Elephant are mainly members of the Royal family and heads of states like the President of Iceland. The Portrait Collection which is the modern collection on the 3rd floor shows portraits, history paintings, and furniture from the 20th and 21st century. Thus the tale of the history of Denmark is brought up to the present. After free time we will return to Copenhagen.
Price: Per person