The French Embassy in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

is the main

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located in the Thott Palace at

Kongens Nytorv Kongens Nytorv ( lit. "The King's New Square") is a public square in Copenhagen, Denmark, centrally located at the end of the pedestrian street Strøget. The largest square of the city, it was laid out by Christian V in 1670 in connection wit ...

4 in central

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. The ambassador since July 6, 2018 is Caroline Ferrari, in replacement of François Zimeray.

Thott Palace

The building now housing the French Embassy was built for the Danish naval hero

Niels Juel Niels Juel (8 May 1629 – 8 April 1697) was a Danish admiral and a naval hero. He served as supreme command of the Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish-Norwegian Navy. Background Niels Juel ...

from 1683 to 1686 as the just second building on

which, inspired by the royal squares of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, had been laid out by

Christian V of Denmark Christian V (15 April 1646 25 August 1699) was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the decr ...

in the years following his coronation in 1670. With his victory in the Battle of Køge Bay, Niels Juel had won fame and wealth. His new mansion was designed by Lambert van Haven as an L-shaped building in the Dutch Baroque style. After Niels Juel's death in 1697, the king,

, arranged for his official mistress and mother to five of his children, Sophie Amalie Moth, to take over his mansion. She immediately passed it on to him and the king's eldest son, Christian Gyldenløve, who around 1700 extended the building with a third wing. In 1769, the palace was acquired by Otto Thott, who had the facade towards modernized to the design of Nicolas-Henri Jardin in 1763–64. The property remained in the belonging of the Thott family until 1930 when it was purchased by the French state and turned into the French Embassy in Denmark.

Cultural activities

The Embassy is today also used as a venue for a multitude of activities including conferences, lectures, wine tastings and guided tours.

References

Denmark–France relations {{France-gov-stub

Thott Palace

Cultural activities

Further reading

References