Hirschholm Palace, also known as Hørsholm Palace, was a royal palace located in present-day

Hørsholm municipality Hørsholm Kommune is a municipality (Danish language, Danish, ''Commune (subnational entity), kommune'') in the Copenhagen Capital Region in the northern part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The muni ...

just north of

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 ...

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 = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. It was rebuilt in the

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

in the 1740s and, one of the finest buildings of its time, it became known as the "

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

of the North". It developed a notorious reputation in connection with its role in the affair between

Johann Friedrich Struensee Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish government. ...

and Queen Caroline Mathilda in the 1770s. After that it fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1809–1813. The palace was designed by

Lauritz de Thurah Laurids Lauridsen de Thurah, known as Lauritz de Thurah (4 March 1706 – 5 September 1759), was a Danish architect and architectural writer. He became the most important Danish architect of the late baroque period. As an architectural writer ...

for King

Christian VI Christian VI (30 November 1699 – 6 August 1746) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746. The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, bu ...

and his consort Queen Sophie Magdalene, and was intended as their summer residence.

History

Early history

Hirschholm Palace was built on a site that had been used since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. From around 1100 there was a fortification at site known as Hørningsholm. In 1391 the estate became

crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

when Queen

Margrete I Margaret I ( da, Margrete Valdemarsdatter; March 1353 – 28 October 1412) was ruler of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included Finland) from the late 1380s until her death, and the founder of the Kalmar Union that joined the Scandinavian k ...

took possession of the property. At the end of the 16th century Frederik II and

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

built a royal hunting castle lodge on the site. The estate, which covered a large area (the present-day municipalities of

Hørsholm Hørsholm () is an urban area on the Øresund coast approximately north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers most of Hørsholm Municipality and straddles the borders neighbouring Fredensborg Municipality and Rudersdal Municipality. Hørsholm prope ...

Karlebo Karlebo Kommune was until 1 January 2007 a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Frederiksborg County on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 40 km², and had a total popu ...

, Birkerød and a part of Allerød) was called the Noble Estate of Hørsholm (''adelsgodset Hørsholm''), and was endowed to various noblemen and members of the royal court. By the middle of the 17th century a royal tradition had developed whereby the ruling king bestowed Hørsholm Palace to his consort, and it was used as a summer residence. The estate was now being managed directly by the royal house, and income went to the Queen. Frederick IV’s consort Queen

Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...

owned Hørsholm Palace between 1700 and 1721. She had it modernised and added a number of farm buildings to the estate.

The Baroque palace

Det kongelige orangeri og skydehus ved Hirschholm 1748

Hirschholm Slot og Have 1749 (Laurids de Thurah)

Immediately after he became king in 1730,

King Christian VI Christian VI (30 November 1699 – 6 August 1746) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746. The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, bu ...

donated Hirschholm to his queen consort, Sophie Magdalene, as a

life estate In common law and statutory law, a life estate (or life tenancy) is the ownership of immovable property for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death when ownership of the property may ...

. Thus began a new phase in the history of the site. The queen decided that the old castle should be converted into a decent summer residence for the king and queen. Until the takeover, conditions at the place had been modest, in fact it was a medieval facility where only a few modernizations had been made. The de Thurah-designed

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

palace was completed in 1744 and was one of the most impressive building works of that period. It was referred to as "The

of the North". When the king died in 1746 it became Sophie Magdalene's residence as

Queen Dowager A queen dowager or dowager queen (compare: princess dowager or dowager princess) is a title or status generally held by the widow of a king. In the case of the widow of an emperor, the title of empress dowager is used. Its full meaning is clear ...

. She carried out a number of changes on the estate that pointed towards the agricultural reforms that would come to play a big role in the country during the coming decades. Thurah's drawings of the palace were published in

Den Danske Vitruvius ''Den Danske Vitruvius'' (English: ''The Danish Vitruvius'') is a richly illustrated 18th-century architectural work on Danish monumental buildings of the period, written by the Danish Baroque architect Lauritz de Thurah. It was commissioned by C ...

in 1746–1749. The Dowager Queen Sophie Magdalene died in 1770, and the palace was taken over by King Christian VII who used it as a summer residence for his family and court. On 17 June 1771 the royal family and court took summer residence at the palace, and on 7 July Queen Caroline Mathilde gave birth to her second child, Princess Louise Augusta, whose father was almost certainly

. That summer has come to be referred to as the "Hirschholm Summer" in Danish history.

Neglect and demolition

After that summer, and after the arrest of Struensee and the Queen on 17 January 1772, and the subsequent execution of Struensee, and the banishment and imprisonment of the Queen, the palace stood empty until 1810. At that time

Frederik VI Frederick VI (Danish and no, Frederik; 28 January 17683 December 1839) was King of Denmark from 13 March 1808 to 3 December 1839 and King of Norway from 13 March 1808 to 7 February 1814, making him the last king of Denmark–Norway. From 1784 ...

had the now dilapidated palace torn down for use as build materials for the rebuilding of

Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

, which had burned to the ground in the fire of 1794.

The site today

In 1822-23 a small church designed by architect

Christian Frederik Hansen Christian Frederik Hansen (29 February 1756 – 10 July 1845), known as C. F. Hansen, was the leading Danish architect between the late 18th century and the mid 19th century, and on account of his position at the Royal Danish Academy of Art (''De ...

was built on the grounds of the demolished palace. The park surrounding the church, which is located on a small island in a lake, still bears some evidence of the original palace garden. A number of the farm buildings

had built in the early 18th century still exist. Some of them house the

Danish Museum of Hunting and Forestry The Danish Museum of Hunting and Forestry (Danish: Dansk Jagt- og Skovbrugsmuseum) was a state-owned museum in Hørsholm exhibiting objects connected with the history of hunting and forestry in Denmark. It is now closely associated with the UNESCO- ...

. The Hørsholm Local History Museum has a permanent exhibit about the palace, the royal affair and its consequences.

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Hørsholm Local Museum (Danish language only)

Images
{{Lauritz de Thurah Palaces in Denmark Royal residences in Denmark Houses in Hørsholm Municipality Former buildings and structures in Denmark Baroque architecture in Denmark Houses completed in 1744 Buildings and structures in Hørsholm Municipality 1744 establishments in Denmark Buildings and structures demolished in 1813 Demolished buildings and structures in Denmark