Marselisborg Palace, ( da, Marselisborg Slot, ) is a royal residence of the

Danish Royal Family The Danish royal family is the dynastic family of the monarch. All members of the Danish royal family except Queen Margrethe II hold the title of ''Prince/Princess of Denmark''. Dynastic children of the monarch and of the heir apparent are accor ...

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

. It has been the summer residence of

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

since 1967. There is a Palace Park in connection to the palace itself and outside the grounds, stretching to the coast of the Bay of Aarhus is another large park Mindeparken (The Memorial Park), popular with the citizens of Aarhus for recreational activities in the warmer months of the year. Just south of Marselisborg Palace is Aarhus Forestry Botanical Garden and a Deer Park, as part of the extensive

Marselisborg Forests Marselisborg Forests ( da, Marselisborgskovene), or simply Marselisborg Forest, is a forest to the south of Aarhus City in the Kingdom of Denmark. Many present day sources now includes the forest of Fløjstrup, as part of the Marselisborg Fores ...

. Just west and north of the palace is Aarhus Racecourse and the Atletion Stadium.

History

Hack Kampmann Hack Kampmann (6 September 1856 – 27 June 1920) was a Danish architect, Royal Inspector of Listed State Buildings in Jutland and professor at the architecture department of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus, ...

, Marselisborg Palace was built in 1899–1902 on the land of the old Marselisborg Manor and was presented as a gift from the people of Denmark to the royal family, on the occasion of the wedding of Prince Christian and Duchess

Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (24 December 1879 – 28 December 1952) was Queen of Denmark from 1912 to 1947, as well Queen of Iceland from 1918 to 1944 as the spouse of King Christian X. She was the paternal grandmother of the current reig ...

. The couple later became King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine and initiated the tradition of using the palace as a summer residence. The palace is the property of the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of Denmark, metropolitan ...

, and will remain in possession of all future monarchs of Denmark. The present Queen,

Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

, was given the palace by her father,

King Frederick IX Frederick IX ( da, Christian Frederik Franz Michael Carl Valdemar Georg; 11 March 1899 – 14 January 1972) was King of Denmark from 1947 to 1972. Born into the House of Glücksburg, Frederick was the elder son of King Christian X and Queen ...

in 1967. Margrethe and her consort

Henrik Henrik is a male given name of Germanic origin, primarily used in Scandinavia, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. In Poland, the name is spelt Henryk but pronounced similarly. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Heiki (Estonian), Heikk ...

also used the palace as their summer residence. To this day the residence is used during the summer, as well as during the Easter and Christmas holidays.

About the name

The name Marselisborg refers to the old

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

manor

Marselisborg Marselisborg is a small borough of Aarhus, Denmark. Being small and situated just south of Frederiksbjerg, Marselisborg is often considered part of Frederiksbjerg. History Like most of the boroughs outside the Midtbyen (Aarhus), inner city of A ...

. Marselisborg means "Marselis Castle" in Danish and it was located where Marselisborg Gymnasium have residence now. The manor dates back to the 1500s and was originally named Havreballegård, but in the 1600s the German-Dutch merchant

Gabriel Marselis Gabriel Marselis (1609 – buried 5 April 1673) was a Danish tradesman and land owner. He was born in Hamburg, the son of the immigrated Dutch merchant Gabriel Marselis Sr. (c. 1575–1643), and was a brother of Selius Marselis. He settle ...

, replaced the name with the more grandiose "Marselis Castle". The Municipality of Aarhus took ownership of the Marselisborg estate in 1896, including the manor house. The manor house caught fire several times in the early 1900s and does not exist anymore. The only relation to Marselisborg Palace is the name Marselisborg and the fact that the palace was erected on land formerly part of the Marselis estate.

A gift from the people

The palace is "a gift of the people", in the sense that the project was funded by individual financial contributions and built on land given by the Municipality of Aarhus. Several

jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

ic cities and Danish companies became involved in the project, when the palace was equipped and furnished later on and in return their respective

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

are now presented throughout the palace building. Among the contributors are the cities of

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,461 (1 January 2022)Nykøbing Mors Nykøbing Mors is the largest town on the island of Mors in the Limfjord in Denmark. The town received its charter in 1299 and has a population of 9,033 (1 January 2022).

, to name just a few. The fundraising was initiated in the autumn of 1897 by

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

Dreyer,

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

J. Rosenkrantz of Sophiendal and landowner Chr. Neergaard of Aakjær.

The Palace Park

The palace is situated in a park known as ''Slotshaven'' (The Palace Park). The park was designed by architect

L. Christian Diedrichsen Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in traditional English landscape style, featuring large sweeping lawns dotted with small ponds, clusters of trees and shrub-covered slopes. There is a rose garden and a herb garden and the landscape is dotted with art sculptures. The park and gardens are both open to the public while the Queen and royal family are not in residence, whereas the palace itself is never open to the public. When the royal family is in residence, a

changing of the guard Guard mounting, changing the guard, or the changing of the guard, is a formal ceremony in which sentries performing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries. The ceremonies are often elaborate a ...

ceremony takes place at noon. The main gates are the only entrance and exit to the palace and the park. File:Marselisborg Slot (hovedindgang).JPG, Marselisborg Palace, main entrance. File:Marselisborg Palace1.jpg, At the palace grounds. File:Tre løver og ni hjerter.jpg, Granite sculptures from The Palace Park. File:Et sted mellem drøm og virkelighed.jpg, Bronze- and water-sculpture from The Palace Park.

References

Marselisborg - The Prince-residential in Jutland
Aarhus City Museum
The Queens Aarhus
Aarhus City Museum
Marselisborg Palace
Official homepage of The Danish Monarchy

External links

Arslonga.dk homepage {{Authority control Marselisborg Royal residences in Denmark Palaces in Denmark Buildings and structures in Aarhus Hack Kampmann buildings Tourist attractions in Aarhus National Romantic architecture in Aarhus