Palace Hotel is a residential hotel on the eastern side of
City Hall Square 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 ...
,
Denmark
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, song_type = National and royal anthem
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
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. Influenced by the
Art Nouveau style, the red brick building was designed by
Anton Rosen and completed in 1910.
History
The hotel was built by the master butcher Anders Jensen, from 1909
alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...
of the butchers' guild in Copenhagen, who had made a move into the hotel business in 1897 when he acquired
Hotel Marienlyst
Hotel Marienlyst is a seaside hotel located just north of Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, Denmark. It takes its name after Marienlyst Castle, Marienlyst House, a neighboring former royal summer retreat, which was part of it from its foundation in ...
in
Helsingør
Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...
. In 1907, he purchased a lot on the square in front of the new
Copenhagen City Hall
Copenhagen City Hall ( da, Københavns Rådhus) is the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council as well as the Lord mayor of the Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. The building is situated on City Hall Square in central Copenhagen.
Architect ...
which had been completed in the grounds of the city's old
Haymarket just two years earlier. The architect
Anton Rosen was commissioned to design the hotel which was inaugurated on 15 July 1910. King
Frederik VIII was among the first to visit the hotel.
Rosen not only designed the building but also everything from furniture to wallpaper, textiles, uniforms, luggage tags and keys. He also designed cutlery and door handles in collaboration with
Georg Jensen
Georg Arthur Jensen (31 August 1866 in Rådvad – 2 October 1935 in Copenhagen) was a Danish silversmith and founder of Georg Jensen A/S (also known as Georg Jensen Sølvsmedie).
Early life
Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife gr ...
.
In 1927, Jensen sold the hotel to Valdemar Nielsen, who changed its original name "Palads" to the more international "Palace Hotel" and spent a large sum on refurbishing its interiors. In 1937, the hotel changed hands once again when it was acquired by the Danish-Norwegian hotelier Waldemar Jensen. Assisted by his Hungarian architects, he converted the Marble Garden into the "Ambassadeur", turning the hotel into a popular entertainment venue.
The Danish businessman Fritz Schur purchased the building in November 1999. From 2005 until 2009, the hotel was managed by
Starwood
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. was one of the largest companies that owned, operated, franchised and managed hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties. It was acquired by Marriott International in 2016.
...
and renovated to upgrade it to a five-star hotel under the
Le Méridien brand. After failed negotiations between Schur and Starwood, the hotel was taken over by
Scandic Hotels
Scandic Hotels is a hotel chain headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with its main operations in the Nordic countries. Alongside hotels in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, the company also has a presence in Germany and Poland. As of 31 Decem ...
.
Architecture
The Palace Hotel building is considered one of Rosen's most important works and shows clear evidence of his appreciation of
Jugendstil
''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...
. He received the commission shortly after completing the
Løvenborg building on nearby
Vesterbrogade
Vesterbrogade () is the main shopping street of the Vesterbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. The 1.5 km long street runs from the City Hall Square in the east to Pile Allé in Frederiksberg in the west where it turns into Roskildevej. O ...
, the first example of the style in Denmark. The building is constructed in red brick and stands on a sandstone plinth. The portal and other details on the facade are also in sandstone. The copper canopy above the main entrance is a later addition.
A distinctive feature of the exterior is the slender tower which together with those of the
City Hall and the former
Hotel Bristol
The Hotel Bristol is the name of more than 200 hotels around the world. They range from grand European hotels, such as Hôtel Le Bristol Paris and the Hotel Bristol in Warsaw or Vienna to budget hotels, such as the SRO (single room occupancy) ...
dominates the City Hall Square. The copper-roofed tower is high and decorated with mosaics by the painter Johannes Kragh on all four sides, symbolizing ''morning'', ''day'', ''evening'' and ''night''. The hotel is also noted for its beautiful lobby.
Anton Rosen designed the entire block between the City Hall Square and Mikkel Bryggers Gade where the
Grand Cinema is now located. It was heritage listed in 1985.
Today
Palace Hotel is owned and operated by
Scandic Hotels
Scandic Hotels is a hotel chain headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with its main operations in the Nordic countries. Alongside hotels in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, the company also has a presence in Germany and Poland. As of 31 Decem ...
but marketed under the
Summit Hotels and Resorts brand. It has 169 rooms, 40 of which have balconies overlooking the City Hall Square. Other facilities include five conference rooms and a restaurant and cocktail bar on the ground floor.
In popular culture
The hotel has been used as a location in the films ''
Dorte
''Dorte'' is a 1951 Danish family film directed by Jon Iversen.
Cast
* Ilselil Larsen as Dorte
*Ib Schønberg as Director Asger Hansen
*Preben Neergaard as Steen
* Nina Pens Rode as Margot
* Johannes Meyer as Prokuristen
*Helge Kjærulff-Schmi ...
'' (1951),
''
Hendes store aften'' (1954), ''
Mariannes bryllup'' (1958) and ''
Een blandt mange'' (1961).
Gallery
Image:Copenhagen Palace Hotel - main entrance.jpg, Main entrance
Image:Palace Hotel Copenhagen - spire.jpg, The spire
References
External links
Official site"A modern History of Palace Hotel Copenhagen book about the hotel
Renderingsin the
Danish National Art Library
{{Copenhagen
Hotels in Copenhagen
Listed hotels in Copenhagen
Art Nouveau architecture in Copenhagen
Hotel buildings completed in 1910
Hotels established in 1910
Art Nouveau hotels