Skodsborg Spa Hotel ( Danish: ''Kurhotel Skodsborg'', formerly ''Skodsborg Kurbad'') is a hotel and health resort in Skodsborg, on the Strandvejen coastal road, 15 km north of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. It was named the Best Luxury Wellness Spa in Europe by the international World Luxury Hotel Awards in 2016.

History

Skodsborg Sanitarium (Danish: ''Skodsborg Badesanatorium'') was founded by the physician Carl Ottosen (July 26, 1864 in Elling Parish near Frederikshavn – May 12, 1942 in Skodsborg) and the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

in 1898. Ottosen's inspiration came from

John Harvey Kellogg John Harvey Kellogg (February 26, 1852 – December 14, 1943) was an American businessman, Invention, inventor, physician, and advocate of the Progressive Era, Progressive Movement. He was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Cr ...

, for whom he had worked at the

Battle Creek Sanitarium The Battle Creek Sanitarium was a world-renowned health resort in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. It started in 1866 on health principles advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and from 1876 to 1943 was managed by Dr. John Harvey ...

. Back in Denmark, he first opened Frydenstrand Sanitarium in association with the Adventist Church's

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast on the North Jutlandic Island in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The ...

. In 1897, he purchased two buildings in Skodsborg which had previously served as a summer retreat for King Frederick VII and Countess Danner. Skodsborg Sanitarium opened in 1889 where Ottosen also founded ''Den Sanitære Førevarefabrik'' (The Sanitary Food Factory). The new sanitarium originally had room for 20 patients but was expanded with a new main building in 1907 when the remaining part of the royal summer residence, Villa Rex, was also acquired. The institution became colloquially known as ''Den Hvide By'' (The White Town) or ''Persilleslottet ''(Parsley Palace) due to the

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

diet that was served to the patients. The sanitarium also served as a training facility for chefs and

physiotherapists Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

. Kellogg visited the sanitarium in 1926. Congresso Socialdem 1910

In 1910 it hosted the eighth International Socialist Congress, attended by the revolutionary socialist

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg ( ; ; ; born Rozalia Luksenburg; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary and Marxist theorist. She was a key figure of the socialist movements in Poland and Germany in the early 20t ...

. The Adventist Church sold Skodsborg Sanitarium to the Augustinus Foundation in 1992. The complex has been restored and expanded by

Henning Larsen Architects Henning Larsen Architects is an international architectural firm based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1959 by Henning Larsen, it has around 750 employees. In 2008, it opened an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and in 2011, an office in Munich ...

Architecture

Countess Danner's Mansion is a 13 bay long detached, two-storey wing located to the south of the main building. The building has a half hipped roof with blue tiles. The building, as it appears today, is from 1952, when the original building from 1800 was expanded by Peter Kornerup. It was listed in 1950. Villa Rex is from 1858 and was designed by Johan Henrik Nebelong. The tower is from 1880. The building was listed in 1994.

Facilities

The Lobby is a combined lounge, restaurant and cocktail bar. The restaurant serves

New Nordic cuisine New Nordic Cuisine (, , , , , ) is a culinary movement which has been developed in the Nordic countries, and Scandinavia in particular, since the mid-2000s. New Nordic Cuisine was propelled and inspired by new ideas introduced in a manifesto writ ...

. The head chef is Philip Scheel Grønkjær. The modern extension contains a large pool area, gym, yoga hall and test rooms.

Garden

In the park to the south of Countess Danner's Mansion is a grotto which was built by Frederick VII in 1853. It is made of

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

, flint and iron slag. Its interior features imitated

stalactite A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension (chemistry ...

s and the floor is decorated with pale and dark beach stones set in a star-shaped pattern. A winding, partly internal staircase on the rear side of the mound leads to the top for good views of Skodsborg and the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...

Bibliography

* Søgaard, Torsten : ''Et halvt år i Skodsborg. Jeppe Aakjærs rekreationsophold på Skodsborg Sanitarium 1927-28'' In ''Søllerødbogen 2013''. Historisk Topografisk Selskab.2013

References

External links

Source
{{coord, 55.8194, N, 12.5739, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:DK, display=title Danish companies established in 1898 Former Seventh-day Adventist institutions Hotels in Copenhagen Listed buildings and structures in Rudersdal Municipality Adventism in Denmark