The Thott Mansion (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

: Thotts Palæ) is a listed town mansion located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built for the naval officer Niels Juel in the 1680s but his Baroque mansion was later adapted to the Neoclassical style by the French architect

Nicolas-Henri Jardin Nicolas-Henri Jardin (22 March 1720 – 31 August 1799) was a French architect. Born in St. Germain des Noyers, Seine-et-Marne, Jardin worked seventeen years in Denmark–Norway as an architect to the Danish royal court. He introduced neoclassicis ...

in 1763. The building takes its current name after the Thott family who owned it from 1750 to 1930. It now houses the French embassy.

History

Niels Juel's mansion

Originally known as the Juel Mansion, the house was built from 1683 to 1686 for the Danish naval officer Niels Juel. It was the second building which was completed on Kongens Nytorv which had been laid out by Christian V of Denmark in the years following his coronation in 1670 inspired by the royal squares of Paris. Niels Juel's victory in the Battle of Køge Bay had won him fame and wealth. His new mansion was designed by

Lambert van Haven Lambert van Haven (16 April 1630 - 9 May 1695) was a Danish-Norwegian architect, master builder and painter. He was born in Bergen, the son of the artist Solomon van Haven who had already succeeded in winning the favour of the Danish-Norwegian mo ...

as an L-shaped building in the Dutch Baroque style.

The next owners

After Juel's death in 1697, Christian V arranged for his official mistress and mother to five of his children,

Sophie Amalie Moth Sophie Amalie Moth, Countess of Samsøe (28 March 1654 – 17 January 1719) was the officially acknowledged royal mistress of King Christian V of Denmark. Together they had six acknowledged illegitimate children, all of whom bore the surname G ...

, to take over his mansion. She immediately passed it on to their eldest son,

Christian Gyldenløve Christian Gyldenløve, Count of Samsøe (Copenhagen, 28 February 1674 – Odense, 16 July 1703), was a Danish nobleman and military officer. He was one of five illegitimate children fathered by Christian V of Denmark with Sophie Amalie Moth. H ...

, who in about 1700 extended the building with a third wing. The house stayed in Gyldenløve's family for two more generations, although it was rented out to foreign envoys during some periods. The owners included Frederik Danneskiold-Samsøe, Gyldenløve's second oldest son, who played an important role in the development of the Nyholm naval base and dockyard. Countess Anne Sophie Schack acquired the mansion from Count Frederik-Christian Danneskjold in 1734.

Thott era

The house was then sold at auction. The buyer was

Otto Thott Otto Thott (13 October 1703 – 10 September 1785) was a Danish Count, minister of state, and land owner. During his lifetime, he acquired Gavnø Castle and one of the largest private collections of book and manuscripts in Denmark. Ear ...

, who gained a reputation for being one of the most learned and competent statesmen of the 18th century in Denmark. He spend his summers at

Gavnø Gavnø is a small island off the west coast of Zealand in Næstved Municipality, Denmark. Located some 6 km south-west of Næstved, it has an area of 5.6 km2, and, as of 1 January 2010, it has a population of 57. Gavnø Castle Gavnø ...

in the far south of Zealand and the winters in his mansion at Kongens Nytorv. In 1763, he commissioned

to adapt the building to a more modern style. The mansion housed Thott's extensive collections. At the time of his death, he had a book collection of 138,000 volumes and the largest private art collection in Denmark. His will provided that the latter be sold at auction. The catalogue contains 4,500 items of which 1,000 are oil paintings. After Otto Thott's death, the mansion stayed in his family. The most notable of his descendants to own the house was Tage Reedtz-Thott. Later the department store

Magasin du Nord Magasin is a Danish chain of department stores. It has seven department stores with its flagship store located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The company is a subsidiary of the German department store retailer Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf, Ma ...

, located on the other side of the square, had a window exhibition in the mansion's ground floor and a tea garden opened in the courtyard.

French ownership

The property remained in the ownership of the Thott family until 1930 when it was purchased by the French State and turned into the French Embassy in Denmark. In 2012, the French State decided to put the mansion through a major restoration under the leadership of Frédéric Didier, head architect at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...

Architecture

Niel's Juel's original mansion was an L-shaped building in the

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 ...

style. The facade stood in blank red brick decorated with pilasters. Nicolas-Henri Jardin dressed the brick and adapted the building to the Neoclassical style. The triangular pediment above the main entrance towards Kongens Nytorv replaced a belvedere. The sandstone festons below the first floor and the

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

with vases and statues on the roof also date from his alterations. The pilasters' original Tuscan capitals can still be seen on the Bredgade facade while they have been replaced by composite Ionic- Corinthian capitals facing the square. It has previously been assumed that Jardin was also responsible for adapting the interiors. However, examination of Countess Shack's private letters have shown that transformation of the interior actually happened a few years earlier during her ownership to designs by the French architect Christophe Jacob Vallois.

List of owners

*(1671-1697) Niels Juel *(1697-1699)

*(1699-1703)

*(1703-1720) Dorothea Krag née (1) Juel (2) Gyldenløve *(1720-1728) Christian Danneskiold-Samsøe *(1728-1747) Frederik Danneskiold-Samsøe *(1747-1754) Frederik Christian Danneskiold-Samsøe *(1754-1760) Anne Sophie Rantzau gift Schack *(1760-1785)

*(1785-1797) Holger Reedtz-Thott *(1797-1862) Otto Reedtz-Thott *(1862-1922) Tage Reedtz-Thott *(1922-1927) Otto Reedtz-Thott *(1927-1930) Axel Reedtz-Thott *(1930-present) State of France

References

External links

La France au Danemark

Source
{{Copenhagen historic houses Houses in Copenhagen Houses completed in 1686 Neoclassical architecture in Copenhagen Buildings and structures associated with the Juel family Buildings and structures associated with the Danneskiold-Samsøe family Buildings and structures associated with the Thott family