Frederiksberg Park
Encyclopedia
Frederiksberg Park is one of the largest and most attractive greenspaces in Copenhagen
, Denmark
. Together with the adjacent Søndermarken
it forms a green area of 64 hectare
s at the western edge of Inner Copenhagen. It is a romantic landscape garden
designed in English style
.
in connecton with the construction of Frederiksberg Palace
as his new summer retreat on high grounds atop Valby Hill. Work on the project began in the last half od the 1690s with inspiration from Ialy and France
which Frederick, at that time still Crown Prince, had visited on several occasions. He commissioned the eminent Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin to draw a proposal and the final plan was subsequently made by Hans Heinrich Scheel, a captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers.
The plan involved a parterre
with a complex system of cascades on the sloping terrain in front of the new new palace. It was fed by a complicated but inefficient system of pumps which never came to work properly.
In the end, Johan Cornelius Krieger
, who was at the time also working on an extension and adaption of Fredensborg Palace
north of Copenhagen, was called upon to redesign the parterre. Unusually of the time, he gave up the parterre completely and instead transformed the slope into a series of terraces.
.
The rest of Frederiksberg Garden has been remodelled as a scenic garden with winding lawns, lakes, canals and spinneys as well as grottos, temples, pavilions and summerhouses. It may well have been based on Johan Ludwig Mansa's book on English-style gardening written in 1798.
The Palace garden was particularly used by Frederik VI who spend much time in the grounds and sailing the canals in a gondola
. Though a palace park, the general public had access to the grounds but sailor
s, dogs and people in poor clothing or carrying large bundles were turned away by the guard at the parks sole entrance. Not until 1865 became access to the park unrestricted, in line with what was the case elsewhere in the city such as at Langelinie
.
Typically of the romantic landscape garden, the park houses two follies
m waterfalls, grottos and other Garden feature
s.
The gate opens to a path which passes between two long, wellow buildings with white details. They are the two usrviving wings of the Rrince's House. The south wing, located on the left-hand side when entering the park, was to an orangery by Nicolai Eigtved
in 1744 and is now part of the Royal Danish Horticultural Society's Garden
. The north wing, located on the right-hand side, is used by the parks administration.
The summerhouse was built by the court architect A. J. Kikerup, and like the rest of the buildings in the park it was a feature well known from the English garden.
The summerhouse contained a hall, two cabinets, a kitchen and lavatory. The only window in the lavatory was in the shape of a half moon and was made of red glass. The furniture consisted partly of copies of Chinese furniture as well as a set of genuine Chinese bamboo furniture acquired through the Asiatic Company
.
Both the exterior and the interoior has rich Chinese-inspired cecorations, pictures, characters and other ornaments, and there were bells on the roof. Imitation bamboo was used the ceilings.
temple by the painter Nicolai Abildgaard and built in 1802. It is named for the Egyptian bull-deity Apis
which is depicted on the fronton
. The temple front consists of 10 columns of which 8 are recycled from a rebuilding of Moltke's Palace while he last 2 columns are replicas. Decorations include the Ox Cranium Frieze and the Bull Relief, both carved in sandstone.
On the inside, the temple consists of a barrel vault
ed room with two windows which originally had stained glass. The room was furnished with a sofa, chairs and console tables which the royalties could use for drinking tea. From 1874 to 1970 the temple was used as entrance to the Zoo which had been in 1859 and the décor changed. The temple is occasionally open for the public and has been used for art exhibitions.
The style has little to do with Switzerland but the name bears testament to the period's fascination with mountainous regions. The cottage was built next to a small lake and the vegetation around the cottage was adapted, with conifers instead of deciduous trees, to create the right atmosphere of the setting.
. It served as summer residence for Adam Oehlenschläger and his family from 1842 to 1850.
typical of the romantic garden is an artificial waterfall. The waterfall is 7 metres heigh and partly created out of marble
blocks from the building site of the Marble Church
. The waterfall was left as a ruin for many years but was reconstructed in 2004.
designed the new Elephant House for the adjacent Copenhagen Zoo, it was done as anextension of Frederiksberg Park. A three-metre high wall that once separated the two has been replaced by a simple fence, so that visitors in the public park can now watch the elephant
s. In the same time it means the elephants have distant views as well. The enclosure steps up slowly away from the park, rising to the height of the domes. From a distance, these appear to be buried in the ground, surrounded by fe
rns and trees.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Together with the adjacent Søndermarken
Søndermarken
Søndermarken is a park in Frederiksberg on the border to Valby and the Carlsberg area in Copenhagen, Denmark. It shares much of its history with Frederiksberg Park from which it is separated only by Roskildevej...
it forms a green area of 64 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s at the western edge of Inner Copenhagen. It is a romantic landscape garden
Landscape garden
The term landscape garden is often used to describe the English garden design style characteristic of the eighteenth century, that swept the Continent replacing the formal Renaissance garden and Garden à la française models. The work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is particularly influential.The...
designed in English style
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
.
The original Baroque garden
Frederiksberg Park was established by King Frederik IVFrederick IV of Denmark
Frederick IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel .-Foreign affairs:...
in connecton with the construction of Frederiksberg Palace
Frederiksberg Palace
Frederiksberg Palace is a Baroque residence, located in Frederiksberg, Denmark, adjacent to the Copenhagen Zoo. It commands an impressive view over Frederiksberg Park, originally designed as a palace garden in the Baroque style...
as his new summer retreat on high grounds atop Valby Hill. Work on the project began in the last half od the 1690s with inspiration from Ialy and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
which Frederick, at that time still Crown Prince, had visited on several occasions. He commissioned the eminent Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin to draw a proposal and the final plan was subsequently made by Hans Heinrich Scheel, a captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers.
The plan involved a parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
with a complex system of cascades on the sloping terrain in front of the new new palace. It was fed by a complicated but inefficient system of pumps which never came to work properly.
In the end, Johan Cornelius Krieger
Johan Cornelius Krieger
Johan Cornelius Krieger was a Danish architect and landscape architect, who from the 1720s served as both the country's chief architect, and head of the royal gardens....
, who was at the time also working on an extension and adaption of Fredensborg Palace
Fredensborg Palace
Fredensborg Palace, , is a palace located on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum in Fredensborg on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It is the Danish Royal Family’s spring and autumn residence, and is often the site of important state visits and events in the Royal Family...
north of Copenhagen, was called upon to redesign the parterre. Unusually of the time, he gave up the parterre completely and instead transformed the slope into a series of terraces.
The Romantic garden
In about 1800, as fashion changed, the park was adapted into an English landscape gardenEnglish garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
.
The rest of Frederiksberg Garden has been remodelled as a scenic garden with winding lawns, lakes, canals and spinneys as well as grottos, temples, pavilions and summerhouses. It may well have been based on Johan Ludwig Mansa's book on English-style gardening written in 1798.
The Palace garden was particularly used by Frederik VI who spend much time in the grounds and sailing the canals in a gondola
Gondola
The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian Lagoon. For centuries gondolas were the chief means of transportation and most common watercraft within Venice. In modern times the iconic boats still have a role in public transport in...
. Though a palace park, the general public had access to the grounds but sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
s, dogs and people in poor clothing or carrying large bundles were turned away by the guard at the parks sole entrance. Not until 1865 became access to the park unrestricted, in line with what was the case elsewhere in the city such as at Langelinie
Langelinie
Langelinie is a pier, promenade and park in central Copenhagen, Denmark, and home of the statue of The Little Mermaid. The area has for centuries been a popular destination for excursions and strolls in Copenhagen...
.
Frederiksberg Park today
Frederiksberg Park is an English-style Romantic landscape garden with winding paths, canals, lakes small islands and magnificent trees.Typically of the romantic landscape garden, the park houses two follies
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
m waterfalls, grottos and other Garden feature
Garden feature
Garden features are physical elements, both natural and manmade, used in garden design.*Avenue*Cascade*Belvedere*Deck*Duck Island, Duck house, or Duck Canopy*Duck pond*Feengrotten*Folly*Fountain*Gazebo*Grotto*Hedge*Herbaceous border*Lawn...
s.
Buildings & features
Main entrance
The main entrance to Frederiksberg Gardens was, in its present form, built in 1755, following the fire two years earlier of the Prince's House, the presursor of Frederiksberg Palace, which used to be located at the site. The gate was designed by Lauritz de Thurah who had become general master builder after Eigtved's death. The vases at the top of the two sandstone pillars were executed by the sculptor Johann Friedrich Hännel.The gate opens to a path which passes between two long, wellow buildings with white details. They are the two usrviving wings of the Rrince's House. The south wing, located on the left-hand side when entering the park, was to an orangery by Nicolai Eigtved
Nicolai Eigtved
Nicolai Eigtved, also known as Niels Eigtved, , Danish architect, introduced and was the leading proponent of the French rococo style in Danish architecture during the 1730s-1740s. He designed and built some of the most prominent buildings of his time, a number of which still stand to this day...
in 1744 and is now part of the Royal Danish Horticultural Society's Garden
Royal Danish Horticultural Society's Garden
The Royal Danish Horticultural Society's Garden is a garden in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark operated by the Danish Horticultural Society as a source of inspiration for its members as well as other people with an interest in gardening...
. The north wing, located on the right-hand side, is used by the parks administration.
Chinese summerhouse and bridge
The Chinese summerhouse was completed in 1803 as a replacement for a pavilion which had stood at the centre of the baroque garden but was pulled down in 1799. It was sited on a small artificial island accessible by across a bridge which was built to a matching Chinese design.The summerhouse was built by the court architect A. J. Kikerup, and like the rest of the buildings in the park it was a feature well known from the English garden.
The summerhouse contained a hall, two cabinets, a kitchen and lavatory. The only window in the lavatory was in the shape of a half moon and was made of red glass. The furniture consisted partly of copies of Chinese furniture as well as a set of genuine Chinese bamboo furniture acquired through the Asiatic Company
East Asiatic Company
The East Asiatic Company was founded by Hans Niels Andersen in Copenhagen in 1897. Service which would eventually include both passenger and freight lines between the Danish capital, Bangkok and the far east was the initial objective. Routes to include the Baltic and Black Seas were...
.
Both the exterior and the interoior has rich Chinese-inspired cecorations, pictures, characters and other ornaments, and there were bells on the roof. Imitation bamboo was used the ceilings.
Apis Temple
The Apis Temple is located on the border to Copenhagen Zoo. It was designed in the style of a in the style of a RomanRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
temple by the painter Nicolai Abildgaard and built in 1802. It is named for the Egyptian bull-deity Apis
Apis (Egyptian mythology)
In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis , was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region.According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty. Hape is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom...
which is depicted on the fronton
Fronton
Fronton is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.It lies 28 km north of Toulouse and within its metropolitan area.-Population:-Wine:...
. The temple front consists of 10 columns of which 8 are recycled from a rebuilding of Moltke's Palace while he last 2 columns are replicas. Decorations include the Ox Cranium Frieze and the Bull Relief, both carved in sandstone.
On the inside, the temple consists of a barrel vault
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
ed room with two windows which originally had stained glass. The room was furnished with a sofa, chairs and console tables which the royalties could use for drinking tea. From 1874 to 1970 the temple was used as entrance to the Zoo which had been in 1859 and the décor changed. The temple is occasionally open for the public and has been used for art exhibitions.
Swiss Cottage
Like the Apis Temple, the Swiss Cottage lies in the part of the park that was incorporated when the park was redesigned in the Romantic style. Designed by Abildgaard and built between 1800 and 1801, the contains a hall, a cabinet and some smaller rooms in which the royal family could take coffee after dinner or a stroll in the garden. In 1894, the house was converted into a residence for the castle gardener, and the interior was radically altered.The style has little to do with Switzerland but the name bears testament to the period's fascination with mountainous regions. The cottage was built next to a small lake and the vegetation around the cottage was adapted, with conifers instead of deciduous trees, to create the right atmosphere of the setting.
The Pheasantry
Close to the Swiss Cottage stands the Pheasantry (Da. Fasangården) which was designed by J.C. Krieger and built in 1723. As the name suggests, the nuilding was originally built in connection with a pheasantry which raised pheasants for the royal household. When the park was redesigned around 1800, there were plans to tear down the house but instead it was turned into a residence for the king’s private secretary, P.C. Jessen, who had already used it during summer since 1798. The building was adapted in 1828 by Jørgen Hansen KochJørgen Hansen Koch
Jørgen Hansen Koch was a Neoclassical Danish architect. He was the leader of the national Danish building administration from 1835 and director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1844 to 1849.-Biography:...
. It served as summer residence for Adam Oehlenschläger and his family from 1842 to 1850.
Artificial waterfall
Another garden featureGarden feature
Garden features are physical elements, both natural and manmade, used in garden design.*Avenue*Cascade*Belvedere*Deck*Duck Island, Duck house, or Duck Canopy*Duck pond*Feengrotten*Folly*Fountain*Gazebo*Grotto*Hedge*Herbaceous border*Lawn...
typical of the romantic garden is an artificial waterfall. The waterfall is 7 metres heigh and partly created out of marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
blocks from the building site of the Marble Church
Frederik's Church
Frederick's Church , popularly known as The Marble Church is a church in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located just north of Amalienborg Palace....
. The waterfall was left as a ruin for many years but was reconstructed in 2004.
Elephant viewpoint
When Norman Foster in collaboration with the Danish landscape architect Stig L. AnderssonStig L. Andersson
Stig L. Anderson is a Danish landscape architect, founder and Creative Director of Copenhagen-based SLA which has developed into a interdisciplinary organisation working with landscape, urban spaces and urban planning....
designed the new Elephant House for the adjacent Copenhagen Zoo, it was done as anextension of Frederiksberg Park. A three-metre high wall that once separated the two has been replaced by a simple fence, so that visitors in the public park can now watch the elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s. In the same time it means the elephants have distant views as well. The enclosure steps up slowly away from the park, rising to the height of the domes. From a distance, these appear to be buried in the ground, surrounded by fe
FE
Fe or FE may refer to:* Iron * Fe , the f-rune of the Younger Futhark* Fe * Fe * "Fe" , a song by Jorge González...
rns and trees.
Events & activities
Every year on Midsummer Eve, the park is a rallying point for thousands of people who attend community singing, speeches, music and a "witch"-burning bonfire at the lakeside in front of the palace.Cultural references
- In Hans Christian AndersenHans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
's fairy tale The Elder-Tree Mother, an old married couple remembers how they used to go to the Round TiowerRundetårnThe Rundetårn is a 17th-century tower located in central Copenhagen, Denmark. One of the many architectural projects of Christian IV, it was built as an astronomical observatory...
, "and looked down on Copenhagen, and far, far away over the water; then we went to Frederiksberg [Park], where the King and the Queen were sailing about in their splendid barges!'.