Dyrehaven officially Jægersborg Dyrehave, is a forest park north of Copenhagen

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...

. It covers around 11 square kilometres. Dyrehaven is noted for its mixture of huge, ancient oak trees and large populations of red

Red Deer

The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...

 and fallow deer

Fallow Deer

The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...

.

All entrances to the park have a characteristic red gate

Gate

A gate is a point of entry to a space enclosed by walls, or a moderately sized opening in a fence. Gates may prevent or control entry or exit, or they may be merely decorative. Other terms for gate include yett and port...

; one of the most popular entrances is Klampenborg gate, close to Klampenborg station

Klampenborg Station

Klampenborg Station is an S-train station in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the terminus of the Klampenborg radial. It also serves Kystbanen between Helsingør and Malmö...

. All the entrance gates have an identical gate house attached to them, which serve as the residences of the forest wardens. Dyrehaven is maintained as a natural forest, with the emphasis on the natural development of the woods over commercial forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

. Old trees are felled only if they are a danger to the public. It has herds of about 2100 deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

 in total, with 300 Red Deer

Red Deer

The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...

, 1700 Fallow Deer

Fallow Deer

The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...

 and 100 Sika Deer

Sika Deer

The Sika Deer, Cervus nippon, also known as the Spotted Deer or the Japanese Deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to various other parts of the world...

. Dyrehaven is also the venue for the Eremitage road race

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

 (Eremitageløbet) and the yearly Hubertus hunt

Steeplechase

Steeplechase may refer to:* Steeplechase, an event in horse racing* SteepleChase, a Danish jazz label* Steeplechase , a 1975 arcade game released by Atari...

 (Hubertusjagten) which is held on the first Sunday in November. In former times it was home to the Fortunløbet race, later known as Ermelundsløbet, but this race was discontinued in 1960.

History

In 1669 Frederik III

Frederick III of Denmark

Frederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in western historiography. He was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV of Denmark and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg...

 decided that the wood of "Boveskov" ("Beech wood") should be fenced in and wild deer from the surrounding areas driven into the newly created park. Boveskov was already well-known as the former property of Valdemar the Victorious

Valdemar II of Denmark

Valdemar II , called Valdemar the Victorious or Valdemar the Conqueror , was the King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. The nickname Sejr is a later invention and was not used during the King's own lifetime...

 as it had been recorded in his census (the Liber Census Daniæ) of 1231. The forest lay in the westerly and southerly part of the present Dyrehaven and encompassed land used by the farmers from the village of Stokkerup, which lay to the north. Fencing work consisted of excavating a ditch, the earth from which was built up in a bank on the outside walls of the ditch, on the opposite side to the centre of the park. On the top of the bank posts were driven into the ground and fences installed. This made it more difficult for the deer to leap the fence, as the rise between the ditch and the bank effectively increased the level of the fence. The ditch and bank can still be seen for a long stretch in the south-easterly part of the current park. The work was never finished, as Frederik III died in 1670. The design, however, is still on record, and the area for the scheme worked out at around 3 square kilometres. When Frederik's son, Christian V

Christian V of Denmark

Christian V , was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 to 1699, the son of Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

, became king, he laid out new and more ambitious plans for Dyrehaven.

During his education Christian V had spent time at the court of Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

 in 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...

. Here he had seen another type of hunting practice, parforce (hunting with dogs), that he wished to adopt. This style of hunting required a greater area of land for its practice, so Christian V increased the boundaries to include the fields up to the village of Stokkerup (the area known today as Eremitagesletten), as well as taking in the land that today is Jægersborg Hegn. The additional enclosure increased the size of the park to 16 square kilometres. The inhabitants of Stokkerup, whose village pond still lies within Eremitagesletten area, were ordered to tear down their houses and make use of the materials to rebuild the farms in the area that had stood empty since the Northern Wars

Northern Wars

Northern Wars is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe in the 16th and 17th century. An internationally agreed nomenclature for these wars has not yet been devised...

. They were compensated for this by having a period of three years during which they were exempt from taxation.

Eremitagesletten

Eremitagesletten is an area in the north of the park. Originally this area was the fields of the village of Stokkerup, but was enclosed when Christian needed it for hunting with dogs. Evidence of this can be clearly seen from the roads which are laid out in the classic star form that was typical for areas used in this form of hunting. In the middle of Eremitagesletten is the Eremitageslottet

Eremitage Palace

The Eremitage Palace or Eremitage Hunting Lodge is located in Dyrehaven north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The palace was built by architect Lauritz de Thurah in Baroque style from 1734 to 1736 for Christian VI of Denmark in order to host royal banquets during royal hunts in Dyrehaven.- Name :Never...

 (Eremitage Palace), built during the reign of Christian VI

Christian VI of Denmark

Christian VI was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746.He was the son of King Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. He married Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and fathered Frederick V.-The reign and personality of Christian VI:To posterity Christian...

.

Eremitagesletten is encircled by forest. From Hjortekær to the north and the east there is a row of chestnut

Chestnut

Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...

 trees that make up the boundaries of the plain. This row of trees marked the northern extent of Dyrehaven until 1913, when the boundaries were extended north of Mølleåen.

Fortunens Indelukke

Fortunens Indelukke is an area in the west of Dyrehaven. It is fenced in and is the only part of the forest that the deer do not have access to.
There are a few other areas also fenced in, but only smaller and temporary to save the young trees.

Ulvedalene

Ulvedalene has Dyrehaven's hilliest terrain, which was created during the last ice age. Djævlebakken, a popular sledging run is found in this part of the park. Ulvedalsteateret (Ulvedal theatre) gave performances for 39 years in Ulvedalene. The first time was in the summer of 1910 with Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger

Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger

Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature.-Biography:He was born in Vesterbro, then a suburb of Copenhagen, on 14 November 1779...

's Hagbart and Signe. The idea originated from the actor Adam Poulsen and producer Henrik Cavling. The architect Jens Ferdinand Willumsen

Jens Ferdinand Willumsen

Jens Ferdinand Willumsen was a Danish artist who was associated with the movements of Symbolism and Expressionism. Although he was Danish, Willumsen lived almost half of his life in France...

 created spaces for about 4,000 sitting and 2,000 standing spectators, which made it possible to lower the ticket price to an accessible level. The theatre survived up to 1949, and after a break of almost 50 years, the tradition was revived by Birgitte Price with an arrangement of Johan Ludvig Heiberg

Johan Ludvig Heiberg (poet)

Johan Ludvig Heiberg , Danish poet and critic, son of the political writer Peter Andreas Heiberg , and of the novelist, afterwards the Baroness Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd, was born in Copenhagen....

's Elverhøj in 1996 in a production supported by the Royal Danish Theatre

Royal Danish Theatre

The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...

, Lyngby-Taarbæk Kommune

Lyngby-Taarbæk

Lyngby-Taarbæk Kommune is a municipality in Region Hovedstaden near Copenhagen on the east coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 39 km², and has a total population of 51,449 . Its mayor as of 2010 is Søren P...

 and Kulturby'96. Since then there have been further performances, the latest, Thor, in June 2006.

Dyrehavsbakken

Dyrehavsbakken

Dyrehavsbakken

Dyrehavsbakken , commonly referred to as Bakken , is the world's oldest operating amusement park. It is located near Klampenborg but belongs under Lyngby-Taarbæk Kommune, Denmark about 10 km north of Copenhagen...

 (colloquially Bakken and literally in English "The Deer Garden's Hill") is the world's oldest existing amusement park.

Kirsten Piils Kilde

Kirsten Piils Kilde (Kirsten Piil's Spring) was discovered in 1583 by Kirsten Piil about whom little is known. Legend states Kirsten was a pious woman, who, through her devotion, gave the spring curative powers, which made it a place of pilgrimage for the sick who would come to drink the water.

Peter Lieps Hus

Peter Lieps Hus (Peter Liep's House) is now a well-known restaurant. It is named after Dyrehaven's first sharpshooter, Peter Liep. The house was originally called Kildehuset (Spring house) and is thought to have been to be built towards the end of the 18th century. In the 1860s a two-storey extension was added that gave the house a clumsy appearance. Peter Liep took over the building in 1888. In September 1915 the house burned to the ground, but it was reconstructed by 1916. In 1928 the house burned down again. It was rebuilt to a different design, basically as it can be seen today. After some years a pavilion and toilets were added. Visitor numbers consistently rose (the house had already achieved a good reputation as a restaurant by the end of the 19th century). In 1952 a fire again broke out in the house. The fire was extinguished before it did any major damage: a hole was burned in the thatched roof, but later the same day the extensions caught fire and burned down, and only the main farmhouse was able to be saved. The extensions were rebuilt in 1954 and a new pavilion added in 1960. All these buildings are today known under the collective name "Peter Lieps Hus", though the house is very different from the house Peter Liep lived in on the same spot.

Fortunen

Fortunen (The Fortune) is a former ranger station on the King's hunting road to Dyrehaven, named after the Roman goddess of luck Fortuna

Fortuna

Fortuna can mean:*Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck -Geographical:*19 Fortuna, asteroid*Fortuna, California, town located on the north coast of California*Fortuna, United States Virgin Islands...

. It is now a restaurant.