Marselisborg Palace
Encyclopedia
Danish Royal Family
The Danish Royal Family includes the Queen of Denmark and her family. All members except the Queen hold the title of Prince/Princess of Denmark with the style of His/Her Royal Highness or His/Her Highness. The Queen is styled Her Majesty. The Queen and her siblings belong to the House of...
in Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
. It has been the summer residence of Queen Margrethe II
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...
since 1967.
Historically the 18th-century country house was the property of the Marselis family, originally of Hamburg, giving the seat its name, which signifies "Marselis Castle". Marselisborg became a royal residence when Prince Christian
Christian X of Denmark
Christian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only King of Iceland between 1918 and 1944....
and his consort Princess Alexandrine
Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Alexandrine Auguste of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the queen consort of King Christian X of Denmark.-Family:She was born a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in the city of Schwerin...
were given the Palace in 1898 as a wedding present from the people of Denmark. As such the palace is the property of the Kingdom of Denmark
Kingdom of Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark or the Danish Realm , is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting of Denmark proper in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. Denmark is the hegemonial part, where the...
, and will remain in possession of all future monarchs of Denmark. The royal couple used it as their summer residence. The building was rebuilt by the Danish architect Hack Kampmann
Hack Kampmann
Hack Kampmann was a Danish architect. His parents were the priest Christian Peter Georg Kampmann and Johanne Marie Schmidt...
. The present Queen, Margrethe II
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...
, was given the palace by her father, King Frederick IX
Frederick IX of Denmark
Frederick IX was King of Denmark from 20 April 1947 until his death on 14 January 1972....
in 1967. Margrethe and her consort Henrik
Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark , is the husband of the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II.-Early life:Henrik was born in Talence, Gironde, France...
also used the palace as their summer residence. Until this day the residence is used during the summer, as well as during the Easter and Christmas holidays.
The palace is surrounded by a 32 acres (129,499.5 m²) park. The park was designed by architect L. Christian Diedrichsen who was commissioned to design the gardens in traditional English landscape 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 gardens feature large sweeping lawns surrounded by trees, small ponds, shrub-covered slopes, a rose garden and a herb garden. When the Queen and her family are in residence at the palace, a changing of the guard ceremony takes place at noon. The park and gardens are both open to the public while the Queen and royal family are not in residence, whereas the palace itself is never open to the public.