Christiansborg Palace: Encyclopedia II - Christiansborg Palace - Current palace

Christiansborg Palace - Current palace

The palace now houses the Royal Reception Rooms, the Queen's Library, the audience chambers, the Sovereign in Council rooms, the Chapel, Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister's Office.

Christiansborg Palace - Royal Reception Rooms

The Royal Reception Rooms at Christiansborg Palace are located on the first floor, the so-called bel-étage, at the north end of the main wing and in the wing running along the courtyard, Prince Jørgen's Yard.

The Royal Reception Rooms are used for official functions of the Royal Family such as New Year Levee, reception of ambassadors or gala banquets. The Reception Rooms are richly adorned with works of art rescued from the two earlier palaces, as well as decorations by some of the best Danish artists from the early 20th century.

To reach the Royal Reception Rooms one goes through Dronningeporten (Queen's Gate), and through Drabantsalen (Guards' Room) you get to Kongetrappen (King's Stairway). At the foot of the stairs are Audiensgemakket (Audience Chamber) and Statsrådssalen (Council Room). The Queen holds an audience every other Monday and attends Council with the government as required. The Queen in Council signs new Acts after their adoption in Parliament. The Audience Chamber and the Council Room are the only Royal Reception Rooms that are closed to the public.

The King's Stairway gives access to Tårnsalen (Tower Room). The Tower Room displays a series of tapestries with motifs from Danish folk songs, woven after cartoons painted by Joakim Skovgaard. The Royal Reception Rooms also include the oval Tronsal (Throne Room) where foreign ambassadors are received by Queen Margrethe. The Throne Room gives access to the balcony where the Danish monarchs are proclaimed. The Throne Room is decorated with a large ceiling painting by Kræsten Iversen, depicting how the Danish flag, Dannebrog, fell from the sky in Estonia in 1219.

The Great Hall is the largest and most spectacular of the Royal Reception Rooms. The Hall is 40 metres long with a ceiling height of 10 metres, and a gallery runs all the way around the room. The Great Hall was renovated on the occasion of Queen Margrethe's 60th birthday when artist Bjørn Nørgaard's 17 tapestries recounting the history of Denmark were hung on the walls. The tapestries were a gift from the Danish business community on the occasion of Queen Margrethe's 50th birthday.

The Royal Reception Rooms also include Fredensborgsalen (Fredensborg Room) with Lauritz Tuxen's painting of King Christian IX and his whole family together at Fredensborg Palace, as well as part of the Queen's Library.

The Prime Minister uses the Royal Reception Rooms as well, particularly in connection with state visits. On such occasions the official banquet is often held in Alexandersalen (Alexander Room). The Alexander Room is decorated with Bertel Thorvaldsen's marble frieze "Alexander the Great Enters Babylon". The frieze was made for the second Christiansborg Palace, and parts of it survived the fire. It was later restored and mounted in this room.

Christiansborg Palace - The Palace Chapel

The history of Christiansborg Palace Chapel goes back to the first Christiansborg Palace, which was built by the contractor general Elias David Häusser from 1733-45. King Christian VI was keen on architecture, and he commissioned a talented young architect in the King's building service, Nicolai Eigtved, to design the palace chapel (1738-42). Eigtved seized the opportunity and designed one of the most distinguished Rococo interiors in Denmark.

In 1794 fire ravaged the palace and it was decided to demolish the ruins completely. The demolition, however, never took place.

Architect Christian Frederik Hansen, who resurrected the palace between 1803-1828, was also commissioned to rebuild the palace chapel in 1810. Work commenced in 1813, using the existing foundations and masonry as far as possible. The church and main palace were built in strict neo-classical style, with a dome construction on top of a central church interior. The palace chapel was inaugurated on Whit Sunday, May 14, 1826, to mark the 1,000 anniversary of the introduction of Christianity to Denmark.

The second palace fire in 1884 spared the church, as the fire was stopped in the buildings linking it to the palace. However, fate finally caught up with the church June 7, 1992. The church burned to the ground, probably set ablaze by fireworks set off during the Whitsun carnival.

During the 1992 church fire, the roof, dome and dividing floor were burned down and the inventory severely damaged. Shortly afterwards, the Danish Ministry of Finance's Palaces and Properties Agency began rebuilding the chapel in collaboration with Erik Møller's Drawing Studio A/S and Royal Inspector of Listed State Buildings Jens Fredslund. No drawings existed of the dome and roof, but a systematic exercise in building archaeology registered the charred remains of the building, and made it possible to recreate the dome and roof. Historically accurate building methods were also used throughout the rebuilding process.

Danish craftsmen were unable to undertake the difficult work of restoring and recreating the internal marbled stucco. One of Germany’s leading experts, Manfred Siller, took charge and taught the venerable technique to Danish stucco workers.

The rebuilt church was inaugurated on January 14, 1997 to celebrate Queen Margrethe II’s Silver Jubilee. The rebuilding was awarded the prestigious Europa Nostra Prize.

Christiansborg Palace - The Ruins beneath Palace

Beneath the present Christiansborg Palace lie the ruins of Bishop Absalon's Castle and Copenhagen Castle. When the foundations of the present Christiansborg Palace were being cast, workers came across ruins of several buildings and parts of a curtain wall.

Experts were called in from the National Museum of Denmark and the ruins, which lay beneath the inner palace yard, were unearthed. Public interest in these ruins, which dated back to around the year 1167, was tremendous. It was therefore decided that the ruins should not be covered over again but preserved for posterity. The reinforced concrete structure erected to cover the ruins was the biggest of its kind in Denmark when it was built in 1908.

The ruins beneath the palace square were excavated in 1917 and a cover was also built over them. The ruins have been open to the public since 1924. The Ruins Exhibition was renovated during the period 1974-77 and has remained more or less untouched since then.

Christiansborg Palace - The Riding Ground Complex

The Show Grounds are now all that remain of the first Christiansborg Palace. They consist of two symmetrical wings with a straight, low and narrow stable building followed by a high broad building and narrow, curved stables, after which a one-story narrow end building closes off the wings at the Frederiksholm Canal end.

In 1742, the north wing became the first one to be finished. Building work on the south wing started in June 1740 but ground to a halt by the autumn due to difficulties in obtaining supplies. Work did not recommence until January 1744, now under the supervision of the young architect Nicolai Eigtved. Eigtved's superior artistic insight meant it turned out more beautiful than the north wing. In 1746, 87 hunting horses and 165 carriage horses moved into the new stables, the largest number ever.

In 1766-67, the architect Nicolas Henri Jardin built a court theatre on the floor above the big stables. It now houses the Theatre Museum.

In the Riding Ground Complex, one can visit the Theatre Museum and The Royal Stables.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Current palace", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki