Outside Hillerød in Zealand lies Frederiksborg Castle with its rust-red brick facade and green copper roof. The impressive Renaissance castle is a memory of a time when Denmark was one of Europe's great power factors. A time when power should be seen. Christian IV spared no expense when he built Frederiksborg Castle over almost 20 years and created one of Europe's architectural wonders of the time. Shaped like a square horseshoe and surrounded by a lake, the king created a real fairytale castle that is well worth an admiring eye even today.
The history of the castle
Frederiksborg Castle probably shouldn't have been built on this particular spot, but King Christian IV had made up his mind and wasn't going to budge. Without the slightest sentimentality, he had Hillerødsholm Castle, where he had grown up, demolished to make way for his new and much grander castle. The new castle was completed in 1620, a magnificent monument to the king's ambitions and power. Frederiksborg Castle would then serve as the residence of the royal family until the end of the 18th century, when it began to be perceived as unfashionable and out of date.
In the mid-19th century, Frederik VII put on his renovation pants and began a major modernization project. To make Frederiksborg Castle more habitable, fireplaces and tiled stoves were installed, so that the large halls and long corridors could be heated on cold winter nights. These technical improvements were initially seen as progress, but the innovations would soon prove to be an unfortunate choice for the castle.
In 1859, a spark flew out of one of the new fireplaces in the castle and a great fire tore the castle to pieces. The interior of the castle was basically completely destroyed and also large parts of the roof and facade fell apart. The only building that made it through the fire completely unscathed was the castle church.
Immediately after the fire, they began to rebuild the castle, but the royal family had gotten cold feet and no longer wanted to live at Frederiksborg. The renovation therefore only included the exterior of the castle.
When Frederiksborg Castle was completed in 1875, it looked almost exactly like the original castle, but inside the castle was just a shell. Carlsberg beer magnate JC Jacobsen therefore decided to pay for the renovation of the castle's interior with his own private money, with the proposal that the castle would then become a national history museum.
1878 stood The National History Museum clear and today the museum contains Denmark's foremost and largest collections of art and furniture. The museum is still run in part through the Carlsberg Foundation today.
What is there to see today at Frederiksborg?
The castle park is free to visit, but to visit the interior of the castle you need to buy a ticket to the National History Museum. The exhibitions are located in the renovated castle halls and are the only way to experience the castle from the inside. If you want to get a feel for what it looks like inside the castle before you decide to go there, you can join a guided tour of it Virtual castle.
The museum is open every day of the week all year round, but with shorter opening hours during the low season. It is recommended that you pre-book tickets at Fredriksborg Castle's website.
In addition to the National History Museum, the castle has a castle park and a large romantic baroque garden with statues and floral splendor. However, we visited the castle in the spring, so the garden was relatively spare during this period. Dogs are welcome in the park if they are on a leash.
There is a restaurant on the premises – Leonora - which serves shortbread, hamburgers and slightly simpler children's menus.
How do I get to Fredriksborg?
Fredriksborg is located in northern Zealand in Denmark, 30 minutes by car from Elsinore and 35 minutes from Copenhagen. It is also possible to take the train from Copenhagen to Hillerød and walk the last bit to the castle. The castle is one of the best preserved Renaissance castles in Scandinavia and well worth a visit.
Do you want to read more about Denmark? Here you will find more articles about nature, cities, castles and hiking.
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How cozy it looks. It's probably time for a trip to Denmark. It was a while ago.
Denmark has really surprised me in recent years - so many cool places to visit and experience! Also, so many gorgeous castles that can be reached on a day trip from southern Sweden, the list of places I want to go to gets longer every time I go there :)
Wow, it looks so nice, I also want to travel.
Denmark has lots of beautiful castles, I'm slowly starting to discover more of Denmark - Frederiksborg was really delicious!
Never seen a more beautiful castle.
I love castles and these pages have everything about castles and royalty
It would be fun for our royal house
This is truly a very beautiful city, you really want to travel here.
Denmark is a very interesting country with many beautiful castles. Here you can see for example restaurants located in castles.