| Sorgenfri Palace | |
|---|---|
Sorgenfri Slot | |
 Sorgenfri Palace | |
 Interactive map of Sorgenfri Palace | |
| General information | |
| Type | Palace |
| Architectural style | Baroque |
| Location | Kongens Lyngby,Denmark |
| Construction started | 1756 |
| Completed | 1757 |
| Client | Dowager Princess Sophie Caroline of East Frisia |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Lauritz de Thurah |
Sorgenfri Palace (Danish:Sorgenfri Slot;lit. 'Sorrow free', acalque ofSans Souci) is a royal residence of theDanishmonarch, located inLyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, on the east side ofLyngby Kongevej, in the northern suburbs ofCopenhagen. The surrounding neighbourhood is calledSorgenfri after it. Only the cellar and foundations survive of the first Sorgenfri House, which was built in 1705 to design byFrançois Dieussart. The current house was built in 1756 byLauritz de Thurah and later adapted and extended byPeter Meyn in the 1790s. Lauritz de Thurah has also designed buildings which flank the driveway closer to the road.
Sorgenfri Palace is surrounded by a large park which is bounded byMølleåen to the east. It was adapted to the English Romantic style in the late 1790s and early 1899s and contains several small buildings.
Christian X used it as a summer residence and it has later been part of it let out to relatives of the royal family. The park is open to the public.
Sorgenfri Palace is located at the site of a medieval settlement, Mølletorp, which was owned by theBishopric of Roskilde but confiscated by the crown during the Reformation in the 1530s. In 1686, it was replaced by a country house by High Court Justice Michael Vibe.[1]
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CountCarl von Ahlefeldt acquired the estate in 1702. He commissioned the architectFrançois Dieussart to build a new summer residence at the site and renamed it Sorgenfri. The building, a half-timbered, three-winged complex in Baroque style, was completed in 1705. The central wing contained a banquet hall with double high ceilings. Passage between the two residential side wings was therefore only possible at the ground floor.[2]
KingChristian VI acquired the estate in 1730. His son,Crown Prince Frederick, the later King Frederick V, used it as summer residence from 1742. The building was refurbished byLauritz de Thurah who also constructed new stables and a new wing for the gentlemen of the Court.
After his ascend to the throne in 1747, Frederick V gave the property to his aunt,Sophie Caroline, Dowager Princess ofEast Frisia. She demolished it and charged Lauritzde Thurah with the construction of a new house on the foundations of the old one.[3][4]
Sophie Caroline died in 1764. In 1766, Sorgenfri was ceded to the 12-year-old PrinceFrederick, the half-brother ofChristian VII of Denmark. In 1769, he sold the property toJean Henri Desmercières. The next owner was the merchant and shipownerHenrik Bolten, whose trading house was based in theBoltens Gård in Copenhagen. He went bankrupt in the late 1780s and Sorgenfri was then reacquired by Prince Frederick in 1789. He charged Peter Meyn with adapting and expanding the house.
When Crown Prince Frederik died in 1805, Sorgenfri was passed on to his son, the later King Christian VIII, who used it as a summer residence. After his death in 1848, Dowager Queen Caroline Amalie spent all her summers at the estate until her death in 1881.[2]
Frederik VII had ceded Sorgenfri to the state in 1856 and after 1881 it was left empty for years. In 1898, it was ceded to Prince Christian, later King Christian X as summer residence. King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine continued to live at Sorgenfri in the summer time and the king was often seen riding in the neighborhood.
Prince Knud married Princess Caroline-Mathilde in 1933. During the Second World War, theroyal family, was staying at the Palace. On 29 August 1943, the Germans launchedOperation Safari, where under the command of Lieutenant GeneralEduard Ritter von Schleich, they attacked the palace, resulting in a firefight and the death of seven Germans.[5] Prince Knud and Princess Caroline-Mathilde continued to live in Kavalerfløjen until Christian X's death in 1947 and then moved into the main building. The main building was once again left empty with Princess Caroline-Mathilde's death in 1995.
From 1991,Count Christian of Rosenborg, a first cousin ofMargrethe II, andCountess Anne Dorte lived in a detached wing of the palace calledDamebygningen until they died in 2013 and 2014, respectively.[6]
Sorgenfri Palace is designed in theNeoclassical style. The roof is topped by acupola dating from the renovation in 1791–94.
The palace is located in a 40 hectares (99 acres) garden, which was originally made inBaroque style in 1706.Prince Frederick had this changed to anEnglish landscape garden style between 1791 and 1794. The line of lime trees in front of the palace is still a trace of the baroque style garden.
ArchitectNicolai Abildgaard was responsible for the garden pavilionsThe Swiss House andThe Norwegian House.
TheMølleåen river runs through the park on the east side.
A memorial bench for poetViggo Stuckenberg and a memorial stone forwomen's rights activistGyrithe Lemche are also located in the park.
The park covers a large area on both sides ofLyngby Kongevej. It contains several listed buildings.
Woodland and a garden surround the castle. A French-style garden with symmetry, topiary shrubs and ornamental vases was created in the 18th century. Crown Prince Frederik adapted it in the English style with winding paths and romantic garden furniture such as a well, a grotto and gazebos. The latter, the Norwegian House and the Swiss House, were designed byNicolai Abildgaard.
55°46′44″N12°29′49″E / 55.77889°N 12.49694°E /55.77889; 12.49694
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