Charlottenborg Palace: A Dutch Baroque Residence and Academy in Copenhagen
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- Domestic
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On this page9 sections
History
Charlottenborg Palace is a Dutch Baroque town mansion in Copenhagen, Denmark, built for the nobleman and royal official Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve between 1672 and 1683. Its construction followed King Christian V’s donation of the site to his half-brother on 22 March 1669, during the creation of Kongens Nytorv, a major public square formed as part of Copenhagen’s late-seventeenth-century expansion. Charlottenborg became the first building on the new square.
Gyldenløve’s Mansion
The main wing and two lateral wings were erected from 1672 to 1677, probably under the direction of the architect Ewert Janssen. The bricks came from Kalø Castle in Jutland, which Gyldenløve owned and had demolished. A fourth wing at the rear was added in 1783 and designed by Lambert van Haven, completing the palace’s four-winged plan.
After Christian V died in 1699, the aging Gyldenløve sold the palace in 1700 to the dowager queen Charlotte Amalie for 50,000 Danish crowns. The building was renamed Charlottenborg after her. Because the residence had become too large for him, Gyldenløve moved to a smaller mansion at the corner of Bredgade and Dronningens Tværgade, where he lived until his death in 1705.
Royal and Cultural Uses
After Charlotte Amalie’s death in 1714, Charlottenborg passed to King Christian VI. Renovations began in 1736 and 1737, during a period when the palace’s occupants and uses were changing. A small theatre was established inside the building for concerts, operas, and theatrical performances. The palace garden later contained the Botanical Garden from 1778 to 1872.
The old Academy of Arts began operating at Charlottenborg in 1701. It developed from a small school and was formally inaugurated there as the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts on 31 March 1754. Ownership of the palace transferred to the academy in 1787, and the institution continues to occupy the building. Charlottenborg also houses Kunsthal Charlottenborg, a contemporary-art exhibition institution, and Danmarks Kunstbibliotek, the Royal Art Library. The palace is included in the Danish Cultural Canon, a national selection of works and sites regarded as important to Denmark’s cultural heritage.
Remains
Charlottenborg survives as a three-storey, four-winged town mansion at the corner of Kongens Nytorv and Nyhavn. Its architecture is primarily Dutch Baroque, a seventeenth-century style associated with monumental brick buildings, formal facades, and restrained classical decoration, with Italian influence. The plan combines a formal public front with a lower rear wing arranged around the palace complex.
Square Facade and Main Wing
Risalits and Entrance
The main wing facing Kongens Nytorv is organized around a central risalit, a section of facade projecting beyond the main wall, with two more pronounced corner risalits on either side. Each projecting section is crowned by a balustrade. The central section has Corinthian pilasters, classical supports associated with an ornate column order, and a Tuscan-Doric portal with a balcony. Sandstone decoration and window pediments enrich the facade.
Rear Wing and Interior Arrangement
Rear Pavilions
The lower rear wing consists of three pavilions. Its central pavilion has a Tuscan arcade, a series of openings framed by the plain Tuscan order. Niches containing busts stand above the arcade, while a lantern rises from the pavilion’s copper-covered roof. These elements form the architectural focus of the rear part of the palace.
Residential Floors and Baroque Room
The interior arrangement recalls French castles. The piano nobile, the principal residential floor with higher ceilings and more elaborate rooms, contains a banquet hall above the main entrance and provides access to the balcony. The ground floor has lower ceilings, while the second floor was intended for servants and has still lower ceilings. Above the arcade in the rear wing is a well-preserved domed Baroque room with a stucco ceiling.
