Christiansborg Castle

On Friday, May 19th (National Prayer Day in Denmark) I decided to make a trip to Copenhagen to see the Christiansborg Castle. This castle has a lot of history and is not to far from the Copenhagen central station.  For about 100 dk ($20) I was able to buy a ticket to see the three main sections of the Castle; the ruins, the official meeting rooms and the stables.  However because of the lack of time I did not go to the stables because I just spent too much time in both the ruins and the meeting rooms.  I did not mind much that I missed the stable tour cause I can see it again some other time, I am not worried.

When you walk up to the Christiansborg Castle, the large court yard with the fountain create a wide open area to really look at the entire castle.  When you get closer the castle you can see the detail. The statue in front of the castle is of King Christen IX (9th). 

King Christen IX, King of Denmark from 1869-1906

Looking up at the tower you can see the detail. I was later told that say day that the three crowns on top are for the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish crowns. Even though the King never had the Swedish crown he felt that he should have.

Even the small gateway stones on top had great detail in them.  This stone with the crown craved on top shows the royal seal: Three lions with nine hearts.  When I first arrived to Denmark I always wondered 'what is up with all these red hearts everywhere?'  Now I understand.

What surprised me and confused me at first was the 'front door' and what was behind the front door.  When I think castles - I imagine a huge elaborate front door with some great hall behind it with paintings on the wall and great chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.  But behind this front door was a hall to another side of the castle with some statues etc inside the hall.

When you walk in this front hall there are two large statues or memorials on either side. On one side there was a plague with surround by Danish flags and three states of influential people.

On the bottom right of this picture is the entrance to the ruin exhibit. But since I have so many pictures and lots of history to share about the ruins, I am making another blog post all about the ruins exhibit.

1659 -- 1909
eleventh February
Copenhagen citizens put this memorial in remembrance of their fathers' bravery and unity which rescued the city from destruction and saved Denmark's rich

On the other side of the hall there was large memorial or statue .. I am not sure what you would call it.

In the middle there is some writing in Danish and the royal seal. I have tried a few times to translate what is written but I am not quite sure. I plan on asking one of my many native Danish friends if they can translate it for me.

After some looking I was able to find the entrance to where the meeting rooms are. The front door and the ruins in the middle of the castle where as the entrance to the meeting rooms that are open for public viewing are on the on left portion of the castle.  The entrance was mostly marble with these beautiful statues.

Now after I pass the threshold I have to turn off my camera. no cameras or video cameras allowed.

I must the rooms in this portion of the castle were amazing. The detail in the flooring, the curtains, the paintings every square inch of the place was amazing.  I took the informational tour and learned so much about each room and some of the paintings.  Even though I could not take pictures inside the meeting rooms, I was able to purchase postcards of certain meeting rooms.  When I got to work the following week, I was able to scan the postcards before I sent them off to family.

The royal throne room had a unique felt like wall paper that had the royal seal printed all over it. The two throne chairs were saved from the second Christianborg Castle fire.  In this picture you can not really tell but on the floor there was a unique star pattern in the middle of the room. The tour guide mentioned that when the Queen greets official guests while standing on this star.  Also not shown in this picture is the ceiling, on the ceiling right above the star pattern is a hand painted memorial showing how Denmark got is flag.   I have been told that during a battle (I cannot remember which one) a flag feel from the Heavens and became the Denmark National flag.

Another room I toured was the dinning room, which had a huge dinning table. It was large enough to fit 50 people. And the wood table was made out of an old wooden navy ship. I can not remember which navy ship.

Another room I toured was the Roman room. In this particular room there was amazing. There is not much to say about this room, I think this picture says it all. I really enjoyed every moment of my trip to Christiansborg castle.