Rosenborg

HISTORY OF ROSENBORG CASTLE

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I R o s e n b o r g c a s t l e , in „ k o n g e n s h a v e “, COPENHAGEN, is one of the few Renaissance i castles in Europe, that have stood intact ever since they were completed. Of all the buildings of King Christian the Fourth, it was perhaps the one that he loved most and to which he commanded that he should be taken in the winter of 1648, when his last hour was approaching; he died in the North Room on the ground floor, in the so-called „Winter Apartment“, in which to this day the „1615“ fire­ place and the magnificent panelling with the many Dutch paintings are still preserved. Here it was, too, that Christian the Fourth (1634) received Count d'Avaux, the ambassador of the King of France, and regaled the company with the music of the court orchestra and choir, who played and sang below, the king being able, by means of one of his own contrivances, to admit and cut off the sound at will. On the whole, Rosenborg was a place where life was plea­ sant and, according to the possibilities of those days, snug. I t was formerly believed, that Rosenborg had been built to a collective plan (1610—1617) in the form as we now see it — this date being altered later to 1608—1617 by Bering Liisberg, the last historian of the edifice (1). In point of fact, the work was, however, already commenced in 1606, and the

(1) Rosenborg og Lysthusene i Kongens Have, 1914 (out of print).