Around Scandinavia: Part Four

In which I explored the Danish Palace

Day One continues …

Christiansborg Palace is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme Court of Denmark; making it an important structure of Copenhagen. Our ticket included only the Royal Reception Rooms and the Great Hall. Other attractions were Royal Kitchen, Royal Stable and the Royal Ruins. At the reception area, we were given plastic to cover our footwear. Then started our tour with Kiran as the lead and Vihar as the tail, so that no one wanders behind.

The Alexander Room is decorated with Bertel Thorvaldsen’s marble frieze, “The Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon”.

The Abildgaard Room takes its name from the three large paintings from Nicolai Abildgaard’s series of royal paintings.

The Fredensborg Room is dominated by Laurits Tuxen’s large painting of Christian IX and Queen Louise surrounded by their family in the Garden Room at Fredensborg Palace.

The Throne Room is decorated with a large ceiling painting by Kræsten Iversen depicting Dannebrog, which according to legend fell from the sky in Estonia in 1219.

The Great Hall is decorated with 17 colourful tapestries (11 large and 6 small) made by Bjørn Nørgaard, gifted to the Queen Margrethe II on her 50^th birthday. A tapestry is a piece of heavy cloth with pictures or designs sewn on it in coloured thread. Here's a breakdown of what each tapestry represents, based on Bjørn Nørgaard’s vision and historical themes:

1. The Viking Age: Depicts Denmark’s early warrior culture, Norse mythology, and seafaring expansion.

2. Early Middle Ages: Focuses on the Christianization of Denmark and the consolidation of royal power. Symbolic references to monasteries, feudal structures, and early kings.

3. Late Middle Ages: Illustrates the rise of towns, guilds, and the Hanseatic League. Reflects internal strife and the growing influence of the Church.

4. The Reformation: Denmark’s shift from Catholicism to Lutheranism.

5. The Aristocracy: Highlights noble families, land ownership, and courtly life.

6. Early Absolute Monarchy: Military uniforms, royal decrees, and state-building imagery dominate.

7. Late Absolute Monarchy: Reflects Enlightenment ideals, scientific progress, and cultural flourishing. Includes philosophers, artists, and reformers of the 18th century.

8. The 19th Century: Industrialization, nationalism, and constitutional monarchy take center stage.

9. World War II: A somber tapestry showing Nazi occupation, resistance movements, and dark clouds over Europe.

10. The Present: Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik appear in a Garden of Eden-like setting. Themes of wisdom, temptation, and modern Danish identity.

11. The Future: Depicts Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim with symbolic colors. Red and white for national leadership, green for agricultural stewardship.

6 narrow tapestries between windows complement the main tapestries. Here is our group photo:

The most awe-inspiring highlight in the palace were the glittering chandeliers and stucco ceilings. 

We were back to the reception area. There were souvenirs, postcards and tiaras for sale. Tiara is something I want to earn than buy. Not sure why were we waiting here for quite some time.

The main statue located outside the palace is the Equestrian Statue of King Frederik VII, a bronze monument to the last absolute monarch of Denmark who played a key role in establishing the country's constitutional monarchy.

I met Swarnalata, she did not recognize me in first glance, but then she recollected our Europe tour. Done with the palace, we drove towards our lunch restaurant Madhjørnet, Ålekistevej at 01:45pm. 

I had lunch with Manasi, Shraddha Pandit and Priti Waknis. My IT floor is famous for the Pri-Shra friendship, there are two pairs, I texted them that I found the 3^rd pair! After lunch, we bid adieu to Kiran and drove towards Dampfærgevej, Copenhagen port terminal for embarking the cruise. We had to keep check-in luggage in our bus since the bus was also boarding on the cruise. We alighted the bus with our small bags and waited for Vihar to bring the tickets. Then we took the escalator to reach the cruise entry door, had to walk for a while, passports were checked and at 03:30pm we had embarked the cruise. More on it in next post.