Frederiksberg Park

About

Frederiksberg Gardens (Danish: Frederiksberg Have) is one of the largest and most attractive greenspaces in Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjacent Søndermarken it forms a green area of 64 hectares at the western edge of Inner Copenhagen. It is a romantic landscape garden designed in the English style.

Frederiksberg Gardens was established by King Frederik IV in connection with the construction of Frederiksberg Palace as his new summer retreat on high grounds atop Valby Hill. Work on the project began in the last half of the 1690s with inspiration from Italy and France which Frederick, at that time still Crown Prince, had visited on several occasions. He commissioned the eminent Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin to draw a proposal and the final plan was subsequently made by Hans Heinrich Scheel, a captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers.

The plan involved a parterre with a complex system of cascades on the sloping terrain in front of the new palace. It was fed by a complicated but inefficient system of pumps which never came to work properly.

In the end, Johan Cornelius Krieger, who was at the time also working on an extension and adaption of Fredensborg Palace, north of Copenhagen, was called upon to redesign the parterre. Unusually of the time, he gave up the parterre completely and instead transformed the slope into a series of terraces.

In the 1790s, as fashion changed, the park was adapted into an English landscape garden. P. Petersen created a new garden plan in 1795. He created a typical English-style landscape garden with winding lawns, lakes, canals and spinneys as well as grottos, temples, pavilions and summerhouses. The final result may well have been based on Johan Ludwig Mansa's book on English-style gardening written in 1798.

Frederik VI was particularly fond of the garden. From 1804, he sailed the canals in a gondola. It was later moved to Frederiksborg Castle and Lake Esrum.

Though a palace park, the general public had access to the grounds but sailors, dogs and people in poor clothing or carrying large bundles were turned away by the guard at the park's sole entrance. Not until 1865 did access to the park become unrestricted, in line with what was the case elsewhere in the city, such as at Langelinie. Smørrebrødsplænen ( Smørrebrød Lawn), on the corner of Roskildevej and Pile Allé, where K. B.'s tennis halls are today, became a popular picnic destination for families.

Frederiksberg Gardens was established by King Frederik IV in connection with the construction of Frederiksberg Palace as his new summer retreat on high grounds atop Valby Hill. Work on the project began in the last half of the 1690s with inspiration from Italy and France which Frederick, at that time still Crown Prince, had visited on several occasions. He commissioned the eminent Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin to draw a proposal and the final plan was subsequently made by Hans Heinrich Scheel, a captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers.

The plan involved a parterre with a complex system of cascades on the sloping terrain in front of the new palace. It was fed by a complicated but inefficient system of pumps which never came to work properly.

In the end, Johan Cornelius Krieger, who was at the time also working on an extension and adaption of Fredensborg Palace, north of Copenhagen, was called upon to redesign the parterre. Unusually of the time, he gave up the parterre completely and instead transformed the slope into a series of terraces.

In the 1790s, as fashion changed, the park was adapted into an English landscape garden. P. Petersen created a new garden plan in 1795. He created a typical English-style landscape garden with winding lawns, lakes, canals and spinneys as well as grottos, temples, pavilions and summerhouses. The final result may well have been based on Johan Ludwig Mansa's book on English-style gardening written in 1798.

Frederik VI was particularly fond of the garden. From 1804, he sailed the canals in a gondola. It was later moved to Frederiksborg Castle and Lake Esrum.

Though a palace park, the general public had access to the grounds but sailors, dogs and people in poor clothing or carrying large bundles were turned away by the guard at the park's sole entrance. Not until 1865 did access to the park become unrestricted, in line with what was the case elsewhere in the city, such as at Langelinie. Smørrebrødsplænen ( Smørrebrød Lawn), on the corner of Roskildevej and Pile Allé, where K. B.'s tennis halls are today, became a popular picnic destination for families.

Frederiksberg Gardens is an English-style Romantic landscape garden with winding paths, canals, lakes, small islands and magnificent trees. A large variety of plants and birds can be seen, including mute swans, greylag geese, mallards, grey herons, and Canada geese.

Typically of the romantic landscape garden, the park houses two follies, waterfalls, grottos and other garden features.

The main entrance to Frederiksberg Gardens was, in its present form, built in 1755, following the fire two years earlier at the Prince's House, the precursor of Frederiksberg Palace, which used to be located at the site. The gate was designed by Lauritz de Thurah who had become general master builder after Eigtved's death. The vases at the top of the two sandstone pillars were executed by the sculptor Johann Friedrich Hännel.

The gate opens to a path which passes between two long, yellow buildings with white details. They are the two surviving wings of the Prince's House. The south wing, located on the left-hand side when entering the park, was converted into an orangery by Nicolai Eigtved in 1744 and is now part of the Royal Danish Horticultural Society's Garden. The north wing, located on the right-hand side, is used by the park's administration.

- Main article: Chinese Tea House (Frederiksberg)

The Chinese summerhouse was completed in 1803 as a replacement for a pavilion which had stood at the center of the baroque garden but was pulled down in 1799. It was sited on a small artificial island accessible by across a bridge which was built to a matching Chinese design.

The summerhouse was built by the court architect Andreas Kirkerup, and like the rest of the buildings in the park it was a feature well known from the English garden.