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The main entrance to Frederiksberg Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark Photo by Guillaume Baviere

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Frederiksberg Garden

Frederiksberg Garden is one of the largest and most attractive greenspaces in Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjacent Sondermarken 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.Not only are Frederiksberg Gardens the green heart of the city, but admission is free, so definitely not to be missed. Let’s take a look at some of the most fascinating facts about it;

1.The gardens we’re established in 1690 by King Frederik IV

Portrait of King Frederik IV Photo by Balthasar Denner

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. 

2.The plan of the garden initially involved a parterre 

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. 

3.The garden underwent changes and is today English styled

Canada geese and grey heron, Frederiksberg Gardens, Frederiksberg, Denmark Photo by Jakub Hałun

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.In 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 garde.

4.The main entrance opens a path which passes between two long, yellow buildings with white details.

The main entrance to Frederiksberg Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark Photo by Guillaume Baviere

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 Hannel.The gate opens to a path which passes between two long, yellow buildings with white details.

5.The gardens has a Chinese summerhouse and a bridge

The Chinese Pavilion in Frederiksberg Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark Photo by malouette

The gardens has a Chinese summerhouse and a bridge, it 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 contained a hall, two cabinets, a kitchen and lavatory. The only window in the lavatory was in the shape of a half moon and was made of red glass. The furniture consisted partly of copies of Chinese furniture as well as a set of genuine Chinese bamboo furniture acquired through the Asiatic Company.

Both the exterior and the interior has rich Chinese-inspired decorations, pictures, characters and other ornaments, and there were bells on the roof. Imitation bamboo was used in the ceilings.

6.There is a temple(Apis temple) located on the border to Copenhagen Zoo

The Apis Temple is located on the border to Copenhagen Zoo. It was designed in the style of a Roman temple by the painter Nicolai Abildgaard and built in 1802. It is named for the Egyptian bull-deity Apis which is depicted on the frontispice. The temple front consists of 10 columns of which 8 are recycled from a rebuilding of Moltke’s Palace while the last 2 columns are replicas.

Decorations include the Ox Cranium Frieze and the Bull Relief, both carved in sandstone. On the inside, the temple consists of a barrel vaulted room with two windows which originally had stained glass. The room was furnished with a sofa, chairs and console tables which the royalties could use for drinking tea. 

7.There is also a swiss cottage in the park

The Swiss Cottage lies in the part of the park that was incorporated when the park was redesigned in the Romantic style. Designed by Abildgaard and built between 1800 and 1801, the contains a hall, a cabinet and some smaller rooms in which the royal family could take coffee after dinner or a stroll in the garden. 

The style has little to do with Switzerland but the name bears testament to the period’s fascination with mountainous regions. The cottage was built next to a small lake and the vegetation around the cottage was adapted, with conifers instead of deciduous trees, to create the right atmosphere of the setting. 

8.There is also an artificial waterfall and a Pheasantry

Another garden feature typical of the romantic garden is an artificial waterfall. The waterfall is 7 metres high and is partly created out of marble blocks from the building site of the Marble Church. The waterfall was left as a ruin for many years but was reconstructed in 2004.

Close to the Swiss Cottage stands the Pheasantry which was designed by J.C. Krieger and built in 1723. As the name suggests, the building was originally built in connection with a pheasantry which raised pheasants for the royal household.

9.There is also has an elephant view point 

A three-metre high wall that once separated the two has been replaced by a simple fence, so that visitors to the public park can now watch the elephants, while affording the elephants distant views as well. The enclosure steps up slowly away from the park, rising to the height of the domes.

From a distance, these appear to be buried in the ground, surrounded by ferns and trees.Near the north entrance to the park, there is also a Pacifier tree where children who have outgrown the need to use a pacifier leave their pacifiers by hanging them on the branch, sometimes with a letter.

10.There are several hotels and restaurants near the gardens

There are several hotels and restaurants near the gardens including; Absalon hotel, Hong Kong Arthur, Wakeup Copenhagen, Borgergade , 71 Nyhavn Hotel, Andersen Boutique Hotel and citizenM Copenhagen Radhuspladsen. 

The restaurants here include; Pomodoro D’oro, Bistro Lupa, C’ho Fame, Maple Casual Dining, Alchemist, Restaurant Krebsegaarden, Keyser Social, Ark and The Olive Kitchen & Bar. 

Every year on Midsummer Eve, the park is a rallying point for thousands of people who attend community singing, speeches, music and a “witch”-burning bonfire at the lakeside in front of the palace.