Frederiksborg Palace

On Saturday the 29th a few people from my floor and I went on an excursion trip offered by DIS. Our trip was to Frederiksborg Palace located in Hillerød, which was about a 45 minutes bus ride from downtown Copenhagen. When we got there we got a guided tour through the castle, which is now known as The Museum of National History. The castle was amazing!!

One of my favorite rooms was the Great Hall (Riddersalen). It was absolutely amazing with all the detail. During the tour, our guide told us people would sleep in this room sometimes because of how cool the marble floors were.

 

Another one of my favorite rooms was The Palace Church also known as the Chapel of Orders. The words amazing, grand, and stunning don’t do the church justice. Displayed on the wall of the church are coats-of arms, The order of the Elephant, and the Order of the Dannerborg.

An interesting fact we learned was people back then slept sleeping up because they felt if they lay down while sleeping death would overcome them. Because of this, beds were made shorter.

Other interesting facts we learned included the following: 

• The oldest parts of the castle were built by Frederick II in 1560. The castle is named after him.

• Most of the current palace was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV

• Frederiksborg Palace is the largest Renaissance palace in Scandinavia

• When children were young, such as the age of 2, they were depicted in pictures as being much older. This was done because during olden times mortality rates were high so they wanted their children seen as older

• Diapers didn’t exist back then so diaper pillows were used. Young children would sit on a pillow. Inside this pillow would be pepper and other spices to mask the smell.