Christiansborg palace is a must-see attraction in Copenhagen. Kristianborg is one of four palaces located in the center of Copenhagen…
It was demolished and rebuilt several times.
This is the only building in the world, in which all three branches of the executive power of a state (parliament, government and supreme court) are located in one place. At the same time, the Danish royal family still uses its chambers for receptions and other formal events.
In addition to Christiansborg, within walking distance are Rosenborg Castle, which I wrote about here as well as Amelienborg, which I wrote about here. The fourth, Frederiksborg Palace is just a few metro stops away.
How to get to the castle
The closest metro station to Christiasborg is Gammel Strand. Christiansborg Palace is not easy to approach when you are a person in a wheelchair. It is surrounded on all sides by “worshipped” cobblestones so you reach the foot of the palace quite tired.
Tickets to Christiansborg
The entrance to the palace is also not wheelchair accessible.
It wasn’t crowded on a weekday and I bought the tickets on the spot because I wasn’t sure which of the sites were really wheelchair accessible. It turns out that buying a combined ticket is the best option. You can also opt for individual ticket, but I simply wouldn’t single out any attractions because they are all part of the same story.
In order to buy a ticket, you must send someone to do it for you.
When you have bought a ticket, an authorized person will come and take you through these doors into a small elevator.
The tickets you bought at the beginning allows you to see four separate units: the kitchen, the ruins, the stables and the castle.
All four units are wheelchair accessible, each in its own way. The entrance fee is not cheap, but Christiansborg deserves a visit, because it gives you the opportunity to peek into the life of a royal house.
There is also the entrance to the tower, which is considered the tallest building in Copenhagen. Entry is free.
The order in which you visit these units is entirely up to you. This is not the case with me because I depend on others, so since the authorized person did not come, they sent me to the kitchen first.
This is how people in wheelchairs enter the kitchen.
The most ingenious ramp I’ve ever seen. The stairs instantly turned into a platform, which lowered me to where I needed to be in the softest way possible.
You won’t need much time for the kitchen. You would expect it to be bigger considering the numerous guests who were hosted in the palace, but that’s why the organization of the kitchen is very precise.
You can spot an appetizer station, a sauce station, and so on.
Magic was created in this part of the kitchen.
This is where chefs made plans and took breaks.
The kitchen looks like it did in 1937, when meals were prepared for 275 selected guests to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the reign of Christian X.
The menu consisted of dishes like these.
There is also a display of how it all looked live.
So that you don’t feel left out, there are recipes of dishes that were prepared there, so you can try to revive them in your kitchen and enjoy them. Being able to eat something similar to what the crowned heads ate is priceless.
This kitchen has the largest collection of copperware in Europe.
You can see how it all looked live in this room.
Royal reception rooms – chambers and halls
The time has come for me to come out of the basement and visit the royal palace. In order to enter, you have to wear special slippers, which protect the precious royal floors, and drastically reduce the work of the cleaners, which I completely welcome. They haven’t invented anything similar for us wheelers yet, so we enter as is.
Today’s Christiansborg Palace consists of two wings. In one wing, the Danish parliament is located, and in the other part, there are the royal chambers.
The then ruler Christian X was not interested in moving from Amalienborg, so the chambers were turned into official rooms where receptions, balls, conferences are held. The King’s Rooms are open to the public when they are not being used by the King or the Prime Minister for state affairs.
The royal quarters are located on the first floor, which is called the Bel-Étage. (French for “nice floor”).
The royal staircase leads to the king’s chambers.
On this occasion, you pass through an impressive hall where there are stone pillars and atlases, which carry the ceiling on their shoulders. This part was designed after the Belvedere Palace in Vienna.
Great hall
After entering like this, in front of you is the Great Hall.
The Great Hall is the largest chamber in Christianborg. The dimensions are 40 x 14 meters. The king uses it for state dinners, banquets, New Year’s Eve. It can accommodate 400 guests.
The entire hall is decorated with colorful tapestries, which represent 1000 years of Danish history.
There are a total of 17 of them and they were a gift for the former Queen of Denmark, Margareta II on the occasion of her 60th birthday.
The tapestries were woven in France by 60 weavers for almost 10 years. The tapestry technique is time and technically very demanding. It originates from the 17-th century and was used to make tapestries at French courts.
Before that, the hall contained tapestries depicting Christian V’s victories in the Scandinavian War. Today, those tapestries are exhibited in Rosenborg Castle.
The floor in the Great Hall dates from the 17th century. It was brought from the Danish Royal Library.
The chandeliers are made of Murano glass ordered in Italy, and the paintings on the ceiling are from Norse mythology.
Dining room
The dining room is dominated by a huge mahogany table. It can accommodate 52 guests.
The crystal chandeliers in this hall were used first in the royal palace in Oslo. When the palace got electricity, in 1903. the chandeliers have been sold.
The Danish royal house bought three of which two are in the dining room and the third is in Amalienborg.
When Norway celebrated 100 years of independence in 2005, it copied these chandeliers.
The other rooms did not disappoint either.
The velvet room
This is where the royal family receives guests.
There, an aide-du-camp calls out guests as they enter the room. This room at one time served as the Throne Room because the right one was not finished.
If you are interested in more details, there are panels arranged all over the royal chambers, on which you will find interesting historical facts.
In the Fredensborg Room, there is a huge painting of King Christian IX and Queen Louise, surrounded by numerous family members.
All are gathered in the garden room of Fredensborg Palace in 1883. The painter spent 3 years working on this painting. The painting shows 20 of the 30 grandchildren, who also became members of various royal houses.
This royal couple was known as the most important married couple in Europe because all their children were part of the royal families of Europe.
A less important room next to this one is the room of Frederick VI, who reigned from 1808 to 1839, and the furniture in this room dates from that time.
That’s why many pieces have a monogram, which unequivocally says whose room this was.
The throne room
The throne room is also part of the royal chambers, where the ruler receives ambassadors and performs other duties related to the state.
Both thrones were saved when the palace burned down in 1884. The smaller throne with lions is for the king and the larger one with griffins is for the queen.
The floor in this room has a characteristic pattern, which leads from the throne to the door. This is because, according to protocol, guests must not turn their backs to the monarch when leaving. The characteristic pattern allows them to find their way to the door more easily.
The throne room has an exit to the balcony. It is the most important balcony in Denmark because it is from here that the new monarch is proclaimed by the Prime Minister.
The last time was in 2024, when Queen Margaret II abdicated in favor of her son Frederick X. Then Denmark enthusiastically greeted its new king.
The fact that these rooms are still actively used by members of the royal family for official events and receptions makes this visit even more exclusive and authentic.
And so, from room to room, my visit to Kristiansborg ended. To visit the palace together with the kitchen, you need 2.5 hours.
In order to leave the palace, you pass by a souvenir shop, which sells guess what.
Anyone passing by can contribute.
People in wheelchairs leave the same way they came, with a special elevator accompanied by an authorized person.
Conclusion
Christiansborg Palace is visited by more than 100,000 guests every year. I am one of them. It was a day well spent, which is not over yet as I have some more castle adventures ahead of me.
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Have you visited Christiansborg?
Did I miss something?
Traveled and enjoyed,
Marko Veličković
