The finest Renaissance castle in Scandinavia, built by King Christian IV between 1600 and 1620 on three small islands in the castle lake. Its redbrick towers and copper spires are best seen from the far shore of the lake, reflected in the still water. Inside, the Museum of National History fills the royal apartments with five centuries of Danish portraits, royal regalia, and elaborately decorated chambers, including the Knights' Hall and the exquisite chapel where Danish kings were anointed for three hundred years. The baroque garden terraces, restored to their seventeenth-century layout, are lovely on a summer afternoon.
Frederiksborg Castle
Scandinavia's finest Renaissance castle on three lake islands
A story
A fire in December 1859 destroyed almost all of the castle's interiors and most of its art. The state had no money to rebuild, and the Carlsberg founder J. C. Jacobsen paid for the restoration out of his beer profits — on the condition that the new building become a national museum free of charge to all Danes.