Ulriksdal
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Ulriksdal Palace () is a royal palace situated on the banks of the Edsviken in the Royal National City Park in
Solna Municipality Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockh ...
, 6 km north of
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
. It was originally called ''Jakobsdal'' for its owner
Jacob De la Gardie Field Marshal and Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie (20 June 1583 – 22 August 1652) was a wikt:statesman, statesman and a soldier of the Swedish Empire, and a Marshal from 1620 onward. He was Privy Council of Sweden, Privy Councilor from ...
, who had it built by
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Hans Jacob Kristler in 1638–1645 as a country retreat. He later passed on to his son,
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (15 October 1622 – 26 April 1686) was a Swedish Empire, Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Privy Council of Sweden, Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three ...
, from whom it was purchased in 1669 by Queen Hedvig Eleonora of Sweden. The present design is mainly the work of architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and dates from the late 17th century.


History

Hedvig Eleonora had grand plans for the palace and renamed it in 1684 Ulriksdal in honor of its intended future owner, her grandson Prince Ulric. The prince, however, died at the age of one and Hedvig Eleonora kept the palace until her death in 1715 when the property was transferred to the crown for King Frederick I's disposal. Several drawings by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder show a stately palace, three storeys high, with a lantern roof, furnished attic, and side wings extending the lakeside façade. Implementation of Tessin's designs began under Hedvig Eleonora in the 1670s, but was halted around 1690 due to financial problems. When building work eventually resumed by King Frederick I in the 1720s, the palace architect
Carl Hårleman Baron Carl Hårleman (27 August 1700 – 9 February 1753) was a Sweden, Swedish architect. Biography Hårleman was born in Stockholm, son of the garden architect and head of the royal parks and gardens Johan Hårleman, who had been Ennoblemen ...
had different ideas than Tessin the Elder. Among the features incorporated by Hårleman was one of the first
mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...
s in Sweden. In the mid-18th century, the palace was occupied by King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika. The Queen set up a theatre here, today called the ''Confidencen''. During the reign of Adolf Frederick and his son
Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he saw ...
(r. 1771–1792), it was one of the main residences of the royal court and the place for a grand court life. From 1792 until 1813, it served as residence for the queen dowager of Gustav III, Sophia Magdalena of Denmark. After her death, the palace was uninhabited until 1821. Relatively little survives of the 18th century interiors, since Ulriksdal served as a veterans' hospital from 1822 to 1849. The hospital was established by King Charles XIV John for veterans of the Russo-Swedish War of 1808–1809. The palace was therefore almost empty when it was acquired in 1856 by Prince Charles, later King
Charles XV Charles XV or Carl (''Carl Ludvig Eugen''; Swedish language, Swedish and Norwegian language, Norwegian officially: ''Karl''; 3 May 1826 – 18 September 1872) was King of Sweden and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway, there often referred to as C ...
. During the reign of Charles XV (r. 1859–1872), the palace was used as his preferred summer residence. With the aid of architect Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander and through extensive purchases of antiques, Prince Charles was able to design and furnish the palace at his own taste. Many of these furnishings are still on display. During the reign of King Oscar II (1872–1907), it was often used by Queen Sophia as her personal summer residence: it also served as her residence as a widow until her death in 1913. In 1923, Prince Gustav Adolf, the future King Gustaf VI Adolf married Louise Mountbatten. Ulriksdal became closely associated with the royal couple. During their time, the former knights' hall was turned into a living room with furniture designed by designer Carl Malmsten. The palace has been open to the public since 1986. The original furnishings have been relocated to the preserved rooms and parts of the former living quarters are used to exhibit items from Gustaf VI Adolf's art and crafts collection as well as Gustaf V's silver collection.


Outbuildings

The Palace Theatre, '' Confidencen'', is situated in a building from the 1670s which was originally used as a horse riding house and later a guesthouse. In 1753, Queen Louisa Ulrika commissioned architect Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz to convert the building into a theatre. It was built in
Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
style, seats 200 spectators and has a ''table à confidence'', a table which can be lowered through the floor to the basement to be set. Today ''Confidencen'' is the oldest Rococo theatre in Sweden, reopened in 1981 and run since then by
Kjerstin Dellert Kjerstin Dellert (4 November 1925 – 5 March 2018) was a Swedish opera singer and theater manager. Life Early life Born in Stockholm, Dellert made her opera debut at Stora teatern (the old Gothenburg Opera stage) in Gothenburg in the 1950s. ...
. Ulriksdal Palace had in the palace's northern wing originally a chapel, built in 1662 by architect Jean de la Vallée. The chapel was torn down during
Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he saw ...
's renovation of the palace in 1774. The present chapel was designed by architect Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander and was built in 1864–1865 in the palace garden, in Dutch new Renaissance style with a certain influences from Venice. Next to the palace is the greenhouse, today the Orangery Museum. The Orangery was built at the end of the 17th century by architect
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (23 May 1654 – 10 April 1728) was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator. The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the midd ...
. Despite a number of later changes, Tessin's architecture still dominates the Orangery, which houses parts of the
National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...
's sculpture collection, including works by the sculptors Johan Tobias Sergel,
Carl Milles Carl Milles (; 23 June 1875 – 19 September 1955) was a Swedes, Swedish sculpture, sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles (née Granner) and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the ...
and Johan Niclas Byström. In 2005 the Orangery inspired the design of the music pavilion at Stålboga.


See also

* Morianbron * Solna Church


References

* ''
Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...
(Nordic familybook)'', Stockholm : Gernandts boktryckeri-aktiebolag, Vol. No. 16, 1869. *


External links

*
Official Royal Palaces website
{{Authority control Crown palaces in Sweden 1645 establishments in Sweden Houses completed in 1645 Castles in Stockholm County Museums in Stockholm County Historic house museums in Sweden Art museums and galleries in Stockholm Carriage museums in Sweden Solna Municipality