Marselisborg Palace (, ) is a royal residence of the

Danish royal family The Danish royal family is the dynastic family of the monarch of Denmark. While some members of the Danish royal family hold the title of ''Prince(ss) of Denmark'', descendants of Margrethe II additionally bear the title '' Count(ess) of Monpe ...

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

. It has been the summer residence of

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 5 ...

since 1967. There is a Palace Park in connection to the palace itself and outside the grounds, stretching to the coast of the Bay of Aarhus is another large park Mindeparken (The Memorial Park), popular with the citizens of Aarhus for recreational activities in the warmer months of the year. Just south of Marselisborg Palace is Aarhus Forestry Botanical Garden and a Deer Park, as part of the extensive

Marselisborg Forests Marselisborg Forests (), or simply Marselisborg Forest, is a forest to the south of Aarhus City in the Kingdom of Denmark. Many present day sources now includes the forest of Fløjstrup, as part of the Marselisborg Forests, upping the total area ...

. Just west and north of the palace is Aarhus Racecourse and the Atletion Stadium.

History

Designed by architect Hack Kampmann, Marselisborg Palace was built of the Roman Empire in 1899–1902 on the land of the old Marselisborg Manor and was presented as a gift from the people of Denmark to the royal family, on the occasion of the wedding of Prince Christian and Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The couple later became King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine and initiated the tradition of using the palace as a summer residence. The palace is the property of the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply Denmark, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united by the Constitution of Denmark, Constitutional Act, which applies to the entire territor ...

, and will remain in possession of all future monarchs of Denmark. The former Queen,

Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly ...

, was given the palace by her father, King Frederik IX in 1967. Margrethe and her consort

Henrik Henrik is a male given name of Germanic origin, primarily used in Scandinavia, Finland, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. In Poland, the name is spelt Henryk but pronounced similarly. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Heiki (Estoni ...

also used the palace as their summer residence. To this day the residence is used during the summer, as well as during the Easter and Christmas holidays.

About the name

The name Marselisborg refers to the old

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

manor Marselisborg. Marselisborg means "Marselis Castle" in Danish and it was located where Marselisborg Gymnasium have residence now. The manor dates back to the 1500s and was originally named Havreballegård, but in the 1600s the German-Dutch merchant Gabriel Marselis, replaced the name with the more grandiose "Marselis Castle". The Municipality of Aarhus took ownership of the Marselisborg estate in 1896, including the manor house. The manor house caught fire several times in the early 1900s and does not exist anymore. The only relation to Marselisborg Palace is the name Marselisborg and the fact that the palace was erected on land formerly part of the Marselis estate.

A gift from the people

The palace is "a gift of the people", in the sense that the project was funded by individual financial contributions and built on land given by the Municipality of Aarhus. Several

jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

ic cities and Danish companies became involved in the project, when the palace was equipped and furnished later on and in return their respective

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

are now presented throughout the palace building. Among the contributors are the cities of

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality (''Municipalities of De ...

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,505 (1 January 2025)Nykøbing Mors, to name just a few. The fundraising was initiated in the autumn of 1897 by

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Dreyer,

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

J. Rosenkrantz of Sophiendal and landowner Chr. Neergaard of Aakjær.

The Palace Park

The palace is situated in a park known as ''Slotshaven'' (The Palace Park). The park was designed by architect L. Christian Diedrichsen in traditional English landscape style, featuring large sweeping lawns dotted with small ponds, clusters of trees and shrub-covered slopes. There is a rose garden and a herb garden and the landscape is dotted with art sculptures. The park and gardens are both open to the public while the Queen and royal family are not in residence, whereas the palace itself is never open to the public. When the royal family is in residence, a changing of the guard ceremony takes place at noon. The main gates are the only entrance and exit to the palace and the park. File:Marselisborg Slot (hovedindgang).JPG, Marselisborg Palace, main entrance. File:Marselisborg Palace1.jpg, At the palace grounds. File:Tre løver og ni hjerter.jpg, Granite sculptures from The Palace Park. File:Et sted mellem drøm og virkelighed.jpg, Bronze- and water-sculpture from The Palace Park.

References

Marselisborg - The Prince-residential in Jutland
Aarhus City Museum
The Queens Aarhus
Aarhus City Museum
Marselisborg Palace
Official homepage of The Danish Monarchy

External links

Arslonga.dk homepage {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Aarhus Hack Kampmann buildings

Palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

National Romantic architecture in Aarhus Palaces in Denmark Royal residences in Denmark Tourist attractions in Aarhus 1900s architecture in Denmark Christian X of Denmark