Gråsten Palace, Gråsten, Denmark

The first Gråsten Palace was a small hunting lodge built in the middle of the 1500s. After it burned down in 1603, a new palace was built approximately where the south wing of the current palace is located. Chancellor Count Frederik Ahlefeldt, who was the owner of Gråsten Palace from 1662-1682, and his son built a huge baroque palace shortly before the beginning of the 1700’s. It, too, burned down in 1757. Only the palace chapel and a few pavilions remained. The current palace thus dates back to 1759, when a new south wing was built, and to 1842, when the central building was added. At the beginning of the last century, considerable renovations were made.

The Augustenborg family owned Gråsten Palace from 1725 to 1852, when it was acquired by Frederik VII. After 1864, the palace was again occupied by the Augustenborg family. In 1920, the Danish state acquired Gråsten Palace, and for a period it was used as a court house, housing for judges and police chiefs, and a library. In 1935, after an extensive restoration, Gråsten Palace was handed over to be the summer residence for the then-Crown Prince Couple (later King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid).

King Frederik and Queen Ingrid spent the summers at Gråsten Palace. After Queen Ingrid’s death, the palace passed to HM The Queen, who continues the tradition of using it during the summer.

References:

Kongehuset.dk

User Reviews

Kevin Sherburne (9 months ago)
Palace grounds in Denmark are all meticulously kept, and are still available to the public to enjoy! Love that the royalty here is so down to earth and accessible to the people, not like other monarchies. Also a lot of respect for the Danish as they respect their historical landmarks!

Andrei Chetroi (2 years ago)
Splendid castle in a quiet area in front of a lake with nice gardens and green fields around

Eio Gray (3 years ago)
Beautiful castle and a must see garden if you are in the southern part of Denmark!

Christian Mohr (4 years ago)
The gardens are absolutely beautiful, we love to drive all the way from Rendsburg just to have a relaxed time.

Atefeh Jafari (5 years ago)
Like the idea of not super luxury palace area, instead nice green area with the beautiful old and white building. I recommend for a nice walk, in autumn was lovely too.

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