Fredensborg Palace Gardens

In 1678, the area around Fredensborg was purchased by the hunt enthusiast Christian V, who had hunting paths hewn out of Østrup Vang forest, so he could indulge his real passion for hunting with hounds. However, it was to be Frederik IV who laid the foundations of the current palace, which was called Fredensborg, literally the castle of peace, after the end of the Northern War.

Frederik IV really brought the European baroque garden style to Denmark. On his travels to Italy and France, the king became deeply fascinated and inspired by the beautiful and magnificent gardens he visited. Frederik IV's favourite landscape gardener, Johan Cornelius Krieger, based the Baroque garden at Fredensborg Palace around Christian V's hunting paths. Avenues of trees were planted along the hunting paths hewn out of the forest around the palace. As per the European model, the avenues radiated in a star shape from the centre of the palace. In keeping with Baroque traditions the building, gardens and surrounding landscape all formed a holistic experience.

Brede Allé

The gardens had their first major golden age under Frederik V, who brought the French landscape gardener Nicolai Henri Jardin to the country. Jardin applied his imagination to the gardens and around 1760 drew up a plan based on the French model. The most conspicuous feature of the plan that came to fruition is Brede Allé - the broad tapis vert, the green lawn, flanked by a double allé, which underlines the long deep perspective out into the landscape, a typically French element known from Louis XIV's Baroque gardens at Versailles outside Paris, for example.

Sculptures

In 1762, Johannes Wiedewelt, sculptor and the first Nordic neo-classicist artist, drew up a catalogue of sculptures suitable for use in the gardens. Many of his proposals were accepted and can still be seen to this day. The sculptures in the Norwegian Valley were carved by J. G. Grund and, somewhat unusually for the era, depict a series of ordinary peasants and fishermen from the northern parts of the king’s realm, Norway and the Faroes.

In the mid 19th century, the gardens were partially converted to English-Romantic style, and most of the baroque period’s characteristic avenues were converted into a net of winding paths. The beautiful and central Brede Allé was retained, however. In the 1970s to 1990s, the rest of the 18th-century baroque avenues were recreated, winning back the beautiful long views in the gardens.