Christian VIII's Palace, or Levetzau's Palace, was built for Privy Councillor Christian Frederik Levetzau in 1750-60 under the supervision of the royal builder Niels Eigtved and by more or less the same craftsmen who worked on Moltke's Palace. After Eigtved's death in 1754, the contractor general Lauritz de Thurah completed the project, faithfully following Eigtved's plans. In terms of quality, the finished palace was not quite on a par with the neighbouring building - Moltke's Palace - but the financial wherewithal was probably not on a par either. Levetzau died in 1756, but the palace remained in his family until 1794.
Modernization in the New French Empire Style
After the Christiansborg Palace fire in 1794 the Heir Presumptive Frederik bought the palace and had the painter and architect Nicolai Abildgaard modernise it in the new French Empire style. When Frederik died in 1805, his son prince Christian Frederik took over both the palace and the architect. Abildgaard died in 1809, however, and the planned refurbishment ground to a halt.
In 1839, Prince Christian Frederik was crowned King Christian VIII and gave his name to the palace. Christian and his wife were very interested in culture and the cultural elite of the era were regular guests in their home. The King died in 1848 and the Dowager in 1881. From 1885, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs used a part of the palace, moving out in 1898 when it was made the residence of Crown Prince Christian (X) and Princess Alexandrine. Christian X died in 1947 and the palace was put at the disposal of Heir Presumptive Knud a few years later.
Restoration
In the 1980s, the Palaces and Properties Agency instigated a badly needed restoration of the palace, which included a home and state rooms for the successor to the throne, storage facilities for the Queen's Library and 'The Royal Danish Collection, Amalienborg', a museum depicting the lives and times of the Glücksburger dynasty
The palace is now at the disposal of Crown Prince Frederik who uses it as his home and as state rooms.
Last updated:: Wednesday, March 03, 2010
