Frederiksberg Gardens and Søndermarken form one of the many gardens which we owe to Frederik IV. He was as important to the landscape gardening of the early 18th century as Christian IV was to architecture one hundred years before.
Frederiksberg Gardens are today owned by the state and maintained by the Agency for Palaces & Cultural Properties.
Originally, the Royal House property at Frederiksberg was no more than a small farm dating from 1663, the Prinsessegården, situated at the end of Frederiksberg Allé. The farm soon proved too small, and at the beginning of the 18th century the building of the new palace was commenced at the crest of the Valby Hill supervised by the architects J.C. Ernst and W. F. von Planten. Today the palace is the property of the Ministry of Defence and houses the Danish Army Officer School.
Architecture and vegetation
The gardens were laid out on designs by H.H. Scheel and J.C. Krieger. The style was baroque with its well-known symmetry and fixed axes, greatly inspired by the King's travels to Italy and France.
But then times - and fashion - changed. As the 18th century drew to its close, Frederiksberg Gardens and Søndermarken were transformed into romantic, English landscape gardens. The strict baroque style was softened, and the garden ponds were interconnected through a network of winding canals. These canals also served to drain low areas of the gardens, thus making it possible to cultivate the many new and exotic trees and shrubs introduced into Denmark. However, the baroque axes were retained along with the parterres in front of the palace.
Last updated:: Friday, December 02, 2011
