Royal castle of Fredensborg

An old story from Fredensborg goes a man walks around the town and meet a group of men who is also out walking around the area. The man hadn’t seen the men before so he asks who they are. One of the men responds I am the king of Greece and this is the Zar of Russia and the Prince to Wales. The first man then answers nice to meet you – and by the way I am the sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

The story probably never happened but the castle of Fredensborg actually did attract Zar Alexandar of Russia, King George of Greece and Prince Edward later King Edward VII of UK. They all came to the castle because they were related to King Christian IX of Denmark. The king of Greece was his son and the others were married to a couple of his daughters. King Christian managed to marry off his children to the most powerful royal families in Europe and the children came most summers to visit the father – and they brought their family to the relative small castle of Fredensborg.

Particularly Zar Alexandar is said to have enjoyed his summer holiday in Denmark. Here he didn’t have to be afraid of his security since there were no rebels who would try to assassin him and the relative small castle seemed peaceful compared to the giant Hermitage Castle in Saint Petersburg where he would spend most of his time. He actually liked to place so much he bought a little house close to the castle where his family could live during the visit to Fredensborg.

The royal families would enjoy the summers and try new experiences like the new invention of the bike cycle which they would ride along the quite roads of Fredensborg or the park behind the castle. They all enjoyed walking around the area in almost anonymity where people didn’t know just who the important people at the castle were. The many gathering at Fredensborg castle lasted until Christian IX died in 1906 after which the time of the large gathering stopped.

The heyday of the castle is over and there is now long gone but it is still the second most used residence of the Queen. She spend most of her summer at the castle were she can stay in a country setting instead of in the city at her main residence of Amalienborg Castle.

You can go and see the castle from the outside but it is a closed off residence so you can only see it from a distance. There is also access to the most of the garden behind the castle if you like to visit.

Once a year when the royal family moves to the castle they are met by a parade of torches by the locals who come out to welcome the Queen back to Fredensborg.