The Danish Palaces and Culture Agency plans to put Charlottenlund Castle up for sale within a few months. This may mean that tourists could will lose access to the castle with a rich royal history.
After a long disagreement between Gentofte Municipality and the Danish Palaces and Culture Agency about the use of Charlottenlund Castle Gardens and its five buildings the Palaces and Culture Agency has now received political support to sell all buildings including Charlottenlund Castle. This appears to have been underlined in a letter sent by the Palaces and Culture Agency to tenants at the castle on 10 February 2022. The news has been heavily debated in Danish and Norwegian press.
In 2017, Charlottenlund Castle was completely renovated and opened to the public. It currently hosts cultural events as well as providiing meeting facilities for everything from private weddings to company conferences. In everyday life, the castle also functions as an office hotel for the company Edora and a number of smaller companies and self-employed people who work from rented offices in the building.
The castle is an old royal summer residence where two kings have been born – King Christian X of Denmark and King Haakon VII of Norway. In the context of art history, Charlottenlund Castle is invaluable and unique cultural heritage from the 18th century. It is a baroque castle which, like the Hermitage Castle in Copenhagen, occupies a special place in the cultural landscape.
The Knights’ Hall alone represents a highlight in Christian VI-era interior art with both stucco, panels and doors as originally executed. The portraits of Christian VI and Queen Sophie Magdalene, which are located above the hall’s two fireplaces, are key works in older Danish art history. They are unique because they still sit in the squares they were originally intended to be seen in, back in the 1730s.
The decision to sell has been heavily criticized. The Danish royal family has not wished to comment on the matter.
