Queen Margrethe of Denmark is currently on summer holiday with her family at Gråsten castle. On Saturday, she took a short break from her vacation to visit the people at the small village of Sønderborg. This Danish city has created a brand new suburb and the Queen accepted the invitation to take a closer look at it.
In addition to inspecting a new Multicultural House with library and art school, Queen Margrethe saw the most striking constructions along the city’s harbour. At the new Multicultural House, the Danish Queen visited adults and children enjoying art and crafts and spent some time at the , children’s library. It was warm, and the queen looked around, clearly showing interest in the amateur artists in studios overlooking the water.
Peter Mads Clausen, who welcomed the Queen said that: “I am very pleased that Her Majesty the Queen is visiting the Port of the City and Alsik. It is an honour for the city”.
The new suburb is full of special buildings. Among them is the 16-storey Hotel Alsik, which now dominates the city’s waterfront. In front of the hotel, artist Olafur Eliasson showed his creation, “Time circles”, to Queen Margrethe. The sculpture consists of six giant metal rings. The artwork is a gift to the municipality of Sønderborg from the Bitten & Mads Clausen Foundation.
In glorious summer weather, with temperatures close to 30 degrees, Queen Margrethe spent several hours at Sønderborg Harbour. The visit concluded with a grand lunch at Hotel Alsik with the chairman of the Bitten & Mads Clausen Foundation, Peter Mads Clausen, and others in the delegation.
This was the second time in a short period that the people of Sønderborg had their Queen visiting. The arrival of the royal yacht “Dannebrog” at the Port of Sønderborg drew hundreds of people from near and far just a couple of weeks ago. Hundreds stood ready to wish Queen Margrethe a good summer stay at Gråsten Castle as she sailed into port on July 16th 2019.
Gråsten Castle is best known for being the summer residence of the Danish Royal Family. It is located in Gråsten in the Jutland region of southern Denmark, not far from the city of Sønderborg. The main castle-house has a modern, all-white façade.
The Palace was after centuries of private ownership taken over by the State, extensively restored, and in 1935, it was the summer residence for then-Crown Prince Frederik, later King Frederik IX, and Crown Princess Ingrid, later Queen Ingrid, who adored the palace until her death in November 2000. It is the usual venue for the royal family’s official summer photo shoot.
