Frederiksberg Park (Danish: Frederiksberg Have)) is one of the largest and most attractive greenspaces in Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjacent Søndermarken Park it forms a green area of 64 hectares at the western edge of Inner Copenhagen. It is a romantic landscape garden designed in English style.

History

Frederiksberg Park was laid out when Frederik IV provided for the construction of Frederiksberg Palace as the palace garden of his new summer retreat. It was first designed as a baroque garden but as fashion changed it was redesigned into an English landscape garden around 1800. The Palace garden was particularly used by Frederik VI who spend much time in the grounds and sailing the canals in a gondola. Though a palace park, the general public had access to the grounds but sailors, dogs and people in poor clothing or carrying large bundles were turned away by the guard at the parks sole entrance. Not until 1865 became access to the park unrestricted, in line with what was the case elsewhere in the city such as at Langelinie.

Frederiksberg Park today

Frederiksberg Park is an English-style Romantic landscape garden with winding paths, canals, lakes small islands and magnificent trees.

Buildings & features

Follies

Typically of the romantic landscape garden, the park houses two follies. The Chinese Folly was built in 1799 on one of the islands.

The Tample of Apis, named after the Egyptian bull-deity Apis and designed by the painter Nicolai Abildgaard, was built in 1802. It is built in the style of a Roman temple. The columns at the facade are recycled from a rebuilding of Moltke's Palace. Decorations include the Ox Cranium Frieze and the Bull Relief, both carved in sandstone.

Artificial waterfall

Another garden feature typical of the romantic garden is an artificial waterfall. The waterfall is 7 metres heigh and partly created out of marble blocks from the building site of the Marble Church. The waterfall was left as a ruin for many years but was reconstructed in 2004.

Elephant viewpoint

When Norman Foster in collaboration with the Danish landscape architect Stig L. Anderson designed the new Elephant House for the adjacent Copenhagen Zoo, it was done as anextension of Frederiksberg Park. A three-metre high wall that once separated the two has been replaced by a simple fence, so that visitors in the the public park can now watch the elephants. In the same time it means the elephants have distant views as well. The enclosure steps up slowly away from the park, rising to the height of the domes. From a distance, these appear to be buried in the ground, surrounded by ferns and trees.

Events & activities

Every year on Midsummer Eve, the park is a rallying point for thousands of people who attend community singing, speeches, music and a "witch"-burning bonfire at the lakeside in front of the palace.

Søndermarken

Adjacent to the park is Søndermarken, which was designed and landscaped at the same time. Søndermarken Common and Frederiksberg Park are now separated by a road, Roskildevej, but together they form one of the largest park areas in any city of Northern Europe. The underground museum of modern glass art Cisternerne is located inside Søndermarken close to entrance of Copenhagen Zoo and Frederiksberg Palace in some abandoned cisterns.

External links

• Parks in Frederiksberg Kommune

References