Drottningholm Palace

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Drottningholm Palace
Front view of the castle
Building Information
Name	Drottningholm Palace
Location	Drottningholm
Country	Sweden
Construction Start Date	16th century

The Drottningholm Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. It is located in Drottningholm (literally meaning Queen's island) on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), and is one of Sweden's Royal Palaces. It was originally built in the late 16th century, burnt down, was rebuilt and today is a popular tourist destination.

Contents 1 History 2 The palace 2.1 The palace church 3 The gardens 3.1 The baroque garden 3.2 The English garden 4 UNESCO World Heritage Site 5 Gallery 6 External links

[edit] History

The name Drottningholm came from the original building, a stone castle built by John III of Sweden in 1580 for his wife Katarina Jagellonica, then queen of Sweden. Hedwig Eleonora bought the castle in 1661, a year after her role as Queen of Sweden ended, but it burnt to the ground on 30th December that same year. Hedwig hired the famous Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder to design and rebuild the castle. In 1662 work began on the reconstruction of the building. With the castle almost complete, Nicodemus died in 1681. His son Nicodemus Tessin the Younger continued his work and completed the elaborate interior designs.

During the period of the reconstruction, Hedwig was head of the protectorate for the still underage King, Charles XI of Sweden. Sweden had grown to be a powerful country after the Peace of Westphalia. The position of the queen, essentially the ruler of Sweden, demanded an impressive residence located conveniently close to Stockholm.

The palace was given as a gift to the then Princess, later Queen, of Sweden, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia in 1744 when she married Adolf Frederick of Sweden, who became King of Sweden in 1751. During Louisa's ownership of Drottningholm the interior of the palace was transformed in a more sophisticated French rococo style. Louisa was also responsible for having the Drottningholm Palace Theatre rebuilt in a grand style after the more modest original building burnt down in 1762. In 1777, Louisa sold Drottningholm to the Swedish state. While it was owned by the Swedish state, Gustav III of Sweden, son of Louisa, lived in the palace.

For much of the 19th century, the palace was ignored and started to decay. This saw some change during the reign of Oscar I of Sweden. In 1907 a major restoration of the palace was carried out.

The current Swedish royal family have used Drottningholm as their primary residence since 1981.

[edit] The palace

The palace and its grounds has seen many renovations, changes and additions over the past 400 years. The largest renovation, in which electricity, heating, sewage, water lines were either put in or updated and the castle roof replaced, started in 1907 and was completed in 1913. During a 20 year period, starting around 1977, several major areas of the palace were restored and rebuilt. The library and national hall received much attention and fire protection was put in throughout the palace. In 1997 work began to clean and rebuild the exterior walls. This was completed five years later in 2002.

[edit] The palace church

The church was designed and erected by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. It was completed by his son in May, 1746.

It is used to this day by the people of Lovön parish, who worship in the church on the last Sunday of every month. Inside the castle church a Cahman organ from 1730 is still in use. Another noteworthy item is the traditional church tapestry which was made by Gustaf V of Sweden.

[edit] The gardens

The gardens and park areas surrounding the castle and its buildings are one of the main attractions for the tourists that visit the palace each year.The gardens have been established in stages since the castle was built, resulting in different styles of parks and gardens.

[edit] The baroque garden

The oldest part of the gardens was created at the end of the 17th century under the direction of Hedwig Eleonora. The father and son Tessin led the project that created a baroque garden right outside the main palace, flanked by thick tree avenues. The many statues scattered throughout this area were created by the artist Adrian de Vries. The baroque garden was neglected along with the rest of the grounds during the 19th century, but was restored in the 1950's and 1960's on the initiative of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden.

[edit] The English garden

Gustav III of Sweden took the initiative for what is sometimes called the English garden section of Drottningholm. This lies north of the baroque garden and consists of two ponds with canals, bridges, large open sections of grass, and trees in groups or avenues. Walkways are laid out throughout this large part of the park. Throughout this area "vistas" can be seen, cleared lines of sight that are intentionally constructed to draw the eye to a particular view. Most of the antique marble statues throughout the gardens were purchased by Gustav III from Italy. The purpose of the statues is to surprise a visitor by their unexpected appearance in a green area, or as a focal point for a vista.

[edit] UNESCO World Heritage Site

The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, mainly because of the Drottningholm Palace Theatre and the Drottningholm Chinese Pavilion. It was added to the list in 1991. The UNESCO comments were:

The Royal Domain of Drottningholm stands on an island in Lake Mälar in a suburb of Stockholm. With its palace , perfectly preserved theatre (built in 1766), Chinese pavilion and gardens, it is the finest example of an 18th-century northern European royal residence inspired by the Palace of Versailles.

[edit] Gallery

Drottningholm Palace, rear	East façade	Avenue in front of the palace	The strict lines of a baroque garden
Engraving c. 1700	English Garden	Chinese Pavilion	Fountain
Rear of the Palace from the gardens

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Drottningholm

• Drottningholm Palace from the official website of the Swedish monarchy
• The Royal Domain of Drottningholm - National Heritage Board
• Wikimapia satellite image of Drottningholm Palace

	Royal Palaces in Sweden
	The Royal Palace in Stockholm | Drottningholm Palace | Gripsholm Castle | Gustav III's Pavilion | The Chinese Pavilion | Rosendal Palace | Rosersberg Palace | Strömsholm Palace | Tullgarn Palace | Ulriksdal Palace

Coordinates: 59°19′18″N, 17°53′10″E