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Copenhagen with Kids: Treasure Gawking at Rosenborg Castle

It’s not often you get to see the extravagant rooms of Danish monarchies from 300 years ago.  Rosenborg Castle or Slot showed wealth and luxury at its finest with a treasure trove of artwork, furnishings, artifacts and crown jewels.  Located in the center of Copenhagen, Rosenborg Castle was easily accessible.  At first glance, it wasn’t as large as we expected and didn’t quite fit our image of a castle.  We visited Frederiksborg Slot the previous day and this was smaller and simpler.  But, Rosenborg Castle was lovely in its own right and well-preserved.

Rosenborg Castle Slot

Rosenborg Slot was built and expanded between 1605-1634 by Christian IV as his summerhouse – his “Great House in the Garden”.  Its towers and architecture were an example of Dutch Renaissance style found throughout Denmark in the 17th century.  It was a royal residence until 1710 and then became a museum that focused on the monarchs of early modern Denmark.

Rosenborg castle or slot

Kongens Have or King’s Garden was a huge and picturesque park that surrounded the castle.

Rosenborg Kongens have kings garden park

There were three floors and 24 rooms in the main castle for viewing.  It was like walking through time periods of royal opulence.  The rooms and exhibits were laid out in chronological order and grouped by monarch periods.  It provided a cohesive flow to the exhibits and gave us a sense of how the various royal families lived.

Rosenborg Castle Winter Room

Rooms were named after the various kings and were packed with a lot of art, furniture, accesories and artifacts with no space wasted.  Some rooms felt overwhelming and cluttered.  Many of the items had incredible detailed craftmanship.  We liked how a lot of things were not roped off and the public could examine the details on many of the objects.

Rosenborg castle room

In a unique way to preserve the rooms, some of them were enclosed in glass making it a bit hard to take pictures.  They provided very little space to stand and sometimes got very crowded.

Rosenborg garden room

There were a few rooms that were memorable during our visit.  Ever wondered what a royal toilet looked like back then?  Presenting… Christian IV’s toilet.  Some of the original Dutch tiles still adorned the walls with the blue and white tiles part of a refurbishment in the 1700s.  It wasn’t surprising to find out it drained out to the moat surrounding the castle.

Rosenborg castle Toilet

The Porcelain Room contained the Royal Houses’ finest collection from the 18th century.  It had a large collection of fine Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Flora Danica set which was supposedly commissioned as a gift to Russia’s Catherine the Great but was never completed due to her death.

Rosenborg porcelain room

The Glass Cabinet room held a Venetian glass collection that was given to Frederk IV in the 1700s.  The walls were covered with sik and the Roman god of wine, Bacchus, was painted on the ceiling.

Rosenborg Castle Glass Cabinet

My favorite area was the long hall or Knights’ Hall which was originally used for banquets but was now used to showcase the coronation chairs, a silver collection and tapestries.

Rosenborg Knights hall throne

On the other side was the King and Queen’s coronation chairs used through the ages guarded by three silver lions.

Rosenborg king queens coronation chair

The walls were lined with 12 tapestries to honor Christian V’s Scanian War achievements.  Christian V had artists follow him during the battles to record significant events.  These paintings were later translated into these magnificent tapestries with vivid details in the late 1600s.  All of them were still in excellent condition.

Rosenborg tapestries

This wouldn’t be a Danish castle without the ornate and elaborate ceiling art.  Here are a couple of them.

Rosenborg long hall ceiling

Rosenborg ceiling

The highlight of Rosenborg though is in its basement which houses the Treasury and many other priceless artifacts.  This had a separate entrance located outside.  We went here last because we promised our kids they’d eventually see crowns, jewels and swords in an attempt to get through the other exhibits.  I actually preferred seeing the Treasury afterwards since it made us anticipate the visit to the crown jewels a bit more.

Rosenborg treasury entrance
Rosenborg wine

The basement had many wooden wine barrels and numerous bottles of wine dating back to the 1700s. Rosenborg Castle’s wine, most of which came from the German rhine region, is used by the royal household for special occasions including the Queen’s New Year banquet.  There was supposed to be enough wine here to last another 300 years.  

There were several war regalia including gold swords, guns and armory to make any little boy (or man) giddy with excitement plus a gold and pearl saddle used by Christian IV.

Rosenborg weapons

Unique artifacts made of ivory and amber carvings that dated back to the 17th century were also on display.  The details on these pieces were extraordinary.

Rosenborg Ivory

One of the highlights here was Christian IV’s spectacular crown that was made for his coronation in 1596.  It was amazing to see the intricate details in how the jewels were arranged.  The solid gold crown weighs 6.6 lbs (3 kg).  I wonder how often he wore it.

Rosenborg Christian IV Crown

The Treasury’s last room displayed the crown jewels and regalia.  Seeing all the glistening and exquisite jewels would make any lady’s heart flutter with joy.  There were sets of emeralds, gold, diamonds and rubies including the anointing sword and a sceptre.  The number and variety of jewels on display were astounding and impressive.  Some of the state jewelry belonging to the current Queen Margrethe II were also displayed.

Rosenborg jewels

My daughter has a fascination for sparkly items, crowns or anything to do with a princess so she was beyond excited to be here.  It was amusing to watch her take many pictures and gaze in amazement at each exhibit.  I’m not much of a jewelry wearer (which my husband is grateful for) but I can fully appreciate fine jewelry pieces I’ll never own or wear.  It was jewelry window shopping at its best.

Rosenborg castle Jewels

One can’t miss the two crowns in their special showcase.  The larger of the two was the Crown of the Absolute Monarchs.  This was a closed crown with a large sapphire that was Christian V’s and used subsequently by many kings.  The Queen’s crown was made in 1731 – a similar but simpler design.

Rosenborg castle crowns

Rosenborg Castle was a beautiful and well-maintained place.  It was remarkable to see how these priceless treasures of art, furniture, artifacts and jewelry were preserved in great condition and have survived several centuries.  The castle’s park like setting and central location also make it an appealing attraction in Copenhagen whether you’re traveling solo or with kids.

Basics and Tips for visiting Rosenborg Castle/Slot:

  • Price: Tickets: Adults 80 DKK ($13 US);  Kids 18 and under were Free.  Admission Free with Copenhagen Card which we had and highly recommend.
  • Locker Fees. Pay 20 DKK ($3 US) to use the locker for bigger bags and backpacks but is returned after its use
  • Photo Fees. As a first in our castle and palace visits throughout Europe, we paid 20 DKK ($3 US) to take pictures inside.  They gave us a small sticker that must be visible at all times.
  • Castle connection. Photo sticker was also good for nearby Amalienborg Palace – the royal family’s winter home.  We recommend visiting Rosenborg first in the morning and then walking over to Amalienborg Palace for the changing of the guard.  You can also see the guards start marching from Rosenborg at 11:30 AM.  Continuation of exhibits and monarch period at Amalienborg.
  • Do the smartphone guided tour. Rooms and exhibits have barcodes for scanning that links up to online descriptions (in English or Danish) called King Connect.  Free wi-fi is available throughout the castle.
  • Old-fashioned guides.  If you don’t have a smartphone, guidebooks were available for 25 DKK ($4 US) for more in depth information.  Guards/docents were scattered throughout for questions.  Guided tours were also available (book two weeks ahead) by emailing [email protected]
  • Allocate at least a couple of hours to explore the three floors and the Treasury.
  • Traveling with kids? Give them a camera.  We gave our kids a small point and shoot camera to take pictures which kept them interested and engaged with the exhibits.

*Have you explored Rosenborg Castle’s treasures?  Where have you enjoyed a Royal Treasury of jewels? 

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ROSENBORG CASTLE

41 thoughts on “Copenhagen with Kids: Treasure Gawking at Rosenborg Castle”

  1. Loved seeing your photos of the interior of Rosenborg Slot! We only stopped by the gardens and took pics outside the castle – I would have loved to have time to see the interior!

    1. I’m sure the Princess can probably borrow a couple or two. She seemed to be a major celebrity there. We saw her in quite a few front pages of magazines at the grocery stores. It was wonderful to see such extravagant jewelry.

  2. We walked by here but didn’t go in – so thank you for the marvelous tour
    (great photos from a place that must have been very hard to shoot).
    Now I wish we had done the tour!!

    1. I can see how this would look completely dark and lifeless during the winter. You need to go back and explore Copenhagen during the summer. Totally understand about being backlogged – you covered quite a bit on that backpacking trip.

  3. So cool! I’m a sucker for a tree lined walkway and that one is especially pretty. The room with all the plates on the walls would scary me, I’d be worried I’d bump into them and they’d break!

    1. Loved that tree lined walkway too. It was great that it looked deserted when we were there. The Porcelain room was actually enclosed in glass so no danger of walking near them and breaking them. A good thing or I would never let my kids near any of that collection.

  4. Can you imagine putting something on your head that weighed 6.5 pounds? I’d have a headache or sore neck. Over the top when it comes to details – except the bathroom. A very interesting post and if I had a long driveway I would want it to be lined with trees like that.

    1. I was wondering how often the king wore that crown too. I think even the bathroom with beautifl tiles was too fancy during its heyday. I’m with you, Leigh..I would want that kind of driveway or walkway too.

  5. Great tour! The garden looks beautiful for a walk, and the insides seem really pretty with all the details and colors. The toilt shot made me laugh :) Nice hole in the ground :)

    1. Thanks Sabrina! The gardens were beautiful and this picture was only a section of it. They had side gardens too. Yes, one of the fanciest toilets we’ve ever seen :)

  6. As an architecture and painting junkie, you’d love this castle and all of Denmark’s other castles. Copenhagen was a wonderful city and we barely covered it being there for a week. So, I hope you get to visit soon and plan on more than two days.

  7. So many great photos. It seems like that 6 lb. crown would be nicer for display than for regular wear. I can imagine that it was a literal pain in the neck. I think I could make the jewelry work, though. I also like the silver lions guarding the throne room. They seem to be in natural positions, rather than seated as so many lion statues are.

    1. Thank you Allison! I hope he didn’t wear that crown too often – just looking at it made my head hurt. I wish I knew the significance of the silver lions and why they were guarding the throne. My kids were so tempted to climb on them :)

  8. The outside may not look like a castle, but the inside definitely does! I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that the crown jewels are so gorgeous, but still…they are! Looks like a nice and unexpected surprise!

  9. I love European castles. I try to see as many as I can when in any European city. I think we’re headed to Scandinavia in a few years, so I’m definitely bookmarking this. Thanks!

    1. I love European castles too! Denmark certainly had a number of fairytale looking ones. You’d love Scandinavia! There’s something different about the whole area compared to the rest of Europe.

  10. I’m so glad you mentioned leaving the Treasury for last to entice your kids throught the first part of the tour. I shall have to remember that trick. I think those huge silver lions and the tapestries are my favorite. My knowledge of Danish monarchs is sadly quite lacking.

    1. I didn’t know anything about Danish monarchs until this visit. They’re a rather interesting bunch. One of the side annoyances of the trick and leaving the Treasury for last was the constant question of “Can we see the crowns now?” or “When are we going to see the swords?” So, just be aware of that :)

    1. We let the kids use our old point and shoot camera. It’s a good thing too because it has gotten a lot of scratches from them banging it around accidentally. we had those Fisher Price ones and they don’t work as a camera at all. After they eventually break this camera they inherited, we may go for a cheap digital camera.

  11. I just love these old castles of Europe. I really hadn’t been aware that Denmark had such wonderful castles. The crown jewels are stunning. Great job getting photos despite the protective glass.

    1. Thanks Cathy! The awesome shots through the glass were courtesy of the hubby. There was a lot about Denmark that surprised us and these castles were such great bonuses to the trip.

    1. It was very ornate, Marcia which was pretty common with the Danish castles we visited. We’ve never seen a royal toilet either. Exactly, can you imagine how bad that moat probably smelled back then? Hope they had a good drainage system.

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