| The Royal North Zealand
| | In the beginning of the 18th century the king owned most of North Zealand, which was mostly used for hunting ground and horse breeding.
After the end of the Swedish wars the landscape was worn down and devastated, but in the course of the century it was re-established and North Zealand became the test area for the agricultural and forestry reforms, which broke through at the end of the century. |
The Kings Hunting Area
| | In the beginning of the 18th century the kings owned most of Northern Zealand, which was mostly used for hunting and horse breeding. |
The King´s Area
After The Reformation in 1536 the royal power took over extensive land from the monasteries in North Zealand, and subsequently the Crown’s land possessions was increased further. Around 1546 the king bought 64 owner-occupier farmers out and by exchanging land with nobility the royal power succeeded in having most of North Zealand at its disposal.
The king´s main interest was hunting, and the major part of the landscape was used as a hunting ground and grazing areas for the king´s horses. Thus only a small area was cultivated and the crown farmers´ main work consisted mainly in hay harvest, tree felling and last, but not least, building and construction work. In the time of Frederik II Kronborg as well as Frederiksborg was built and in 1584 the first so-called “king´s road”, which connected the two castles was laid out.
North Zealand | 
The King´s Land | 
Frederiksborg | 
King´s Road in Nyrup Hegn | 
King´s Roads in North Zealand |
Game Courses and Deer Parks
In the time of Frederik.2. they started to establish game courses and closed off deer parks, for example Lille Dyrehave, which surrounded Frederiksborg Castle. Christian 4., who in his time rebuilt Frederiksborg Castle, continued to improve the hunting terrain with the lay out of Store Dyrehave south of Hillerød, which is enclosed with red fences. He also extends the king´s roads to the south, enabling him to travel back and forth between Frederiksborg and the growing city of Copenhagen.
As a crown prince Christian 5.(1670-1699) had visited Louis 14.and had observed the hunting with hounds. Now he wanted to introduce this form of hunting in North Zealand. In 1669 the laying out of Jægersborg Deer Park began, and in 1670 Christian 5. enlarged it to include the present Jægersborg Hegn. An English hunter, Robert Badge, was called in and in the autumn of 1670 hunting with hounds began.
The Little Deer Park | 
The Big Deer Park | 
Frederiksborg 1652 |
Jægersborg and Frederiksborg
In 1680, after the termination of the Scanian War, King Christian 5. began to reorganize the hunting terrain. He called in two experts from England and around 1700 there were plans for layouts around Frederiksborg Castle and the southern part of Esrum Lake. Jægerborg became a centre for the administration of the hunting, but the hunting takes place in all of Northern Zealand. The king engaged in all kinds of hunting, established falconry and arranged animal fights. In Lille Dyrehave at Frederiksborg there were lions, elephants and reindeer and in the castle´s rooms there are birds and monkeys with the favourite dogs.
Often the hunt took its starting point from Frederiksborg Castle, but there was also a hunters´ farm in Nyrup, outside Elsinore and the king also stayed at Østrup, where Fredensborg is situated. The hunt was often extensive and it demanded many resources. At a battue in Jægerspris in 1680 500 men were beaters and they brought food for 5-6 days.
The Hunting with Hounds
The hunting with hounds took place on horseback. The hunters hunted game with their hounds, which finally found the game, so the king or someone selected by him killed the animal with a knife (hirschfänger). The moor near Gurre had big deer and often the king chose the animal in question. In 1720 140 hounds and 50 puppies were connected to the hunt. The hunting dogs were trained at Jægergården in Nyrup.
The hun toften took several hours and was a social gathering, where the ladies from open carriages or pavillions could observe the display with the absolute monarch as the leading man. The English observer Robert Molesworth has described the end of a hunt in the time of Christian 5.
Riding with Hounds | 
Riding with Hounds | 
Riding with Hounds |
The Court´s Consumption of Game
Normally all the game from the royal hunting ground went into the royal household and the court´s game consumption was extensive. In 1680 they consumed 56 courses of game a week.The Frederiksborg Stud
| | The Frederiksborg Horse was one of six improved horse breeds. In time a uniform coloured horses in sub groups were bred, so the king could use a team of six horses in front of a carriage, or make a present of it to other royalties. The Frederiksborg horse in this engraving curiously enough is on the Scanian coast with Kronborg in the background. |
The Frederiksborg Stud Farm
From the early Middle Ages there are reports of horse breeding and export from the Danish area. Abbot Wilhelm of Æbelholt thus receives a letter of thanks for a magnificent horse, which he gave to Abbot Stephan in Paris. Another source from around 1200 mentions a yearly export from Ribe alone of 8000 horses and the chronicler Arnold from Lübeck relates that the the country´s source of wealth is the horse breeding.
Through the entire Middle Ages the horse was indispensable as a means of communication: For transportation, as a work tool and at war. The need of and the consumption of horses was enormous and the knight on horseback became almost an icon of the Middle Ages. In a Danish context it is known that King Erik Menved at princely party outside Rostock in 1311, gave more than 80 men ”an ambler each”, i.e. a horse each with accessories and dress in connection with their knighting.
Concentration in North Zealand
Horse breeding in the Middle Ages, where the king took care of his administrative duties travelling around the realm, has taken place in several of the royal properties, but also on the land of nobility and monasteries.
With the Reformation in 1536 the royal power takes over the monastery land and by trading land with the nobility the royal power puts its hands on most of the land in Northeast Zealand. The intention is to create connected hunting grounds and to further the breeding of horses.
In the time of Christian the 3rd Frisian horses are bought to stud farm fields at Esrum Lake and Frederik 2. shows interest in horse breeding at his accession to the throne as early as 1559. In 1560 the last monks leave Esrum Monastery, and the king calls in that same year horses from Nyborg Castle to Frederik´s Castle, where a stud farm is established in 1562. The following royal order is from April 5th 1584:
”The king has decided the foals in Faurholm could be taken from there; the grey Turkish horse, which the king received from the king of Poland, must come to the Hungarian stud farm in Fauerholm.”
Frederik II Receives Tribute | 
Knight´s Tournament | 
Sparepenge Castle | 
Esrum Monastery |
Frederiksborg |
The Horses of the Renaissance
Frederik 2. had traded the estate Fauerholm with the nobleman Peder Oxe, who instead received Tølløse in Midzealand. From a letter from the following day it appears that Esrum and Hørsholm also had stud farms and these had heavy Frisian horses. These horses were mainly used as carriage horses. Apparently the king possessed Turkish (Arabian) as well as Hungarian horses and he also imported horses from Italy and Spain in order to develop the breeding.
The times make new demands on the looks and the use of the horses military as well as civilian. The royal power becomes more settled and the horses are increasingly used for ceremonial duties. In Frederik 2.´s time the Danish horse becomes famous in Europe. The Catholic Spanish sovereign Philip 2. orders 60 mares for breeding in 1583 and the French king buys a similar number. The prototype is a robust and versatile horse, suited for riding as well as carriages.
Fauerholm |
Christian 4th´s Time
Christian 4. rebuilds the first Frederiksborg and at the summer castle Sparepenge a stable for 300 horses is built in 1599. Branding of the horses is introduced and in 1610, Esrum becomes the headquarters for the stud farm. A similar lay out is planned for Börringe Monastery in Scania.
In connection with this reorganization a number of villages around Esrum Lake is closed and the land is laid out for stud farm fields and dikes and ditches are made. There were already two farms at Frederiksborg, where the breaking in of the horses took place. The Danish horse, Der Dänen Ross, is described as one of six improved European horse breeds in 1610. Still a robust horse with the considerable weight of the baroque horse, which is evident in equestrian portraits of Christian 4.
Frederiksborg Horse | 
Christian 4. on horseback |
Frederiksborg 1652 | 
The Riding School |
The Influence of War
The Swedish wars with their occupations and plunders in 1657-1660 took its toll on the stud farms. The Swedes took some horses as booty, others strayed in the forests and it was difficult form a general view of the situation. This is described like this in 1661:
”In Kronborg fief Esrom is the main farm, where his royal highness has his stud farm. Apart from this there are three meadow fields, Gurre Field, Teglstrup Field and Egebæk´s Field”´
Kronborg County made up the northern part and the present Frederiksborg County the southern part. Esrum is thus still the centre of the stud farm, while the mentioned meadow fields are mainly used for hay harvest. After the harvest they let mares with foals crop the meadows.
Hestehavehus |
Absolute Monarchy and Baroque Horses
When he was crown prince Christian 5. (1670-1699) had visited the court of Louis 14. and studied the splendour of the absolute monarchy at close range. As early as 1670 he initiates the hunting fashion of the times, riding with hounds, and calls in English advisors and introduces English horses for the hunt.
In the course of a few decades the stud farms apparently recovered after the Swedish wars. This is evident by the dowry Christian 5. gives his sister, Ulrikke Eleonora, when she is to marry the Swedish Carl 11. after the Scanian wars ended in 1679. The princess is equipped with no less than 7 teams with 6-7 uniformly coloured horses.
Dressage | 
Christian 5 | 
Christian 5.s Riding Dress | 
Riding Dress 2 | 
Riding Dress 3 |
A Horse Race
A famous bet between the English envoy Robert Molesworth and the king´s stable chief Anton Wolff von Haxthausen illustrates the use and proficiency of the horses. They bet 1000 Dutch ducats, quite a nifty sum, whether one of the king´s horses was able to run the distance from Nørreport in Copenhagen to the town gate in Hillerød, all in all 35 kilometres in less than 45 minutes.
Molesworth could choose between five riding horses in the royal stables and chose a small spotted horse, which a fortnight later carried through the ride in 42 minutes. The horse was a so-called Coureur (runner), which was especially used for riding with hounds. According to tradition the particular horse exists stuffed in Christiansborg Riding Ground Museum.
Robert Molesworth | 
Stuffed Horse |
Riding Exhibits
Horse racing was not unusual at the time. Public appearances were limited to representative connections, for example weddings and funerals, but there were also indoor appearances in Christiansborg Riding Ground for the court and invited guests. The riding ground outside could also be used and in Copenhagen there were other suited areas. Christian the 5th is said to have preferred an area in Rosenborg Garden, but Kongens Nytorv, where the equestrian statue of Christian 5. is displayed, was originally designed as a riding ground.
At the large court parties the king himself appeared with others in tournaments with riding at the ring and simulated battles with valuable prizes for the winners. An eye witness accounts the festivities at Ulrikke Eleonora´s upcoming wedding in Christiansborg riding ground April 11th. After riding with the ring and horse ballets they ended with animal fights between dogs and bears, tigers, badgers and bulls.
Prince Jørgen at a Trot | 
Prince Jørgen on Pompeux | 
Horse Ballet | 
The Rosenborg Wallpaper | 
The Original Christiansborg |
The Advanced School
Christian 5. was an excellent rider, who was said to tire out six horses in the morning. In the daily training it was dressage, different paces and jumps according to the principles of the so-called advanced school. All these paces and jumps are depicted in detail in a number of paintings from the 1690´s, made by and unknown artist and hung in Rosenborg Castle.
Here you can see the different paces, volts and jumps, which originally originate from the science of warfare and its use of the horse. Half of the 24 paintings depict this, while the other half show scenes from the so-called riding carousels, riding at the ring and so on. The depicted horses have, like the Lipizzaner horse, the typical characteristics of the baroque horse: hook-nosed head, heavy thick throated neck, a long back and a muscular croup. The pictures are somewhat distorted, but they also show some of the characteristics of the later Frederiksborg horse.
Dressage |
Prince Jørgen at a Trot |
Prince Jørgen on Pompeux | 
Krindsen | 
Riding at the Ring Lattice |
Pure Breeding
In 1690 they gave out a stud farm regulation, by which new principles regarding pure breeding according to colour, i.e. they worked up units with uniform horses, red, white horses etc., so the king could have different teams of horses at his disposal to the many official doings. Pure breeding according to colour is a shift in the fashion, which had been on its way for several decades, but is now prevailing in the taste of the rococo era and normative for breeding into the 18th century.
A large number of Spanish stallions are bought to further the efforts into pure breeding at first with good results.
Horses in Front of Christiansstad | 
Many-Cloloured Horses | 
Bella and Hertha | 
Hother, the Stallion |
Horseman Estates and Stud Farms
Around 1700 a regulation concerning horseman estates is introduced. This entailed that a cavalry man was supplied with a small plot and a horse, which he had to put up in times of war. Royal estates were used and the king´s stud farms supplied the horses. In 1717 the Esrum Monastery becomes a horseman estate and a large part of the land laid out for this purpose. That same year the centre of the breeding work is moved back to Frederiksborg Castle and in 1720 Lille Ladegård at Frederiksborg Castle becomes the new centre for the stud farm.
A map from around 1720 shows the positions of the stud farm fields and their connection to the horseman estate. It shows an extensive enterprise with centres around Grib Forest and Esrum Lake. The areas, the fields, were scattered all over North Zealand, from Egebæksvang in the east to Pandehave Hestehave in the north. Many place names in North Zealand, for example Hestehave in Hillerød, Søborg Hestehave, and a number of localities in Grib Forest with the suffix –vang, testifies to the activities of the stud farm.
Stud Farm Fields 1720 | 
The Stud Farm in Frederiksborg | 
Grazing Horses |
The Heyday of the Stud Farm
The first part of the 18th century is the heyday of the Frederiksborg Stud Farm and it becomes the largest agricultural unit in the country with adjoining land up to 11.300 tønder (1 tønde=1363 acres) land, 100 permanently employed personnel and 160 horses. However this also meant the end. The principle of pure breeding according to colours entailed a risk for inbreeding and this in time becomes evident. Furthermore the consumption of horses was enormous and it held great prestige for the royal power to use the self-coloured horses as presents to other royal families.
When Frederik 4. (1699-1730) in 1708 travels down Europe he brings with him to white stallion teams from Krogdalsvangen, which he gives away on the way. Some years the number of presents constituted 150 and meant that they had to buy new horses for the stud farm. When he was buried in 1730, no less than 120 black horses were used in the funeral procession from Copenhagen to Roskilde.
Krogsdalsvang | 
Furlong stone |
Continued Expansion
Until around 1740 the horses are stabled in the royal barn farms in the winter, but in the period 1742-46 the architect designs and builds a united stud farm complex called Frederiksborg Ladegård. Around the same time the sculptor Saly starts an equestrian statue, which has since been praised as one of the best in the world and it comes to symbolize the Frederiksborg horse. It took Saly 22 years to finish the statue, which had been donated by Asiatisk Kompagni, who had almost been ruined by the project.
A map from 1765 shows the extent of the stud farm in Frederiksborg County. Here we see the core areas of the stud farm consisting of a number of fields around the western bank of Esrum Lake, a similar area in Frederiksborg and finally Store Dyrehave with adjoining areas. From this time there is also an account of the condition and application of the fields.
The Frederiksborg Stud Farm 1753 | 
Oversæt | 
The Statue at Amalienborg | 
Stud Farm fields 1765. |
New Signals
In the following years the stud farm is in crisis because of inbreeding, and during the regime of Struensee they start to limit the activities. The English born Queen and Struensee´s mistress, Caroline Mathilde, is perhaps the last queen, who keeps horses on a large scale for her own use: 2 riding horses and 31 carriage horses.
The utilitarianism of the Age of Enlightenment starts to gain influence and in order to rectify the economy they decide to sell horses. This takes place at an auction in Christiansborg and becomes a draw from all over Europe. One the sold white stallions, Pluto, becomes one of the progenitors of the famous Lippizaner horses, a mare progenitor of the Russian Orloff-trotter.
However the sale does not stop the decline in the breeding. Experiments with breeding across the individual studs around 1776, do have some positive results, but experiments to toughen up the horse among other things by releasing the Fane Stud from Pibervangen in Hesselø in 1784, is disastrous. In 1790 the royal stud farm is merged with the official stud farm department and must now help the farmers horse stock. A map from 1792 shows that the stud farm fields in Cronborg County still at this time takes up large parts of Grib Forest.
Stud Farm Fields 1792 | 
Strøgårds Field | 
Hay Harvest Meadow |
The Large Reduction
In spite of difficulties and costs the Frederiksborg Horse becomes a national symbol and it is not until 1799 the stud farm enterprise is seriously restricted. 1170 tdr. land is handed over to the newly established stud farm Fauerholm and the five original stud farms along Esrum Lake are transferred to the Forest. The Forest and agricultural reforms at the end of the 18th century has already deeply affected the operation of the stud farms. The farm land has been changed, some of it parcelled out for smallholding, but it is not until 1840 the last remnants of the hay harvest villeinage are finally abolished.Fredensborg Castle
| | After the end of the Great Nordic war in 1720 it seemed that Denmark had finally given up the thought of getting the Scanian countries back. Anyhow the desire for peace was so great that when the king built a new residence between Frederiksborg and Kronborg, he chose to call it Fredensborg (Fred = peace). According to tradition it was money, which was earmarked for the war that was used to the building activities. |
The European Big Powers Dominated
At the peace after the Great Nordic War in 1720 the two double kingdoms Denmark-Norway and Sweden-Finland almost an even match, but they were also reduced to pawns in the international game, which was dominated by the European big powers France, England, Holland and eventually Russia and the German area (Prussia), where unification efforts picked up speed in the course of the 18th century.
Fredensborg a Peace Symbol
It seemed that Denmark had given up on the idea of getting the Scanian countries back. The wish for peace is so great that the king chose to call his new residence Frederiksborg and Kronborg Fredensborg and according to tradition it was the money, which was meant for the war that was spent on the building.
Where Fredensborg Castle now is there used to be a hunting property or country house called Østrupgård, where king Frederik IV used to spend his time instead of the ostentatious Frederiksborg Castle. In 1719, when it was possible to see an end to the Great Nordic War, the king had a lime kiln built, cleared roads and forests as a preparation for a building on the spot. The main building was finished in 1722 and the new building was named Fredensborg, which referred to the peace after the great war. Originally the idea was to have a statue on the lantern of the dome of the peace goddess.
Fredensborg Castle | 
View from the Park |
The Adapted Renaissance Style
The original design consisted of the impressive main building with a dome hall, which also made up one side of an octagonal layout, which was built under the later master builder J.C. Krieger, who at the time was a gardener at the orangery in Rosenborg Garden.
The model was perhaps Marly, the French King´s pleasure castle, which the Danish king had seen on the first of his journeys abroad in 1691-92. Externally the castle did not resemble the over decorated French style. The smooth wall surfaces of Fredensborg are found again in Frederiksberg Castle. Only the broad window casings with the overlying frontons work decoratively, but they look most of all like the window casings in Kronborg, which is Renaissance style and does not have much in common with the over decorated Italian Baroque.
The adapted Renaissance style is quite unique and somewhat resembles the style of Stockholm Castle, which was built by the famous Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin the younger. Most likely the inspiration had gone via the later master builder Johan Conrad Ernst, who was with Tessin in Stockholm to study for the construction of a residence castle, which Christian V wanted to build in the Amalienborg Garden in Copenhagen. In this way the building of Fredensborg Castle was a testimony to the cultural exchange between the two countries in spite of the war and controversy.
The Original Draft | 
Doors and Windows |
The Influence of Jardin
After the building of Fredensborg in 1773 almost all the important architects of the century came in contact with the building in connection with expansions and changes, which fortunately enough did not spoil the original character of the castle. Late, but no least, the French architect, N.H. Jardin was involved in plans for a comprehensive rebuilding of the main building of the castle and the garden, which was reorganized over a number of years from 1759-68.
The most of the other projects were dropped when the king around 1762 needed more money for armament because of a conflict with Russia.
Fredensborg 1729 | 
Jardin´s plan 1760 | 
The Normand Valley |
Baroque Gardens
| | The Danish despotic kings in the 1700s were inspired to lay out baroque gardens, which supported the self-image of the despotic state. This was true of for instance Frederiksborg and Fredensborg Palace Gardens and Marienlyst Palace Garden in Elsinore. |
The Gardens of Frederik 4.
The signing of the peace treaty took place in Frederiksborg Castle, where the Danish king, Frederik 4..(1699-1728), in 1720 started to lay out an extensive garden with fountains.
Like his father king Frederik as the crown prince in 1692-93 had undertaken a culture trip to the south, through Germany to Italy and France, where he visited the court of Louis 14. While Christian 5. was inspired to innovate hunting and horse breeding, Frederik was first and foremost interested in gardens with cascading fountains. He had the opportunity to see this in Renaissance garden in Northern Italy and of course the impressing baroque garden at the Versailles Castle outside Paris.
Versailles |
Frederiksborg´s Baroque Garden
As early as 1702 the king considered removing Sparepenge and the garden to make use of the slanting terrain on the other side of the castle lake in order to lay out a larger baroque garden. In 1720 he starts to realize his plans. Sparepenge is demolished and some of the stones from here are used to build Fredensborg Castle. In the years 1720-25 the new garden is laid out according to the designs of the architect Johan Cornelius Krieger.
The garden is 100x 400 metres, laid out in three levels on the sloping terrain. The left side of the garden is concentrated in a mid axis, which is formed by a water cascade. The garden around this axis planted symmetrically, where the low parterre-beds on the first step consist of varied royal monograms.
Frederiksborg Palace Garden | 
The surroundings of Frederiksborg Palace |
The Idea of the Garden
The mid axis of the garden ends with a obelisk, which together with the vertical plantation contributes to the creation of an optical illusion, a sense of an almost endless garden. With this the originator demonstrates his ability to command the landscape and the nature.
Moreover the axis is extended over the lake to the castle itself, the residence of the absolute monarch. On a whole it is an expression of the monarch´s control of nature and culture. The control is expressed in the details, through the symmetry and the meticulous cutting of the plantation. The garden impresses the viewer and expresses the capabilities of the absolute power of the state.
Fredensborg Castle Garden
The predecessor of Fredensborg Castle, Østrup, was an integral part of the king´s hunting grounds, in fact it was situated in the middle of one of the stars of the hunting grounds, where a number of roads met. This also became the basis of the garden, which was begun by the architect Krieger around 1722.
The cut out roads in the forest landscape was now transformed into avenues, which was united in the centre of the garden room in the main building. Transverse roads were added and farthest in this semi circle a number of parterre beds in regular patterns were laid out, probably planted with yew trees, which had been taken from Jægersborg. To the west a number of square parterre beds were laid out. They had royal monograms.
In connection with the the garden round avenues were created, among them the so-called Normandsdal, which was built around 1760. A detailed plan for the re-organization of the garden by the French architect N.H. 191 originates from the same time. In this a central axis is underlined in the middle avenue, but the other avenues are kept and united they form a so-called goosefoot pattern, which can also be found in the Versailles park. The layout is thus still in the baroque style, but the Normandsdalen with sandstone figures of Norwegian and Faroese good people testifies to the interest of the Enlightenment period for mapping and recording with the Norwegian voyage of Christian 6. in 1766 as a point of departure.
Fredensborg 1729 |
Jardin´s plan 1760 |
The Normand Valley | 
The Normand Valley |
Frederiksberg Garden
Frederik 4.also built Frederiksberg Castle in the beginning of the 18th century close to Copenhagen. The aim was to create a recreational area for the court and of course a garden was part of the plans. A plan rom around 1760 shows a typical baroque layout with a strict symmetrical layout in front and behind the main building in the present Søndermarken on the other side of Roskildevej.
Frederiksberg Palace | 
Frederiksberg Garden Park |
Marienlyst Castle and Baroque Garden
The French architect Nicholas-Henri Jardin came to Denmark originally to extend the so-called Frederiksstad in the middle of Copenhagen. However the plans were never carried out, instead Jardin participated in laying out the new garden in Fredensborg and rebuilding the old summer cottage Lundehave outside Elsinore. Jardin chose to keep the old Lundehave as a protruding central part in a tripartite building in neo-classical style.
Thus Denmark received an early and successful building in the style of a new age. The baroque style was fading, but it can still be seen in the adjoining garden, which is still strictly symmetrical in the baroque French garden style.
Marienlyst Castle in Elsinore | 
Moltke´s Garden | 
Marienlyst with garden |
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