Det skjulte Slotsholmen / The hidden Slotsholmen
/Rigsdagsgården, Christiansborg, København
An exhibition in the great courtyard in front of the entrance to the parliament building.
Slotsholm is a large and almost square island with canals on three side and the harbour on the fourth side. The natural island was much smaller than the present extent of Slotsholm and was the site of an early-medieval castle of which parts remain below the present parliament building. The castle was extended and the island enlarged and became the main royal palace in the city. There were royal stables here and a church and a complex development of buildings dating back to the early 17th century that housed government officials and administrative buildings and store rooms for the state … so, for instance, the 17th-century arsenal for the navy. After a major fire in the late 18th-century the royal family decamped to Amalienborg and decided to remain there and, although the large royal palace was rebuilt, it became the home of the Danish parliament although the great State Apartments at Christiansborg are still used for major royal events.
The photographs and text in the exhibition look at not just the main buildings of the first great royal palace and parliament on the island but includes fascinating facts and social and political history that reveals much about how the Danish monarchy and democratic government in Denmark has evolved.
Access to the exhibition is at any time as the courtyard and the route through Christiansborg is open to all pedestrians and cyclists.
There are tours of Slotsholmen with guides from Teatermuseet i Hofteatret / the Theatre Museum and the Court Theatre.
the exhibition and tours continue until 6 December 2020
