Bernstorff Palace

Bernstorff Palace in Gentofte, Denmark, is an 18th-century Neoclassical country house built for the Danish foreign minister Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff. Erected in the mid-1700s, the building stands among the earliest Neoclassical works in Denmark and served as both a private residence and, later, a royal retreat. Its long life reflects changes in ownership, taste in landscape design, and shifting roles within the Danish realm.

Construction took place in the middle of the 18th century for Count Bernstorff, with completion dates given as May 1765 in one record and May 1756 in another. A French architect who had been invited to Denmark to continue work on a major Copenhagen church drew the plans and introduced a restrained classical vocabulary then new to the country. The house belonged to the Bernstorff family until the early 19th century. Count Bernstorff himself was dismissed by the regent Johann Friedrich Struensee and left Denmark in 1770.

Ownership changed several times after 1812. The palace was sold that year and changed hands again the next year before a wealthy planter from the Danish West Indies bought it in 1817. That owner reshaped the grounds in the English-style park fashion then in vogue. By the time of his death in 1838 the building had fallen into neglect, and most of the surrounding land was sold in 1839. At an auction later that year the house was bought for 25,850 rigsdaler by a private purchaser who considered demolition but did not carry it out.

In 1842 King Christian VIII acquired the property and ordered a thorough rebuilding and reorganization of the interior, during which a mezzanine (an intermediate floor) was inserted and the arrangement of principal rooms on the first floor was altered. From 1854 onward the palace was placed at the disposal of Crown Prince Christian, who later reigned as King Christian IX; he made the house his preferred summer residence. During his long occupancy the palace received notable visitors including Tsar Alexander III of Russia and Edward, then Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

Following the Nordic Exhibition of 1888, Queen Louise had a timbered Swedish pavilion brought to the grounds and adapted to serve as guest accommodation. On Christian IX’s death in 1906 the property passed to Prince Valdemar, who used it as a summer home until his death in 1939. Princess Margaret of Denmark was born at the palace. In later decades the complex was used by the Danish Emergency Management Agency as an academy for non-commissioned officers. On 1 May 2009 the palace reopened for use as a hotel and conference centre under a private agreement.