Prince's Mansion, Copenhagen

The Prince's Mansion is a palatial Rococo-style mansion located at Frederiksholms Kanal in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It used to serve as the official residence of the Crown Prince of Denmark but now houses the National Museum of Denmark.

History

The Michelbecker House

The original house was built in 1684 by Gysbert Wigand Michelbecker. Born in Marburg, he had settled in Copenhagen in 1657 and built a successful career as a merchant and ship owner. In 1685 the first reformed church in Copenhagen opened in his house.

Michelbecker died in 1692 and in 1707 his house was taken over by his son-in-law Wilhelm Edinger. In 1716 it was put at the disposal of Tsar Peter the Great during his visit to Copenhagen.

A princely residence

In 1725 Edinger sold the house to King Frederick IV who transformed it into a residence for Crown Prince Christian (VI) with the assistance of the architect Johan Cornelius Krieger.

After King Christian V's ascent to the throne, the Prince's Mansion was taken over by Crown Prince Frederick (V). He completely altered the building from 1743 to 1744 with the assistance of Royal Master Builder Niels Eigtved. In 1757 Lauritz de Thurah, Eigtved's successor as Court Architect, carried out a minor expansion of the complex on the corner of Frederiksholms Kanal and Stormgade.

Other residents

Later in the century the royal family discontinued their use of the property and instead it came into use for other purposes, mostly as a residence for artists, courtiers and other peers with close ties to the court.

For a while, the painters Jens Juel and Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard both had their studios in the building. The latter also had his home there from 1779 until 1787 and so did Court Painter Vigilius Eriksen, who lived there from 1774 until 1782, and Professor Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard who lived there from 1779 until 1787. Geographer and explorer Carsten Niebuhr, who had returned to Copenhagen as the only surviving member of the Danish Arabia Expedition in...