Amalienborg Museum visitor guide — everything you need to know before visiting

At a glance

Address

Christian VIII's Palace, Amalienborg Slotsplads 5, 1257 Copenhagen K, Denmark

Operator

Kongernes Samling (The Royal Danish Collection)

Entry model

Timed entry in 15-minute slots of 60 people; stay until closing

Built

1750 to 1760, to Nicolai Eigtved's plans, completed by Lauritz de Thurah

Royal residence

Since the Christiansborg fire of 1794

Nearest Metro

Marmorkirken (M3 and M4)

What is the Amalienborg Museum?

The Amalienborg Museum is the one part of Amalienborg you can walk into on an ordinary day. Amalienborg is four rococo palaces set around an octagonal square in Frederiksstaden, and the Danish royal family lives in them when they are in Copenhagen. The museum occupies Christian VIII's Palace, the northwestern palace, and it is run by Kongernes Samling, the Royal Danish Collection, which also runs Rosenborg Castle and Christiansborg Palace.

It is a museum about the modern monarchy rather than the old one. Where Rosenborg tells the story of the absolute kings, Amalienborg picks up with the Glücksburg kings who have reigned since 1863: their private studies, the halls still used for royal occasions, and the objects that tied the family to the courts of Europe. The museum opened in its present home in 1994.

A short history of the square

Frederick V launched Frederiksstaden to mark three hundred years of the Oldenburg dynasty on the Danish throne, and Amalienborg was its centrepiece. Nicolai Eigtved planned four identical mansions for four noble families, placed around an octagonal square. Building began in 1750. After Eigtved died in 1754, Lauritz de Thurah continued strictly to his plans, and the palaces were completed in 1760. The equestrian statue of Frederick V by the French sculptor Jacques Saly was unveiled in the middle of the square in 1771.

The palaces became royal by accident. When Christiansborg Palace burned in February 1794, the royal family had nowhere to live, and the noble owners were willing to sell. Christian VII's household moved in that December, and kings have lived on the square ever since, lending their names to the four palaces: Christian VII's, Christian VIII's, Frederik VIII's and Christian IX's.

Christian VIII's Palace

The museum's building was begun for Count Christian Frederik Levetzau, which is why it is also called Levetzau's Palace. When his family's estate sold it, they set one condition: the Levetzau coat of arms must never be removed. It is still on the building beside the monarch's, a detail most people walk straight past.

In 1794 the palace passed to the king's half-brother Frederik, and the painter and architect Nicolai Abildgaard refitted the interiors in the new French Empire style. Frederik's son, Christian Frederik, grew up here, took the palace over in 1805 and became king as Christian VIII in 1839, which is how the building got its name. Later it was home to Christian X and Queen Alexandrine, and to Crown Prince Frederik, now King Frederik X, until his marriage in 2004.

The kings' studies

The heart of the museum is a run of private studies belonging to four kings, Christian IX, Frederik VIII, Christian X and Frederik IX, plus Queen Louise's sitting room. The museum notes that the queens of this period had their own duties, which is why her crowded room was originally described as her study. The rooms don't run in date order: Frederik IX's bright study, with modern furniture beside historical objects, comes first.

Most of these rooms were first furnished in other palaces on the square and later recreated here. Frederik VIII's imposing study originally stood in the palace where King Frederik X now gives his New Year's address. Christian IX's dark study, full of family photographs, fills a corner room. Only Christian X's study is still in its original place, because he was the one Glücksburg king who lived in this palace.

The piano nobile and the Gala Hall

Upstairs is the piano nobile, the grand floor of the palace. Its halls are not a stage set: the royal family still uses them for official visits and events, and the Gala Hall is among them. This is the part of the building where the museum stages its special exhibitions, and the audio guide uses it to take you back to the height of the absolutist monarchy, through gilded halls and rooms designed to project power.

Because the rooms are in use, look at them as working interiors rather than period pieces. Much of the original rococo decoration inside the palace has been replaced over the centuries as residents changed the rooms to their own taste, so what you see is layered: eighteenth-century proportions, Empire-era refits and twentieth-century use, all in one sequence of doors.

The Fabergé Chamber

The Fabergé Chamber is small, dark and easy to miss, and it holds some of the most remarkable objects in the museum. It exists because of a marriage: in 1866 Princess Dagmar, daughter of Christian IX and Queen Louise, married the future Emperor Alexander III of Russia. She kept close ties with her parents, and gifts made by the Russian court jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé travelled to Copenhagen for decades.

Look for the gilded silver champagne cooler Dagmar and Alexander gave her parents for their golden wedding in May 1892, and a diamond brooch in the shape of the Russian imperial crown, one of 18 identical pieces made for Nicholas II's coronation in 1896. There is a table lighter shaped like an egg standing on four deer hooves, and a golden egg that comes apart into five pieces, including a tiny hen, and could hold perfume.

Queen Alexandrine's Salon

The palace's former dining room is now Queen Alexandrine's Salon, a mirrored room about the queen who lived here with Christian X until his death in 1947, and then alone until her death in 1952. It is included with the standard museum ticket.

Alexandrine is often remembered as a quiet figure, and the room sets out to correct that. Through her dresses, jewellery, photographs and film, it shows a queen who played tennis and golf, sailed with the king, and held her own driving licence as early as 1916. It also frames her life against the upheavals of the first half of the twentieth century, including the occupation, when Christian X became a symbol of national unity.

The Changing of the Guard

The Royal Life Guard guards Amalienborg day and night, and the Changing of the Guard takes place on the square at noon every day. It is free and public, and it is not part of any museum ticket. The guards march from Rosenborg Castle at 11:30 through the streets of Copenhagen, in bearskin caps, and the change itself happens in front of the palaces.

When the King is in residence, the King's Guard marches too, with a band playing military marches. The square is at its busiest from about 11:30 until the guard has changed. If you want both, a museum slot shortly after noon lets you watch the ceremony and then walk straight in through the gate nearest Frederiksgade.

Practical rules inside

Backpacks are not allowed inside the museum, and handbags may be no larger than 15 × 23 × 15 cm and must be worn in front. Larger bags go into the free cloakroom lockers, but there is no space for suitcases or large luggage, so leave those at your hotel. Pushchairs, buggies and prams stay in the cloakroom next to the museum shop, and carry cots are not allowed inside; the museum suggests a sling for babies.

Eating and drinking are not allowed in the museum, and neither is smoking, including e-cigarettes. Photography is fine with handheld cameras and phones, but tripods and monopods are not allowed, and commercial or wedding photography is not permitted. The museum shop can be visited without a ticket.

Read the full guide: What to see inside Amalienborg →

Accessibility

The museum is fully accessible, which is not true of every royal building in Copenhagen. From the entrance you go down one level to the museum shop, where a platform lift takes you to the cloakroom, toilets and a conventional lift up to the galleries. Staff at the entrance help with the platform lift. The lift door is 80 cm wide and the cabin 145 cm long, with a 225 kg limit, so some large electric wheelchairs may not fit.

You can borrow a wheelchair free if you book it in advance, and lightweight portable stools are available to carry with you. There is an accessible toilet in the basement next to the lift. Cars can't drive onto the palace square, so drop-off is on Frederiksgade, about 50 m from the entrance. Guide and assistance dogs are welcome on a leash.

Who this is not for

If you want the Crown Jewels, go to Rosenborg Castle, where they are kept in the basement Treasury; Amalienborg is about the modern royal family, not the regalia. If you only want the Changing of the Guard, you need no ticket at all: it is free on the square at noon. And if you hold a Copenhagen Card, the museum accepts it at the museum shop, so there is no reason to buy from us.

Families should book the adults only. Under-18s enter free but need a free ticket, which they can collect at the ticket desk on the day or get alongside the adults' booking. If you plan to see Rosenborg and Christiansborg as well within three days, the Royal Palace Pass usually makes more sense than a single museum ticket.

Frequently asked questions