Clear imprints on Slotsholmen
The old canals wind around the heart of Copenhagen - Slotsholmen. This is where the center of power has been for 1,000 years. Even though the employees of the Danish Parliament and government officials have their daily lives at Christiansborg, the sense of adventure is kept alive both inside and around Christiansborg Palace.
Stories of princes, princesses, kings and queens are waiting to be told behind the thick walls of the castle. In the golden halls of splendor, where glittering chandeliers cast their light on old paintings, there are traces of the storyteller and poet, Hans Christian Andersen. In the Hand Library, the poet has been given a place in the beautiful stucco ceiling surrounded by beautiful swans, which is fitting as the library contains signed first editions of the famous author.
The spirit of Hans Christian Andersen lives on at Christiansborg. There is no mistaking it. He spent many evenings reading to Christian VII, Caroline Mathilde and Struensee at the Court Theater at Ridebanen. It was also right here on this theater's sloping boards that his dream of becoming a ballet dancer collapsed to make way for poetry.
A very special story
From H.C. Andersen's first novel, Fodrejse fra Holmens Kanal til Østpynten af Amager, Christiansborg plays a special role. At the time, Andersen lived in Vingårdsstræde just a stone's throw from Slotsholmen, where the new Palace had been inaugurated just a month before the book was published. We can only imagine how exciting it must have been for the young Andersen, who wrote about countless princesses and princes, to experience a new royal palace.
The novel is a kind of sci-fi reportage in which Hans Christian Andersen himself is the first-person narrator, who on New Year's Eve 1828-1829 goes on a somewhat unusual journey from Copenhagen to Amager.
It all begins in the small attic apartment and soon he passes the 2nd Christiansborg Palace. Here he discovers that he has accidentally traveled 300 years forward in time to the year 2129.
H.C. Andersen explores the future of his imagination at Christiansborg Palace, which seems to be somewhat influenced by the ideas of the time about the possibilities of the revolutionary steam engine. In the novel, he experiences, quite far-sightedly, robots he describes as "wooden men full of steam, a kind of automaton invented by the centuries to fill the gaps". He is enchanted by people who can float across the floor, doors that open by themselves and beautiful halls.
He finds his way up the castle tower via a long spiral staircase. Here he can see a future Copenhagen that has grown beyond the ramparts. He gets close to airships that can travel half the globe in just 6 weeks. You can read much more about Andersen's future fantasies in the book, which you can borrow from the library or buy in bookstores.
Hans Christian Andersen's footprints are evident all over the city, but his spirit is especially present on Slotsholmen. From his time as an ugly duckling in the Court Theater to his status as a beautiful swan in the Hand Library.
Visit The King's Librarywhere the adventure unfolds before your eyes among first editions of the finest Danish literature and the most famous authors.