We were intent on doing our best as tourists, so we were at the palace of Rosenburg when it opened, at 10 am, only to find out that you needed to pre-book your visit. We prebooked for 3 pm that day and then headed for Chrsitianborg, the enormous government complex where are housed all three government powers: Rex-Lex-Jur (executive, legislative, and juridic). The castle goes back to the 1100's, when crusader Bishop Absalon got authorization to found a new coastal diocese. The original fortress grew over the years, but in the 1600's one of the Christians demolished the old stuff and built himself a proper royal palace. Alas, faith had decreed otherwise and the palace burnt to the ground in the mid 1700's. A new palace was rebuilt, but this one to burnt to the ground in the 1800's. Having learnt their lesson, the new palace was built without fireplaces and out of concrete, and the Danes hope this will be the last rebuild.
The king (or queen) is the official head of state but shares the executive power with the Prime Minister, signing or vetoing the laws passed by the parliament. The parliament draws laws and approves the budget. Finally, the juridic system makes sure that the laws are constitutional and are applied fairly.
The big draw on visiting the castle is of course to see the trappings of royalty, including the Grand Hall where heads of state are feted or where important birthdays are celebrated. The hall is decorated with gobelins (tapestries uniquely made at the town of Gobelin, in France) designed by a contemporary artist. They are weirdly modern in style and color, and are reminiscent of the murals of Diego Rivera, where the subscenes depict important (but sometimes unpleasant) moments of Danish history. For example, World War I and WW II are represented, together with the faces of Churchill, Stalin, Lenin, and JFK (it seemed to me the artist forgot the role played by FRD). The personal library of the monarchs was a thing of joy.
We then went to visit the modern Copenhagen Library (also known as the Black Diamond), built between the Old Library and the Main Canal. It is a modern library in every respect, with full electronic connectivity. But if you walk through it to the very back, into the building of the Old Library, you can still come into an old-fashioned reading room, where serious scholars can consult some of the rare books in the collection.
Finally it came time to go back to the Rosenberg Palace, which compared with the other palaces we have visited is fairly small and dark, but has the distinction of being where the crown jewels and other precious things are displayed. There are fancy porcelains and glassware; an armory of ancient arquebuses, jewel encrusted swords, and cross bows; a wide collection of ivory objects (one of the queens enjoyed turning ivory using a lathe); and of course rings, collars, brooches, and three magnificent crowns. Apparently the queen still wears some of these jewels in functions of state.
It was getting a bit late, but we rushed to try to see the university library only to get there just as they were closing. Bummer!
Géraldine and Lucas wanted to climb the spiral tower of the
Church of Our Saviour, so we went there by metro. Wisely, I waited for them at
a nearby restaurant, sipping a beer and having a delicious pasta with salmon.
Once back, Géraldine wanted to hear an organ concert at the church, but Lucas
departed on a wild chase around the city to try to find eclipse-watching
glasses (amazingly he succeeded and still made it back in time for the
concert). The church has the so-called Elephant Organ, a massive instrument 20
m high supported by the carvings of two elephants, and with a voice that easily
reaches 90 decibels. It was a very fine concert, but I had the indignity of
falling asleep at least four times, and being awaken by a poke in the ribs by
my long-suffering companions.
No comments:
Post a Comment