Skull chalice (Rosenborg Castle – Copenhagen, Denmark)
This golden chalice was made for King Christian IV’s sister, Duchess Augusta of Holstein-Gottorp in 1632. The engravings on the the chalice can also be found in the illustrations of the Lutheran Strasbourg translation of the Bible, published just two years before in 1630.
Chilling in Kongens Have
Today’s wallpaper comes from inside Rosenborg Castle. The more than 400-year old castle in Copenhagen, Denmark is pretty cool inside and out from any angle.
Most of the time, if you walk into Rosenborg Slot‘s Throne Room it is swarming with tourists. However, I got lucky as it was completely empty. What a feeling it was to be in such a room all by myself. The king and queen’s thrones can be seen at the far end. I’ll post close-up photos of them at some point.
The queen of Denmark's crown (1731) and the crown of Christian V (1665-70)
Inside Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen you can find these crowns under glass.
The king’s crown is the official crown that was used for the anointment of Danish monarchs from the 17th Century until the end of absolutism in 1849. This crown was made by the royal goldsmith Paul Kurtz in Copenhagen in 1670. It weighs almost 5 pounds!
You have to pay to photograph these crowns (and everything else in the Crown Jewels). I think Rosenborg Slot is the only place I have ever been which charged an extra fee (ironically, payable in Danish krones–pronounced “crowns”) to take pictures.
After obtaining bicycles we were suddenly freed to explore pretty much any part of Copenhagen rather easily and quickly. Bikes have a way of getting flat tires, though, and last week I got one. The plan was for me to go to the bike shop and get it fixed while my wife and kids went to visit a place on the map called Kongens Have. I would meet up with them after my tire was repaired.
After wandering around the edges of Kongens Have for a while taking pictures I realized that the fancy building near the center was actually Rosenborg Castle. I first read about Rosenborg in Music & Silence. Stumbling upon it here, basically unplanned, was a pleasant surprise.
The park around the castle is just as impressive, if not more so, than the castle itself. It includes lots of very different (to American eyes anyway) tree-lined paths, flower gardens, statues, and other curiosities.
We didn’t go into the castle as the highlight is supposed to be the crown jewels (which you can view in photographs on the internet) and at US$15 per person with an extra $5 fee if you want to take pictures it didn’t seem worth it.
My favorite part was finding picture angles that were unusual (like from the bottom where Rapunzel’s hair would hit you, or with the moat in view with The Ugly Duckling floating on the water, or with some of the amazing trees framing the castle). I hope you enjoy them.
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