The Royal Reception Rooms

The Royal Reception Rooms at Christiansborg Palace are located on the first floor, the so-called bel-étage, at the north end of the main wing and in the wing running along the courtyard Prince Jørgens Gård.

The Royal Reception Rooms are used for official functions of the Royal Family such as New Year Levee, reception of ambassadors or gala banquets. The Reception Rooms are richly adorned with works of art rescued from the two earlier palaces as well as decorations by some of the best Danish artists from the early 20th century.

Audience Chamber and Council Room

To visit the Royal Reception Rooms you enter Dronningeporten (Queen's Gate) and go through Drabantsalen (Guards' Room). From there you go to Kongetrappen (King's Stairway). At the foot of the stairs are Audiensgemakket (Audience Chamber) and Statsrådssalen (Council Room). The Queen holds an audience every other Monday and attends Council with the government as required. The Queen in Council signs the new laws after they have been agreed upon by the Parliament. The Audience Chamber and the Council Room are the only Royal Reception Rooms that are closed to the public.

Tower Room and Throne Room

The King's Stairway gives access to Tårnsalen (Tower Room). The Tower Room displays a series of tapestries with motifs from Danish folk songs, woven after cartoons painted by Joakim Skovgaard. The Royal Reception Rooms also include the oval Tronsal (Throne Room) where foreign ambassadors are received by Queen Margrethe. The Throne Room gives access to the balcony where the Danish monarchs are proclaimed. The Throne Room is decorated with a large ceiling painting by Kræsten Iversen, depicting how the Danish flag, Dannebrog, fell from the sky in Estonia in 1219.

Great Hall

The Great Hall is the largest and most spectacular of the Royal Reception Rooms. The Hall is 40 metres long with a ceiling height of 10 metres, and a gallery runs all the way around the room. The Great Hall was renovated on the occasion of Queen Margrethe's 60th birthday when artist Bjørn Nørgaard's 17 tapestries recounting the history of Denmark were hung on the walls. The tapestries were a gift from the Danish business community for Queen Margrethe's 50th birthday.

The Royal Reception Rooms also include Fredensborgsalen (Fredensborg Room) with Lauritz Tuxen's painting of King Christian IX and his whole family together at Fredensborg Palace, as well as part of the Queen's Library.

The Prime Minister uses the Royal Reception Rooms as well, particularly in connection with state visits. On such occasions the official banquet is often held in Alexandersalen (Alexander Room). The Alexander Room is decorated with Bertel Thorvaldsen's marble frieze "Alexander the Great Enters Babylon". The frieze was made for the second Christiansborg Palace, and parts of it survived the fire. It was later restored and mounted in this room.

The Royal Reception Rooms are open to the public when not in use by HM the Queen. See the opening hours of the Royal Reception Rooms here.