Rosendal Palace

Rosendal Palace is a Swedish palace pavilion located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm. It was built between 1823 and 1827 for King Karl XIV Johan, the first Bernadotte King of Sweden. It was intended as an escape from the formalities of court life at the Royal Palace.

Rosendal Palace was largely designed by Fredrik Blom, one of the leading architects of the time, who received a royal commission to draw and build the palace building after the original buildings burned down. Fredrik August Lidströmer, Stockholm’s City Architect from 1818 to 1824, had been King Karl XIV Johan’s primary architect at the construction of the original Rosendal Palace. After it burned down in 1819, Lidströmer also created the initial drawings for the replacement palace. These were then adapted and redrawn by Fredrik Blom, who had been an assistant to Jonas Lidströmer, father of Fredrik August Lidströmer. The Queen’s Pavilion at Rosendal Palace (Swedish:Drottningpaviljongen)) and Guard’s Cottage (Swedish:Vaktstugan) remained entirely the work of Fredrik August Lidströmer.

The creation of the Rosendal Palace in the 1820s marked the beginning of the development of Djurgården into a stately residential area. When King Oskar II died in 1907, his heirs decided to make Rosendal Palace a museum of the Karl Johan period and of the life of Karl XIV Johan. This makes Rosendal Palace a unique documentation of the European Empire style, in Sweden also known as the Karl Johan style. The Karl Johan style remained popular in Scandinavia even as the Empire style disappeared in other parts of Europe.

The palace stands today largely as it did in Karl XIV Johan’s lifetime. During the summer months the palace is open to visitors for guided tours.

History

Before the current building was built
The place was a guardian of dwellers and was donated by Gustav III to the chambermaid , later the stand keeper Georg Johan De Besche . In the 1790s he made a construction of wood on the site. In 1798 he sold the place to Countess Charlotta Aurora De Geer . It was then owned by Director Hans Niclas Schwan. He handed it over to Major General Louis Marie De Camps . From him it was bought by Crown Prince Karl Johan.

Current castle is being erected
Since the old main building burnt down in 1819, crown prince Karl Johan made the present royal villa 1823-1826 (built in 1827). Architect was Fredrik Blom. The building that was built at Rosendal was a “ready-made” wooden house with 17 rooms on two floors. The castle was built in completed sections that were transported to Djurgården for traveling and joining the site. This technique had been used by Blom already in 1818 in the creation of the castle at Gärdet , but at the palace building at Rosendal the facade was further reinforced with a tiled brick. The building is a good example of Swedish empire and the Djurgården typical “Djurgårdsempiren”.

Rosendalsvasen
In the spring of 1823 Karl XIV Johan left an order for Älvdalens porphyry on a magnificent vase, which would be made of garbergs granite ( also called granite ) and placed outside the northern facade. The vase came to measure 2.67 meters in height and 3.59 meters in diameter and weighed about 9 tons, excluding the granite sieve. The work of the vase became very difficult and time consuming, with a maximum of 40 people employed, 3500 days worked before the vase was ready in autumn 1825. The following year, the play was placed in its present place. It has been wrongly alleged that the vase is made in porphyry , which is not correct.

Lustpark and ponton bridge
At the same time as the renewal of the castle of lust, Karl XIV Johan allowed the Feldterrep Pavilion to be laid on the royal castle at Ladugårdsgärdet on the north side of Djurgårdsbrunnsviken . In addition to the entertainment, there was also a theme park below the castle from which war exercises at Ladugårdsgärdet could be followed. Karl XIV Johan also made a pontoon bridge designed by Fredrik Blom, who shortened the road from the lust castle to the pavilion “Borgen” (see Karl XIV Johans ridbro ). The Pontoon Bridge was released during the military exercises in the summers between the 1820s and 1848. At the moment, a new walking and cycling bridge is currently being planned (2014).

The interior
The castle’s most magnificent space is the centrally located Lanternin room whose lantern clearly marks the center of the castle. For the permanent decorations of the rooms, head painters Per Emanuel Limnell was hired. Swedish furniture, among other things, by Lorentz Wilhelm Lundelius , was combined with storm-woven woolen mats made in Tournai and Swedish singer yokes in strong colors. All rooms in the castle were given a color code according to the taste of the time. For example, the King’s salon came to be called the Red Salon and the Crown Prince’s atrium, the Blue and Yellow Cabinet. In 1827, in addition to the west side of the castle, a grand piano was built to accommodate a new dining room. This dining room wing was decorated as a tent room with walls and ceilings clothed in fabrics.

Later use
fter Karl XIV Johansson’s death in 1844, the castle was used and changed by future generations in the royal family. For example, a veranda was built on two floors on the northern side of the castle. Oscar II made the dining room wing as a weapon room, and the rooms were decorated in accordance with the interior ideas of the late 19th century. These changes were largely removed when the castle opened to the public. On the initiative of Prince Eugen and under the direction of Chief John Böttiger , the interior of the castle was restored to the opening of Rosendal Palace Museum 1913. The castle, which since then has been open to the public during the summer, is a museum of Charles XIV Johan and his time. The museum shows the interior design of the 1820s and 1830s – the style direction commonly known as Karl-Johansstilen . The sights include the library where Karl XIV Johans boksamling was preserved in untouched condition and the interior of Karl XIV Johans bed chamber, which was moved from the Royal Palace to Rosendal in 1913.

Since 21 January 1935, Rosendal Castle has been a state-of-the- art monument and is managed by the Royal Djurgården Administration . The castle’s loose fixtures are cared for and maintained by the Royal Chamber of Commerce .

Other buildings
In the vicinity of the castle there is the “Queen’s pavilion” in the east, which was used by Queen Desideria and later Queen Sofia . The building was built on two floors before the main building. Further east is Rosendal’s stable , also designed by Fredrik Blom. Rosendal’s gardens and oranges from 1848 are located just west of the castle.

Protected from solar radiation and in a northern end at Besbes road there are Rosendal’s icebergs . The temple-like building was built for King Charles XIV Johan and was designed by architect Fredrik Blom . He built the building as a small temple with columns in Doric order . The façades are covered with tarpaulins. Iceblocks, preferably kernels , were collected in January or February by horse and sledding from neighboring Djurgårdsbrunnsviken . The building kept food and drinks for the royal representations at the castle.

Source From Wikipedia