Complete your visit to Amalienborg Palace square – step inside Amalienborg and experience royal life past and present. The Amalienborg Museum presents the private interiors of the most recent kings and queens and a treasury with world class jewellery.
Opening Hours: Plan your visit - The Amalienborg Museum (kongernessamling.dk)
The scope of the museum stretches back 150 years to Christian IX and Queen Louise, who were known as "the in-laws of Europe" because four of their children ascended to the thrones of England, Greece, Russia and Denmark respectively.
As in a journey through time the rooms of the royal couple and their descendants stand intact. Each reflects the modern taste of its period and the personalities of the kings and queens, whether it is in military, Victorian, or knightly style. From February 2020, one of the world’s most important collections of Russian jewellery can be enjoyed in the so-called Fabergé chamber. The collection came to Denmark mainly via empress Dagmar (Maria Fedodorovna), daughter of Christian IX and queen Louise.
On most days, there is admittance to the Gala Hall and the other magnificent rooms on the piano nobile. The royal reception rooms are still used by the royal family. Check opening hours on the piano nobile on amalienborg.dk.
Karen Blixen Museum
The home of Karen Blixen - located directly by the Øresund Sound in Rungstedlund, an enchanting park and bird sanctuary north of Copenhagen.
An author’s childhood home
Karen Blixen was born in 1885 and died in 1962, but her memory lives on in her works and also this unique museum, opened in 1991 to honour her life and memory. You’ll find it on the site of her home growing up in Denmark, still virtually almost intact with the furniture from her childhood, as well as objects brought back from Kenya.
Experience the atmosphere of the rooms in which her well-known and beloved tales came into existence. You can also enjoy the many beautiful fresh flowers throughout the house, just as they were when Karen lived there.
Birdsong and wild flowers
The stunning garden grounds, with its 15-hectare bird reserve, attracts researchers and nature lovers from home and abroad. It is free to access and was established in 1958 by the author herself.
Here, too, walked the poet Johannes Ewald who has a hill named after him, and the park’s benches are named after others who once strolled its grounds for inspiration. You can even meet Karen Blixen herself. At the foot of Ewald’s Hill, you will find her grave beneath a large beech tree. The park is always open to visitors, who are invited to take a little walk and enjoy its beautiful natural setting. Nesting boxes are set up in the grove, and the space has become a breeding ground for many birds.
Cultural hub
The Karen Blixen Museum has a rich program of events and is a meeting place for those interested in culture and literature. All year round, writers, artists, researchers and politicians are invited to talk about some of the current topics in Danish culture, which has always been a thread to Karen Blixen's timeless writing.
When you’re there, you should also visit Madam Carlsen Café and Bistro, serving French-inspired dishes as well as a selection of wine, coffee, tea and cake. All meals are carefully prepared with fresh local produce from the estate.
Special exhibitions (blixen.dk):
Portraits of Seduction, 6.10.23-28.4.24
Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II’s artistry has brought Karen Blixen’s tale “Ehrengard” to life as scenography for a new film adaptation. The Queen’s costume sketches, selected costumes and forty-one decoupages are now on exhibition, accompanied by excerpts from “Ehrengard”, published in 1963 shortly after Karen Blixen’s death.
Related Attractions
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is located in the center of Copenhagen and the museum collection consists primarily of works of art and archaeological objects from Ancient Egypt, the worlds of Ancient Greece and Rome, Etruscan Culture, as well as Danish and French art of the 19th century.
Art and beer Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek was founded by the brewer, Carl Jacobsen (the founder of Carlsberg breweries), who was one of the great industrial magnates of the 19th century and the greatest art patron Denmark has seen. In 1888 Carl Jacobsen gave his art collection to the public and began the building of Glyptoteket to house it. Glyptoteket has been open to the public since 1897 and holds over 10,000 works primarily divided between ancient antiquities and Danish and French sculpture and painting from the 19th century.
The collection The collection of ancient sculpture includes an extensive collection of Ancient Greek and Roman portrait heads as well as a large collection of Palmyrene portraits. The modern part of the collection includes French sculpture from the 19th century – featuring a significant selection of works by Auguste Rodin – and French painting from 1800 to 1950, with Impressionism and Paul Gauguin as the absolute stars, plus a collection of Danish Golden Age Art. The greater proportion of the collection forms part of the museum’s permanent exhibitions, though there are, also, temporary special exhibitions which help to develop a perspective on the museum’s collection with the aid of works on loan.
The Winter Garden, café and roof terraceUnwind from the daily grind at the café overlooking the beautiful and spacious Winter Garden. Picnic is open on the same days as the museum itself. We serve tasty light lunches, desserts, coffee and other beverages.
Visit the roof terrace of the Glyptotek and experience a beautiful view of Copenhagen and the city towers. Every summer, the museum café serves cold drinks, snacks, coffee and cake for you to enjoy in open air.
Special Exhibithions:
Joaquín Sorolla – Light in Motion, 8.11.23-3.3.24
Joaquín Sorolla – Light in Motion is the first-ever solo exhibition in the Nordic region devoted to the work of the Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923).
Featuring one of Spain’s most important painters from the period between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century, it marks both the 100th anniversary of the artist’s death and the state visit of the Spanish royal family to Denmark in November 2023. (Glyptoteket.dk)
After nature, 12.10.2023 - 18.08.2024
In After Nature – A New Reading of the Glyptotek’s Paintings by Writer Josefine Klougart, Josefine Klougart uses the prism of art to study the relationship of humans with nature in a kind of 3-D essay, in which the author’s texts interacts with the Glyptotek’s landscape paintings.
Nature as we knew it no longer exists. Klougart explores its beauty, and its disappearance from our modern reality. The sensuous design of the exhibition is the work of the set designer duo Vang Stensgaard. (Glyptoteket.dk)
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is a leading international art museum and an absolute top attraction in Denmark. Art, nature, and architecture combine in a total experience that attracts guests from all over the world all year-round.
The Museum is located approx. 40 km north of the city center in Humlebæk, in a beautiful old park offering magnificent panoramic views of the Sound. The park provides a magnificent setting for Louisiana’s large sculpture collection. The museum collection of modern art is one of the most important in Scandinavia and on view in changing presentations. Permanent highlights include the Giacometti Hall and the Jorn Room and there is also regularly access to one of Kusama’s Infinity rooms. Classics and shooting international stars The Louisiana Museum is internationally recognized for its exhibition program, with 8 - 10 major exhibitions annually. Here, the classics of modern art, as well as contemporary international artists and architects, are presented. A vibrant cultural center for children and adults alike With its relaxed atmosphere, the museum also offers a vibrant and dedicated cultural centre with a rich programme of activities and events for children and adults alike.
Take a break at the Louisiana Café When it’s time for a break, the Louisiana Cafe welcomes you to enjoy hot drinks, cakes and a delicious, seasonal lunch and dinner menu. From here you have an astounding panorama view of the sea.Shop Scandinavian design in the Louisiana Store In the museum’s sizeable two-level store, you will find a large and inspiring selection of new and classic items with an emphasis on Danish and Scandinavian design. Interior, clothing, books, posters, graphics, toys and more.
Special exhibitions (Louisiana.dk):
Det uerstattelige menneske, 23.11.23-1.4.24
With works by more than 60 artists, this large-scale, interdisciplinary exhibition seeks to define the phenomenon of creativity from a broad, humanistic perspective. What are the conditions for creativity in society today? And is there reason to fear that artificial intelligence will take over and surpass human creative abilities?
The exhibition The Irreplaceable Human – Conditions of Creativity in the Age of AI aims to create the foundation for a conversation about the role of creativity in our society – and thus also for a discussion about what is really valuable to us. The exhibition presents works by more than 60 artists – with the main emphasis on art from the past 20 years – combined with references to cultural history, science, and literature.
Bourgeois X Giacometti, 9.1.24-26.5.24
In the North Wing, Alberto Giacometti, whose works constitute a significant pillar of Louisiana's collection, has been joined for the first time by Louise Bourgeois – another of the 20th century's all-time great artists – and her iconic sculpture 'Spider Couple'.
Entirely exceptionally, the sculpture ‘Walking Man’ by Alberto Giacometti is on loan this spring, and in its usual place you will instead find the monumental ‘Spider Couple’ from 2003 by French-American Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010): a rather special meeting between two artists who are beacons of 20th-century art history, as well as of the Louisiana Collection. Giacometti and Bourgeois knew each other, and their art expresses a lifelong preoccupation with the human body and psyche, albeit in very different ways.
Nan Goldin - Memory Lost, 12.1.24-22.3.24
American photographer and activist Nan Goldin has just been named the world's most influential artist by Art Review Magazine. Currently you have the chance to revisit her latest masterpiece 'Memory Lost' in our West Wing Cinema.
Exhibitions in the Black Diamond - The Royal Danish Library
Storytelling, sensuous experiences and unique objects set the mind in motion when visiting exhibitions in The Black Diamond. With cultural heritage as an inexhaustible reservoir, everything from Søren Kierkegaard to contemporary art is staged, with particular emphasis on literature and photography.
Current Exhibitions:
The Camera and Us - The Camera and Us presents a selection of works from the photography collections of library, which contain several million images. The theme is the human being as a motif and the exhibition asks what photography does to our perception of ourselves and our conceptions of each other.
Treasures in the Royal Danish Library - An exhibition with library's most precious, beautiful, significant, and valuable treasures. From the oldest of manuscripts to the Internet's ever increasing digital cultural heritage. Explore gems from the collections of science, philosophy, cartography, music, and much more – or take a peek into the lives of a number of prominent Danes by reading Søren Kierkegaard's letter to his fiancé, Karen Blixen's own manuscript, or Hans Christian Andersen's diary.
ON THE EDGE, 23.2.24-10.8.24:
The exhibition ON THE EDGE focuses on The Black Diamond as an architectural landmark and as the users' building.
The Black Diamond is shaped like a sculptural monolith. With its distinct cubic shape and glossy black facade, the library's cultural centre has become one of Copenhagen's architectural icons. The Black Diamond has its 25th anniversary in 2024, and it will be celebrated with an anniversary exhibition. The exhibition focuses on the visions for the building, the Diamond's distinctive architecture and on the building's role today as a culture house and National Library.
Step into the Danish Golden Age Bakkehuset was an essential meeting place in the Danish Golden Age, hosted by Kamma and Knud Lyne Rahbek and frequently visited by Hans Christian Andersen, Oehlenschläger, H.C. Ørsted and other poets, scientists and opinion formers of the romantic period.
Today, Bakkehuset is buzzing with art and culture. The historic house and its surrounding gardens provide an authentic insight into the way of life in the early 19th century, its atmosphere and style. A visit to Bakkehuset is a visceral experience of one of the most central periods in Danish cultural history; the period that would become known as the Golden Age.
Hans Christian Andersen visited Bakkehuset as a young man and here he found inspiration and support to become a writer. His famous tales work as inspiration for creative activities in the cozy family area, Eventyrakademiet (the Fairytale Academy)
Experience the newly renovated romantic garden around Bakkehuset. You can enjoy coffee and historical food in the orangery, beautifully situated in the middle of the blossoming garden.
The café is set in the historical garden and serves traditional open sandwiches.