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In 1661, a debt-ridden King Frederik III had to hand over to one of his creditors, the Dutch merchant Gabriel Marselis, some of the Crown lands in Jutland, including the estate Havreballegård. Two of the merchant’s sons came to Denmark and settled in the Aarhus area. One son, Constantin Marselis, later got Havreballegård elevated to the barony Marselisborg. Constantin Marselis died childless, and the barony devolved to Christian V. The king gave the estate to his son, Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve. In the following centuries, there were various owners. In 1896, the city of Aarhus bought Marselisborg estate.
In connection with the engagement of the successor to the throne, Prince Christian (X), with Princess Alexandrine in 1897, there was a proposal to raise funds for a summer palace somewhere in Jutland for the couple, and, with Christian IX’s permission, a nationwide collection was carried out for this objective. When the city council in Aarhus offered to make a portion of Marselisborg’s lands available free of charge for the purpose, the choice fell on this location. During the years 1899-1902, the existing Marselisborg was built according to designs by the Royal Inspector of Listed State Buildings, Hack Kampmann.
In 1967, King Frederik IX made Marselisborg Palace available to the then-Successor to the Throne, Princess Margrethe, and Prince Henrik. On the same occasion, the palace was modernized thanks to the funds the couple had received as a gift from Danish people in connection with their wedding the same year. Today, The Queen uses the palace as a summer residence.
The approx. 13-hectare park was laid out by landscape gardener L. Chr. Diederichsen in English style with large lawns surrounded by trees, small ponds and low, plant-covered, small hills. In addition, the park contains a number of works of art, a rose park and a herb garden.
The palace is not open to the public, but the park is open to the public when the royal family is not in residence at the palace. There is a changing of the guard with the Royal Life Guard at 12.00 when The Queen resides at the palace.
