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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, one of the crown properties in Jutland-an estate called Havreballegaard. Two of the merchant’s sons moved to Denmark and settled in the Aarhus area. One son, Constantin Marselis, later got Havreballegaard raised to the status of a baronetcy called Marselisborg. He died childless and entrusted the baronetcy to Christian V. The king gave the estate to his son, Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve. In the following centuries, there was a series of different owners.
The city of Aarhus bought the Marselisborg estate in 1896, and in 1898, a portion of the park was given to the newly-married crown prince couple, Prince Christian (X) and Princess Alexandrine, as a wedding present from Jutlanders. As a part of the gift, the architect Hack Kampmann built, between 1899 and 1902, the existing Marselisborg Palace, which became the crown prince couple’s summer residence.
In 1967, King Frederik IX transferred the palace to the then-throne heir, Princess Margrethe, and Prince Henrik, and today, the Royal Couple still use the palace as a summer residence.
The approximately 13 hectare-large park and was laid out by the landscape architect L. Christian Diedrichsen in traditional English style with large sweeping lawns surrounded by trees, small ponds and shrub-covered slopes. In addition, the park contains a number of artworks, a rose garden and a herb garden.
The palace is not open to the public, but the park is open for public use when the Royal Family is not in residence at the palace.
There is a changing of the guards ceremony with the Royal Life Guard at noon during periods when The Queen is staying at the palace.
