The Royal Danish CollectionRosenborgCastle historyInterior and objectsF Ole Rømer's RoomPlanetarium

Planetarium

Planetarium. Designed by Ole Rømer to demonstrate the orbit of the planets around the Sun. Made in Paris 1678-1679 by Isaac Thuret, royal clockmaker.

Ole Rømer (1544-1710) was educated as an astronomer at the University of Copenhagen, and was attached to the observatory in Paris from 1672-1681. During his studies of the moons of Jupiter he discovered “the hesitation of light”, meaning its speed, which gave him international recognition.

After his return home in 1681 he quickly became the kings’ most trusted advisor concerning most technical matters, and he helped rationalize a long list of things, including standardized measures for distance and weight.

Relations

Christian V with His Half-Brother, c. 1671

Christian V in conversation with his elder half-brother Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, and with Count Anthon Aldenburg (1633-1680). Grisaille by Anton Steenwinkel. The Gyldenløve family, the king’s ‘natural’, which is to say illegitimate children, played an important role in the political machinations of 17th century Denmark. As children of the king, they had high status in the class-divided society. At the same time, however, they were excluded from line of succession, and thus had no dynastic ambitions, making them extremely loyal to the reigning king. Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve was the issue of a relationship Frederik (III) had with Margrethe Pape, before he married Sophie Amalie in 1643.

Counterweights

Bronze counterweights, dated 1648. The older absolute monarchy witnessed many centralisation projects, including the development of standardised weights and measures for the whole country.

Eclipsarium

Eclipsarium. Designed by Ole Rømer to calculate the Moon's orbit and eclipses. Made in Paris 1678-1679 by Isaac Thuret, royal clockmaker.

Christian V, 1681

Christian V. Enamelled miniature made by Paul Prieur 1681.

Astronomical clock

A magnificent example of an astronomical clock, with a carillon and moveable figures, made by the Swiss watchmaker Isaac Habrecht in 1594. Habrecht was one of the main figures behind the famous cathedral in Strasbourg, where he spent most of his life. The clock which stands at Rosenborg was constructed in part as a replica of it — though on a smaller scale, since the astronomical clock in Strasbourg was among the world’s biggest, before it was rebuilt and became unrecognisable. That the clock is astronomical means that apart from the time it also shows the days of the week, months, years, and lunar phases. The clock has an hour hand to show the time for both the 12 and 24 hour clocks, but no minute hand, as the technology wasn’t advanced enough for this until the introduction of the pendulum. As a reminder of the cycle of life and the inevitability of death, the four ages of man (childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age) are depicted around the clock’s quarter hour hand, just as it is death who rings the bells of the carillon. There is also a weekly calendar, symbolised by the seven gods who have lent their names to the days of the week. The melody played by the carillon is a recreation of a melody from Habrecht’s time, since we do not know how the original sounded. The clock was never in Christian IV’s possession, being made for the Cabinet of Curiosities at Gottorf in 1764 on the orders of Frederik IV. That the relocation was possible was because Frederik IV had captured Gottorf Castle in 1713 during a military operation in the Great Northern War (1700-1721). After capturing it, the king ordered that spoils of war, in this case the art collection, should be moved from Schleswig to Copenhagen. The relocation was made in several rounds, and it wasn’t until many years after Frederik IV’s death that the clock reached its destination. At first the clock was placed in Christiansborg Palace, before being sold in several parts, and it wasn’t until 1846 that Rosenborg was able to purchase and reassemble the clock.

Charlotte Amalie

Charlotte Amalie became the Queen of Denmark in 1670. She was the daughter of Landgrave William VI of Hesse-Kassel. In 1667 she was married to Christian (V); as well as other children they had Frederik (IV).

1675-1700

From 1675 to 1679 the Scanian War was fought with Sweden. But the final goal, to win back Scania, was not reached as no European state would allow both sides of Øresund to be ruled by the same power again.

Christian V

Christian V was the King of Denmark-Norway from 1670; son of Frederik III and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was married to Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel in 1667. He was the father of Frederik IV.