Copenhagen, the royal harbour city: the back story

About Copenhagen, the royal harbour city: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Copenhagen Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Copenhagen grew around a harbour. Bishop Absalon’s castle of 1167 lies in ruins beneath Christiansborg on Slotsholmen; Christian IV, the builder king, gave the city Rosenborg (1606–34), the Round Tower (1642) and Børsen (1625). In the 18th century the royal family moved to the four palaces of Amalienborg in Frederiksstaden, and Nyhavn filled with ships. In 1843 Tivoli opened its gates beside the ramparts; in 1913 the Little Mermaid took her seat on Langelinie.

Slotsholmen

Christiansborg stands on Slotsholmen, the island where the city began: under the main building, which houses the Danish Parliament and is used for royal events, you can walk among the ruins of Bishop Absalon’s castle, which the National Museum dated to 1167, as VisitCopenhagen describes. Beside it, Børsen, the old stock exchange completed with its dragon-tailed spire in 1625, is being rebuilt after the fire of 16 April 2024.

Christian IV’s city

Christian IV built Rosenborg between 1606 and 1634 as a pleasure palace beside the King’s Garden; the Danish crown jewels are in its Treasury. His Round Tower of 1642 was raised for the university’s astronomers, and its spiral ramp still leads to the observatory and a view over the rooftops.

The Copenhagen Card, the official city card, includes many of these sights and the public transport.

Frederiksstaden and Nyhavn

The four palaces of Amalienborg are the home of the royal family; the Royal Life Guard marches every day from its barracks by Rosenborg to the palace square for the changing of the guard. The Marble Church, Frederik’s Church, rises behind them. Nyhavn, where Hans Christian Andersen lived at numbers 20, 67 and 18, runs down to the harbour, and the Little Mermaid, made by Edvard Eriksen in 1913 and given to the city by the brewer Carl Jacobsen, sits on her rock on Langelinie.

Tivoli

Tivoli Gardens opened on 15 August 1843, after its founder Georg Carstensen received royal permission. Christmas in Tivoli runs from 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027.

Our advice: take a canal tour from Nyhavn or Ved Stranden on your first day to see how it all fits together.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Copenhagen, the royal harbour city: the back story before you go.