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Photo © Home At First         

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Have you ever explored a real royal palace? At Drottningholm Palace you are free to wander the grounds, explore the lavish interiors, and imagine the life of Sweden’s highest royalty during the
days of the Swedish Empire through to today. Want to see one of Europe’s great palaces?
A day trip to Drottningholm offers all this and more. Come along for the adventure!
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THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN OCTOBER, 2008.

This primitive log cabin in Pennsylvania and
the vast Baroque Drottningholm Palace
(above) both owe their existence
to the rise of the Swedish
Empire in the 17th century.
Photo © Home At First.

IMPERIAL SWEDEN. Not far from where I live in Pennsylvania there is an old log cabin in the woods by a creek. Local historians believe this cabin to be a relic of the colony of New Sweden, built sometime between 1638 and 1655. If true, this old house ranks among the oldest buildings in the United States, possibly older than anything still standing from England’s Jamestown or Plymouth colonies. New Sweden? Who knew?
          In the 17th century, with a population of only about one million, Sweden joined England, Spain, France, and Holland as a great European power. It was a crucial time in European (and western) history, when wars were fought to determine the territories of Catholicism and Protestantism, and nations emerged from alliances

of smaller states with mutual interests. Sweden’s power grew along with its enlarging territory, as a series of wars and treaties expanded its holdings. Like Europe’s other great powers, Sweden sought to participate in the great North American land grab, establishing New Sweden in the Delaware Valley (in what would become the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) in 1638. Sweden’s empire continued to grow in size during the reign of the warrior King Karl X Gustav whose adventuresome wars on Poland and Denmark increased Sweden’s holdings, but emptied its treasury. When the king fell ill and died in February 1660, his crown went to his five-year-old son, but the power of Sweden fell to his widow, the former queen consort and now queen regent of Sweden, Hedvig Eleonora. Even when her son officially took over the crown,

The Vasa, greatest warship of the 17th century Swedish
navy, was built on orders of King Gustav II Adolf, builder
of the Swedish Empire two generations before the reign
of King Karl X Gustav and Queen Consort Hedvig
Eleonora. The top-heavy, under-ballasted Vasa never
made it to sea, capsizing not far from Stockholm after
being launched in 1628. One of the largest wooden
ships in history, the Vasa was rescued from its
watery grave after 333 years and is on display
in  Stockholm's Vasa Museum, which provides a
look at life in the heady days of 17th century Sweden.
Photo © Home At First.

Queen Hedvig Eleonora remained most

powerful person in Sweden, power she maintained until her death in 1715. 

QUEEN HEDVIG ELEONORA, FIRST ROYAL
 MISTRESS OF DROTTNINGHOLM PALACE.

Queen Hedvig Eleonora, needing a fitting royal residence for herself after the death of her husband, purchased a renaissance palace called Drottningholm (“Queen’s Island”) on an isolated site several miles west of Stockholm in 1661. When at the end of the year the palace was destroyed by fire, the Queen Regent determined to rebuild in the grandest fashion possible. In 1662 Sweden’s great architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder was commissioned to design and build the new Drottningholm Palace. Tessin spent the last twenty years of his life creating his masterpiece, but died before its completion. Tessin’s son Nicodemus the Younger finished the grandiose exterior work and the palatial interiors. Drottningholm Slott — the queen’s island palace — was fit for a king, but in Sweden in 1700, the Queen was king. 

Drottningholm Palace — like the Swedish monarchy — has evolved significantly over the ensuing three centuries. Arguably the finest example of 17th century Baroque architecture in Northern Europe, the palace has influenced design throughout the Baltic region: grand buildings in Denmark, Germany, Denmark, Germany, Poland, and St. Petersburg reflected this highly decorative style that may have had its roots in French chateau architecture of the 16th and early 17th centuries. As fashions changed, so did Drottningholm. Tessin’s elaborate Baroque interiors were replaced by the

Drottningholm Palace with formal gardens
and dramatic statuary by Adriaen de Vries.
Photo © Home At First.

THE CHINESE PAVILION AT DROTTNINGHOLM —
THE QUEEN'S FANCIFUL GUESTHOUSE.
Photo © Home At First.

even more ornate Rococo style of the 18th century — the latest opulent French fashion, seen in the Palace of Versailles, which was built at the same time as Drottningholm and remains the exemplar palace of the 17th and 18th centuries. Like Versailles, Drottningholm is immense and set dramatically among carefully manicured gardens, together composing a majestic unity, as if a painting by the gods.
          The queen’s palace became state property at the time of the American Revolution when Queen Louisa Ulrika sold her lavish home to the nation in 1777. Thereafter, Drottningholm fell into disuse and, after a century of neglect, disrepair. 

The renaissance of Drottningholm occurred in the twentieth century with several major renovations that restored the palace to its former glory. Such was the improved condition of Drottningholm that in 1981 Sweden’s royal family named it their principal residence.
 

A WORLD HERITAGE SITE: In 1991 UNESCO named Drottningholm Palace, its gardens and ancillary buildings—including two treasures: the still active 18th century Court Theatre and its “Chinese” Pavilion guest residence — the first Swedish entry on its World Heritage Site list. In making its selection the United Nations agency cited Drottningholm as “… the best example of a royal residence built in the 18th century in Sweden and…representative of all European architecture of that period, heir to the influences exerted by the Chateau of Versailles on the construction of royal residences in western, central and northern Europe.” As a World Heritage Site, Drottningholm has become a popular

The beloved 18th century Court Theater at Drottningholm
is among the last of its breed. Built in 1766 on the site of
a previous theater that had been destroyed by fire, the
theater was used for about thirty years, then fell into disuse
until the 1920s when it underwent a renaissance. Its 2½
month (late-May  through early-August) season brings
enthusiastic audiences to see opera performed
on stage in an authentic period theater.
Photo © Home At First.

destination for visitors, and the palace exterior
had another makeover that was completed in 2002, while upgrading restoration continues on the extensive gardens and the classic rococo Chinese Pavilion.
 

The motor boat Prins Carl Philip  awaits
passengers at its mooring  along
Stockholm's City Hall Quay.
Photo © Home At First.

Getting to Drottningholm is part of the adventure of a fun day out of Stockholm. While it is possible to drive to the island, or take the subway plus a regional bus, or even bicycle there, we recommend taking the lake boat from downtown Stockholm to the palace quay. Boats depart daily from the City Hall Quay (by Stockholm’s Stadshuset City Hall — where the Nobel Prizes are awarded each December) only May through September, hourly from May through June and again during September, and twice hourly during July and August. (A limited service runs on weekends during October.) The fifty-minute voyage (each way) channels

through the maze of island-strewn Lake Mälaren,

AT Drottningholm there is significant — although essentially flat — walking to be done to see everything. The quay is within a few hundred yards of the entrances to the palace and the theater — itself a national treasure for culture-oriented Swedes. Behind the palace extend the formal gardens in the French Baroque style — some private, but most accessible, lined with hedges and trees and populated with sculpture by the Swede Adriaen de Vries. Beyond the formal gardens is a second garden of rolling, wooded parkland leading uphill past the fanciful Palace Guards’ “Tent” to the lavish Chinese Pavilion, the romantic location of many palace intrigues and secret liaisons. The theatre, the

The curious Palace Guards' "Tent" is one of the
 fanciful buildings found in the park extending
across rolling rolling woodlands behind the
 palace.
Photo © Home At First.

The 100-year-old steamship SS Drottningholm
on the home journey to Stockholm.
Photo © Home At First.

RETURNING TO STOCKHOLM: After exploring the palace and the Chinese Pavilion and strolling the grounds, visitors can eat at a choice of cafés and restaurants at Drottningholm and shop in the Royal Gift Shop for souvenirs of their visit. Boats depart from the palace quay as late as 9PM at certain times of year, but visitors should consult current schedules to determine which return boat best meets their needs. As the old lake boat settles back into its landing at the City Hall Quay, passengers are only a few hundred yards from the city island with Stockholm’s Gamla Stan old town with the Swedish Royal

Palace, the official (but not private) residence