Hermitage Hunting Lodge

Hermitage Hunting Lodge Eremitageslottet
Hermitage Hunting Lodge from the front
General information
Architectural style	Baroque
Town or city	Dyrehaven
Country	Denmark
Construction started	1734
Completed	1736
Cost	18,000 rigsdaler
Client	Christian VI of Denmark
Design and construction
Architect	Lauritz de Thurah

The Hermitage Hunting Lodge (Danish: Eremitageslottet or Eremitagen) is located in Dyrehaven north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The hunting lodge was built by architect Lauritz de Thurah in Baroque style from 1734 to 1736 for Christian VI of Denmark in order to host royal banquets during royal hunts in Dyrehaven.

Never intended for residence, the Hermitage Hunting Lodge was built as a setting for hosting royal banquets during hunts in Dyrehaven, which surrounds the building. It originally featured a hoisting apparatus able to hoist the table from the basement to the dining room, allowing the King and his guests to dine without any waiters present, or "en ermitage" (in solitude), hence the name of the castle. The apparatus was removed in the late 18th century as it was causing endless mechanical problems, and no signs of it remain. The previous castle on the site, the Hubertus chalet, had a similar apparatus and was nicknamed Heremitagen for the same reason.

The area surrounding the building was fenced as Jægersborg Dyrehave on the initiative of Frederick III, beginning in 1699. The project was not completed in his lifetime, and Christian V, who was influenced by the time he had spent at the court of Louis XIV in France, changed the plans for the fencing to include a much larger area in order to facilitate a new style of driven hunt. This style of hunting involved having hounds run the prey tired and hold it down until a hunter would step off his horse and make the kill at little effort. In order for the hunters to be able to keep track of the hounds, a landscape with straight paths laid out to meet in star-shaped intersections, from which the hunters would be able to see the prey and the hounds whenever they crossed one of the paths, was required.

The fencing of the larger area resulted in a compulsory relocation of the residents, and among other things the village of Stokkerup was demolished, and today only the village pond remains, south of the hunting lodge.

The first hunting lodge on the site, the Hubertus chalet (Danish: Hubertushuset), was built by Hans van Steenwinckel III for Christian V, and was completed around 1694. It was a half-timbered house in two storeys, but the structure was most likely far too weak, and in spite of extensive repairs in 1731, the chalet was in such a poor condition in 1734 that it was deemed necessary to tear it down and Lauritz de Thurah was hired to build a new hunting lodge on the site. It was built during 1734 to 1736 during the reign of Christian VI at a total cost of about 18,000 rigsdaler.