Odense Palace

Odense Palace (Danish: Odense Slot) in the city of Odense on the Danish island of Funen has its origins in a 15th-century monastery which passed to the Crown after the Reformation, and since then has served as an administrative building: in turn as a seigneurial residence, an amt administrator's residence, a governor's residence, and a municipal government building. The main white Baroque building with 13 bays was designed by J.C. Krieger and completed in 1723.

The Knights of St John are first mentioned in Odense in 1280. They appear to have acquired a monastery around 1400; during the next century it grew into their second largest and most important house in Denmark, after the mother house at Antvorskov. The south wing and the oldest part of the east wing date to the first half of the 15th century; there are walled-up windows and archways. The monastery church, St. John's, has many gravestones and coats of arms from influential families of the period; the church was frequented by the nobility, and many elderly aristocrats spent their final years in the monastery. In the churchyard there are ruins of the hospice, which was one of the most important social service institutions in mediaeval Odense.

In 1536, after the Reformation, the monastery became the property of the king and was given the name Odensegård. The monastery's property was merged with that of Næsbyhoved Castle, under the name Odensegård Seigneury. The first holder of the estate was Claus Daa. The remaining monks were allowed to stay, but had to share the premises with him. The seignors lived on their own properties in the summer and spent the winter at Odensegård. In the 1570s, Frederick II had the monastery rebuilt to better house the royal family when they stayed there. This rebuilding was completed in 1575, with the royal bedchambers and reception rooms being located in the west wing, the seigneurial residence in the east wing and the kitchen in the south. An additional story was added to all the wings, bringing them to their present height. The building then remained almost unchanged until 1720.

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