Ulriksdal Palace

Ulriksdal Palace (Swedish: Ulriksdals slott) is a royal palace situated on the banks of the Edsviken in the Royal National City Park in Solna Municipality, 6 km north of . It was originally called Jakobsdal for its owner Jacob De la Gardie, who had it built by architect Hans Jacob Kristler in 1643-1645 as a country retreat. He later passed on to his son, Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, from whom it was purchased in 1669 by Queen Hedvig Eleonora of Sweden. The present design is mainly the work of architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and dates from the late 17th century.

Hedvig Eleonora had grand plans for the palace and renamed it in 1684 Ulriksdal in honor of its intended future owner, her grandson Prince Ulric. The prince, however, died at the age of one and Hedvig Eleonora kept the palace until her death in 1715 when the property was transferred to the crown for King Frederick I's disposal.

Several drawings by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder show a stately palace, three storeys high, with a lantern roof, furnished attic, and side wings extending the lakeside façade. Implementation of Tessin's designs began under Hedvig Eleonora in the 1670s, but was halted around 1690 due to financial problems.

When building work eventually resumed by King Frederick I in the 1720s, the palace architect Carl Hårleman had different ideas than Tessin the Elder. Among the features incorporated by Hårleman was one of the first mansard roofs in Sweden. In the mid-18th century, the palace was occupied by King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika. The Queen set up a theatre here, today called the Confidencen. During the reign of Adolf Frederick and his son Gustav III of Sweden (r. 1771-1792), it was one of the main residences of the royal court and the place for a grand court life. From 1792 until 1813, it served as residence for the queen dowager of Gustav III, Sophia Magdalena of Denmark. After her death, the palace was uninhabited until 1821.

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