HM The King's Reference Library
This library is the King's private collection of Danish and foreign works. Over the years, the collection has come to take up three running kilometres.
Johannes Larsen's storks calmly circle around in the ceiling, and the wise owls gaze down from the gilded cornices in HM The King’s Reference Library at Christiansborg Palace.
Three running kilometres of books
The library is the King's private collection of Danish and foreign works. Over the years, the collection has come to take up three running kilometres. Even though the bookcases cover all the walls in the hall and the adjacent room, only a tenth of the King's book collection is in fact kept at Christiansborg Palace. The rest is in HM The King's Reference Library at Amalienborg.
Precious books and other treasures
Frederik V placed the first book in the collection on his library shelf during his reign, from 1746 to 1766, and since then, tens of thousands of works have been added. Some are precious treasures, such as signed first editions of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. The collections also include hand-written manuscripts, drawings, geographic maps and photographs.
HM The King's Reference Library at Christiansborg Palace is occasionally used for meetings, luncheons and tea parties. The Danish Prime Minister also uses the library for meetings on special occasions in connection with state visits.
