Here’s another Official Postcrossing card from Germany! This one was bought during the sender’s trip to Denmark, which is a country I haven’t talked about in a long time! What you see here is the Royal Guard of Amalienborg Palace, located in the country’s capital of Copenhagen (western Denmark). This place has served as the residence for the Royal Family since 1794, and continues to do so today. It wasn’t always a royal residence, however. The original palace on this site was built in the second half of the 1600s, however it burned to the ground after a tragic fire that occurred during a staged event. The current palace – containing four mansions – was originally intended to serve as quarters for the nobility. When a fire took out the royal family’s residence at that time (Christiansborg Palace, also located in Copenhagen), they settled down in Amalienborg instead. The Amalienborg mansions were built in the rococo style. This is a late Baroque style that’s most simply characterized by asymmetry, lots of curves, and light colors. The buildings are arranged to form an octagon – the sight you see here of Frederik’s Church (another rococo work – it’s the domed building) is not part of that octagon. You could say it’s instead the anchor of one of the off-shooting roads from that octagon. Next to the museum that you can visit here that offers a look into the history of the royal family, you can come here to witness the change of guard ceremony! This is where the Royal Life Guards (don’t go too far out in the ocean!) march to Amalienborg Palace every day to change the guard at noon. Depending on which royal family members are in the residence at the time of ceremony, they may change the size of their marching unit or include/exclude the accompanying band. There are plenty of YouTube videos if you wanna check it out! (And, as you might be able to tell, YouTube has lately been a great source of info for me… on top of all the completely unrelated entertainment it’s gifted me too haha). Thank you so much for this awesome postcard!
