Kongens Have — the King's Garden — is Copenhagen's oldest public park, laid out from 1606 onward by King Christian IV as the private pleasure garden of Rosenborg Castle. Christian, who built the Dutch Renaissance castle between 1606 and 1633 as a summer residence, designed the garden in a formal Renaissance style with geometric parterres, straight allées, and sculpted hedgerows. After centuries of royal exclusivity, the garden was opened to the public in 1770 under King Christian VII, making it one of the earliest royal parks in Europe to grant public access. Today it covers roughly 12.5 acres in the heart of the city's Indre By district and welcomes around 2.5 million visitors a year — comfortably the most visited park in Denmark.
The garden's landscape evolved substantially in the early 19th century, when it was redesigned in the more naturalistic English landscape style that softened its earlier rigidity while preserving its principal axes. At its centre stands a bronze equestrian statue of Christian IV, unveiled in 1889 and sculpted by the Danish artist Theobald Stein — a deliberate tribute to the park's founder. Flanking the main paths are several other historic sculptures, including busts of Danish writers and a much-loved bronze of the fairy-tale author Hans Christian Andersen, installed in 1983 near the northern entrance. The rose garden, occupying the park's southern section, was established in the 20th century and today contains hundreds of cultivars in formal beds that peak in June and July.
Visitors strolling through Kongens Have move between sunlit lawns used freely for picnics and ball games, shaded elm and linden allées, and the moat-edged walls of Rosenborg Castle itself — whose interior treasury holds the Danish Crown Jewels. In summer, a traditional open-air puppet theatre dating to 1935 performs free shows for children on a small stage near the park's centre, a tradition that has continued with only brief interruptions for nearly 90 years. The park hosts occasional outdoor concerts and exhibitions, and its café kiosk has operated seasonally since the mid-20th century.
The garden is open year-round and free to enter at all times. It is most spectacular from late April through August, when the roses, herbaceous borders, and chestnuts are in full bloom, but it attracts locals for morning runs and weekend relaxation in every season. The nearest Metro station is Kongens Nytorv (lines M1 and M2), a ten-minute walk south, while buses 42, 43, and 14 stop directly on Gothersgade along the park's eastern edge. Entry to Rosenborg Castle, which sits within the garden grounds, is ticketed separately and strongly recommended as a paired visit.
