The private quarters of the Dukes and Duchesses were located here from the very beginning. The furniture originates from the 18th and 19th century. On this floor the exceptional floor plan so typical of Glücksburg and which differs only on the ground floor becomes apparent. Four evenly distributed rooms flank both sides of the 30 m long and 10 m wide “red” hall in the middle house. Each square corner room is adjoined by a tower room. These rooms were designated for use as dining, living and sleeping rooms according to their cardinal points.

	Red Hall

The festive hall received its name from the original red linen wall coverings. The ornamentation of the barrel-vaulted ceiling as well as the flooring date back to the time of the edification and are considered the earliest example of stucco work in Schleswig-Holstein.

 

On entering the hall you can see on the left a portrait of the founder Duke Johann the Younger with the letters of his motto GGGMF (Gott Gebe Glück Mit Frieden).

 

The coat-of-arms of the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg is located above the open fireplace. The portrait of Crown Princess Elisabeth Christine of Prussia (1715-1797), the wife of Frederic II (the Great) was painted by Antoine Pesne, the official Prussian royal portraitist of the 18th century.

Dining Room

This room in front of the north-eastern tower was designated in 1707 as the dining-room and is nowadays still used as such on special occasions.

 

Of special interest are the southern idealistic landscapes painted around 1800 in the manner of the French landscape painter Claude Lorrain.

	Bedroom

This room with its valuable Empire furniture was set up as a bedroom in 1857.

 

It served the last German Empress, Auguste-Victoria, as a dressing-room when she visited her sister.

Drawing Room of the Empress

The drawing room and tower are named after the wife of Emperor Wilhelm II, Auguste-Victoria (1858-1921). She was the sister of Duchess Caroline-Mathilde from the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Augustenburg, who was married to Duke Friedrich-Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the great-grandmother of today’s owner Prince Christoph. She visited Schloß Glücksburg regularly.

 

Amongst the outstanding furnishings in this room are the renaissance fireplace, portraits of King Frederic V of Denmark and his first consort, Louise, daughter of King George II of Great Britain (painted by Carl Gustav Pilo), a rococo mirror from the Meissen porcelain manufacture, the marble bust of Queen Caroline Amalie of Denmark sculptured by Bertel Thorvaldsen as well as a grandfather clock with mosaic inlay from the 18th century.

	Tower of the Empress

The south-eastern tower, once the dressing-room of Countess Danner - third wife of King Frederic VII of Denmark - was used by the Empress as a writing-room from 1905.

 

The main point of interest in this room, with furniture dating from the Biedermeier period, is a series of portraits of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm Paul Leopold of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (1785-1831) and his family. He established the younger Glücksburg Line in 1825. One of his ten children – only nine are shown – later became King Christian IX of Denmark.

Drawing Room of the Duchess

The three rooms to the west were traditionally reserved for the use of the Duchess, the drawing room being the antechamber. Her sitting-room was located in the tower. In the middle of the 19th century, this drawing room was used as a billiard-room. Among the portraits, the one of Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, wife of Duke Friedrich VIII of Augustenburg and mother of the Empress Auguste-Victoria, is of special interest. The marble bust of Queen Wilhelmine, later the Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, is the work of Bertel Thorvaldsen. The marble figure of Amor was created by his pupil Hermann Vilhelm Bissen.

Tower of the Duchess The bright and friendly south-western tower is one of the most beautiful rooms in the castle. It is decorated with furnishings from the 18th and 19th century. In the display cabinet you can see examples of Berlin-Iron-Jewellery (I gave gold for iron – War of Independence 1813-15) which were designed by the most renowned artists of the period, among them the well –known architect Karl-Friedrich Schinkel.

Tower of the Duchess

• back

• Conferences at Glücksburg Castle
• Getting married at Glücksburg Castle
• The Castle as a Venue