Period

Frederik V lived from 1723 to 1766 and was King of Denmark and Norway from 1746 until his death.

Marriage

He first married the popular Louise of Great Britain and, after her death, Juliane Marie of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel.

Interests

He loved art, music, partying and building. During his reign, the Royal Theater, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and large parts of Frederiksstaden were created and it was Frederik V who laid the foundation stone for the Marble Church.

Your family

He was the son of Christian the 6th and had a son, Christian the 7th, who later became king - albeit with a tragic and turbulent fate.

Although Frederik V didn't build Kronborg himself, he had a special relationship with the old castle. He visited it several times and considered it an important part of the kingdom's history and a dramatic, beautiful symbol of Danish royalty. It was during the reign of Frederik V that people began to think about preserving and staging the greatness of the past, and Kronborg became part of the national heritage. He loved to reflect on the greatness of the past and it was important to him to stage the Danish castles, squares and monuments as a backdrop for the greatness of the entire royal family - including Kronborg.

Frederik V may never have been a reformer, but he initiated some of the most visible changes in Denmark. Frederiksstaden was built as a symbol of dynasty and elegance, and Copenhagen got its first real urban planning with straight streets and grandiose mansions. Amalienborg, the Marble Church and the Academy of Fine Arts are all results of Frederik V's aesthetic ambitions and perhaps also his desire to be remembered as something other than the party-loving king with a penchant for wine and eloquence.

Frederik V died in 1766, aged just 42, but managed to leave a significant mark on Denmark's architecture and self-image. He was not a warrior king like his predecessors, but a party-loving aesthete who preferred to decorate Copenhagen with mansions rather than wield a sword.

He didn't build Kronborg, but he understood its power as a symbol. During his reign, the castle was not modernized, but preserved in all its Renaissance splendor - as a living monument to the royal power of the past. Where Frederik II used Kronborg for grand politics, parties and strategy, Frederik V used it as a historical backdrop and iconic memorial to the greatness of Denmark. When foreign guests and diplomats were shown around the magnificent halls, it was not just sightseeing, but staged history: a "living museum" where the splendor of the past shone over the royal house of today. Kronborg was still powerful and strategic, but now also a carefully curated narrative of the nation's greatness with Frederik V as the elegant heir to it all.