The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, but he was a skilled politician, best known for his authoritarian regime.

[2][3] Christian was born in the early hours of the morning on 30 November 1699 at Copenhagen Castle as the second but eldest surviving son of King Frederick IV of Denmark by his first consort, Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow.

During a trip through Europe accompanied by Chancellor Ulrik Adolf Holstein, the Crown Prince decided on Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, one of the ladies-in-waiting at the court of the Saxon-Polish queen Christiane Eberhardine in the Castle Pretzsch.

[6] Sophia Magdalene came from a minor margraviate (not greater than Lolland-Falster) of the Hohenzollern dynasty where able consciousness was inversely proportional to the funds; half of the land was mortgaged, and her father died young.

Christian's indignation at his father's bigamy and general promiscuity – the reason for the great sorrow of his late mother – led him to one of his first government actions: reversing his father's will and depriving widow Queen Anna Sophie, (Frederick IV's third wife if all "marriages" are counted, second wife if bigamous marriages excluded), of a large part of the wealth she had inherited before exiling her to the Clausholm estate, her childhood home.

[11] Christian's central domestic act was the introduction of the so-called adscription of 1733 (in Danish, stavnsbånd), a law that forced peasants to remain in their home regions, and by which the peasantry was subjected to both the local nobility and the army.

Though the idea behind this law was probably to secure a constant number of peasant soldiers, it later was widely regarded as the ultimate subjugation of the Danish peasantry, and damaged Christian VI's reputation.

[13][14] There were numerous building activities connected to Christian VI, and he was probably the greatest Danish builder of the 18th century; his queen also made a notable effort.

The construction of these expensive buildings was financed by Øresundstolden, with the purpose of representing the power and wealth of the Danish realm, but they also became an economic burden on the subjects.

José del Campillo y Cossio on behalf of Philip V of Spain and Frederik Ludvig, Baron Dehn, by Christian VI, adjusted the agreement at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso on 18 July 1742.

[17] From his youth, Christian VI was sickly and chronically ill. On 6 August 1746 – the day before his silver marriage anniversary – the king died on Hirschholm Palace.