Hans Knieper

Rather than decorating the castle by importing finished artworks, Frederick decided to invite artists to produce their work in situ.

He made paintings for the king's chamber (the story of Gideon) and other rooms as well as the altarpiece for the castle's chapel.

[6] In 1581 Frederick II commissioned Knieper's weaving workshop to design and weave a tapestry series of the Danish royal genealogy which would include 111 former Danish kings, as well as the king himself and the Crown Prince Christian III, and of some tapestries of hunting scenes.

[3] Behind the life-size portraits Knieper created a rich and vibrant background, with castles and forests, animals and plush vegetation, allegorical profundities, heraldic expressions and ornamentation of an elegance and brilliance not seen in Denmark before.

[4] Its rich materials and distinguished and refined style make it probably Northern Europe's most beautiful piece of fabric.

It remained in the Swedish royal family until after Karl XV's death it was transferred to the State and is now in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

[5] The famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe invited Knieper in 1587 to come to the island Hven that he had received as a gift from king Frederick II.

In Uraniborg observatory on the island Brahe had built an astronomical instrument called the mural quadrant that consisted of an arch attached to a wall.