Klitgaarden

For the last couple of decades the town had played host to a thriving artists colony of Skagen painters and since 1890, when it was connected by train to Frederikshavn, it had developed into a mondain summer destination.

Word was therefore passed to the mayor of Skagen and soon after the city council presented the royal couple with a 4.5 ha piece of land situated directly on the East Coast a few kilometres south of town.

He was an active member of the artist community in the town, and had already designed a number of prominent buildings there, including the railway station and the church.

Klitgaarden was then inherited by Hereditary Prince Knud while his elder brother, King Frederik IX, received the more representative Marselisborg Palace.

[1] With inspiration from San Cataldo in Amalfi in Italy, which had served as a retreat for Danish artists and scientists since 1924, consideration was given to turning Klitgaarden into a similar venue.

For the living room, the artist Harald Slott-Møller was commissioned to design 55 ornamental plates decorated with the signs of the zodiac, traditional costumes and coats of arms from Danish market towns.