The couple later became King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine and initiated the tradition of using the palace as a summer residence.

The palace is "a gift of the people", in the sense that the project was funded by individual financial contributions and built on land given by the Municipality of Aarhus.

Among the contributors are the cities of Vejle, Horsens, Randers, Aalborg, Thisted and Nykøbing Mors, to name just a few.

The fundraising was initiated in the autumn of 1897 by prefect Dreyer, baron J. Rosenkrantz of Sophiendal and landowner Chr.

The park was designed by architect L. Christian Diedrichsen in traditional English landscape style, featuring large sweeping lawns dotted with small ponds, clusters of trees and shrub-covered slopes.