The Parterre Garden

The Parterre Garden (1943, G.N. Brandt) is Tivoli's popular perennial garden. The 32 wooden vessels are designed by Poul Henningsen (PH) and add some calm to the garden with the tranquil rippling of water.

The Tivoli Boys Guard have their “barracks” in the Tivoli Castle (1893, architect Vilhelm Klein). The rehearsal room is here, and the parades begin from here. The Tivoli Boys Guard was founded in 1844 and consists of 90 boys between 8-16 years of age. The Tivoli Castle was Copenhagen's first Museum of Art and Design.

Worth knowing

  1. THE PARTERRE GARDEN

    G.N. Brandt and Poul Henningsen (PH), who was Tivoli's chief architect, collaborated on the design of the Parterre Garden, which was created in connection with Tivoli's 100th anniversary in 1943. Poul Henningsen designed the winding brick wall with the white benches and the beautiful wooden barrels with the water jets. The Parterre Garden is loosely inspired by a garden in Heidelberg, Germany, featuring water basins level to the terrain. It was also PH's original idea that the water basins would be made from concrete and lowered into the flower beds. Due to the war it was not possible to obtain concrete of a good enough quality, so wooden barrels were used instead.

    G.N. Brandt was a municipal gardener in Gentofte and a widely used landscape architect in his time. The Mariebjerg Churchyard in Gentofte is one of Brandt's masterpieces, together with the Parterre Garden. 

    The Parterre Garden was renovated in 2005 by landscape architect Jane Schul.

  2. THE TIVOLI CASTLE

    The Tivoli Castle is not a castle at all, but rather a museum. The building got its current name in 1978, when Tivoli bought it. In Danish, the castle is known as H.C. Andersen's Castle, owing its name to its position on H.C. Andersen's Boulevard, where the author's statue gazes upon it from the opposite side of the street, and the wish to create a visible connection between two of Denmark's most famous brands. 

    The building was designed by Vilhelm Klein and was inaugurated in 1893 as Copenhagen's first Museum of Art and Design. In 1926, the Museum moved to Frederik's Hospital on Bredgade, where it can still be found – now with the name Design museum Denmark. 
    The building style is called the Rosenberg style and is a part of historicism, which was fashionable during the time of its construction. It was a style that borrowed from the past and assembled it in new ways. The Copenhagen City Hall is another building characteristic of historicism. 

    The building is used as offices for Tivoli, banquet rooms and (since 1980) the Tivoli Boys Guard's Barracks.

  3. THE TIVOLI YOUTH GUARD

    In 1844, Tivoli's founder, Georg Carstensen, established The Tivoli Youth Guard as a small guard of honour, which had the task of standing guard at Tivoli's most important buildings and statues on special occasions.

    In 1889, The Tivoli Youth Guard was equipped with "drums and fifes". At first, the musicians were borrowed from the Royal Life Guards, but gradually the drums and fifes became a regular part of the Tivoli Youth Guard, and in 1909 The Tivoli Youth Guard Band was established. Today, The Tivoli Youth Guard is primarily associated with music. The Tivoli Youth Guard's parades through the Gardens are naturally accompanied by music, and the concerts on the Open Air Stage display a high musical level. 

    The 90 children and youths in The Tivoli Youth Guard receive extensive musical training. They attend classes in their chosen instruments, ensemble playing, aural training, music theory and of course drills so they can walk in formation at parades. The children must attend annual exams and prove that they are developing musically. Many of them continue with their musical education when they leave The Tivoli Youth Guard at age 16. 

    The Tivoli Youth Guard's uniforms were introduced in 1872. While the uniform is very similar to that of the Royal Life Guard, with bearskin hats and red jackets, The Tivoli Youth Guard's uniform trousers are white, whereas the Royal Life Guard's trousers are blue.

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