Rosendal Palace Gardens

Extensive knowledge has been gathered as a basis for the restoration work. The work has involved a large number of competencies and has included the analysis of old map materials and engravings, watercolours and photographs.

The Bernadotte park at Rosendal consists of a core group of curated promenade parks that surround the palace. The park’s backbone is made up of an adorned pasture landscape with old oaks. Along the driving routes created by Karl Johan, avenues of lime trees have been planted. To the west, an arboretum and an orangery were built by Oscar I and Josefina. The orangery is a remnant of a once extensive greenhouse cultivation. The site was leased by the Swedish Horticultural Society from 1861 and is now operated by the Rosendal Garden Foundation. To the east follows a beech forest with meadows and heathland dominated by old oak trees. The palace stable is also located in this area. In the southeast, a mighty landform called Utsigten  rises, dominated by rocky pine forest. South of the palace building, a sequence of open meadowy landscape spaces open up to Lusthusparken (the pavilion park) in the south.

An important part of the knowledge base lies in the verification of old maps and images. Based on this material, some sub-areas have been selected for in-depth investigation together with building conservators, archaeologists, archaeobotanists, and technicians. Overgrown walkway systems have been located through terrestrial laser scanning and georadar surveys. Design, structure, and locations for foundations, plantings, and walkways have been documented through probing and archaeological investigation. During the excavation, finds in the form of potsherds and compost residues have also contributed to in-depth knowledge of the park’s extent, form, and technical structure.

The compiled knowledge base is the foundation for the design of a maintenance program and maintenance plan. The maintenance program depicts the historic growth and values of the 19th-century Bernadotte park and also the current use of park facilities and landscape. The maintenance plan provides a basis for restoration and guidelines for the park’s care. The plan aims to concretise the work of recreating the Bernadotte park, taking into account different historical layers of the park. The document takes a ten-year perspective where landscape restoration and vitalisation through historically anchored additions are prioritised.

In the footsteps of Karl XIV Johan, Rosendal is now evolving as a royal sculpture park through Princess Estelle’s Cultural Foundation (PREKS). Karl Johan’s grand porphyry urn and bronze sculptures are today followed by international contemporary art in harmony with the meadow and pasture landscape. A long-term plan for the development of the sculpture park is currently being created in collaboration with the Royal Djurgården Administration and PREKS.

Despite the restrictions that natural and cultural values present, there are still excellent opportunities for the development of Rosendal as a sculpture park. The starting point is the Bernadotte tradition, a sensitive approach to the Djurgården landscape, and a site-specific holistic approach. The goal is to create unique encounters between a historical landscape and contemporary art.

The significant historical values and continuity in land use also bring high natural value. The maintenance program and plan work, leads to a landscape restoration of the so-called promenade park northwest of the palace, which began in 2020. In the first phase, the historical park’s backbone of old oaks, larch, and balsam poplar is freed up through clearing and cutting of brushwood. This work is followed by continuous measures to keep the landscape open, including sheep grazing. The historical paths will initially be made visible through mowing.