Tullgarn Palace's History
The "Tyllegarn" estate is already mentioned in medieval documents, but the first Palace only built in the late 16th century, for Count Carl Sture.
The old Renaissance Palace was pulled down in about 1720 and replaced with the present building, designed by the French fortification officer Joseph Gabriel Destain for the then owner, Count Magnus Julius De la Gardie.
In the 1770s the Palace was acquired by the State for Gustav III's youngest brother, Duke Fredrik Adolf.
Modernizations
He embarked on a radical rebuilding of the Palace in the 1780s, when the wings were raised one storey higher and the whole building was given a new, modern flat Italian roof.
Duke Fredrik Adolf's interiors at Tullgarn, for instance the Red Antechamber and the Great and Lesser Bedchamb-ers, are among the finest of their kind in Sweden.
A summer residence
In 1881, Crown Prince Gustaf (V) married Princess Victoria of Baden, and Tullgarn became their favourite summer residence.
Many interiors were modernized at that time. The Great Breakfast Room, fitted out in virtually South-German Renaissance style, is a typical example.
Watercolour of Tullgarn Palace by C G Ulfsparre. From "Lettres à mes Amis sur Tullgarn", three letters written in the form of a tour of the park and the palace. Princess Sofia Albertina received the letters as a gift from her lady-in-waiting Ebba Oxenstierna af Eka & Lindö and Carl Gustaf Ulfsparre af Broxvik in 1827. Photo: Alexis Daflos/Royalpalaces.se
Alexander Roslin's portrait of Duke Fredrik Adolf. The duke commissioned some of Sweden's leading craftsmen and artists to work for him, including the brothers Louis and Jean Baptiste Masreliez, Per Ljung and Ernst Philip Thoman. Several of the interiors they created have been preserved in relatively untouched condition. Photo: Alexis Daflos/Royalpalaces.se
The Red Drawing Room. Ernst Philip Thoman created the ceiling relief frieze and the door lintel ornamentation. The marble bust of Duke Fredrik Adolf was created by Johan Tobias Sergel. Photo: Alexis Daflos/Royalpalaces.se
At Tullgarn Palace, 1890s: Crown Prince Gustaf (V) and Viktoria with their sons, princes Wilhelm, Gustaf Adolf and Erik. Photo from the Bernadotte Library's archive.
