July 2022 I visited a wonderful exhibition about the Danish Royal Yacht Dannebrog at the Maritime Museum of Denmark in Elsinore (Helsingør), Denmark. On 2 February 2023 Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark opened a revised and expanded presentation of the exhibition at the Koldinghus in Kolding, Denmark: Kongeskibet Dannebrog (The Royal Yacht Dannebrog).
The exhibition will be on display from 3 February 2023 to 22 October 2023 at the Ruin Hall at Koldinghus. A video of the opening of the exhibition on 2 February 2023.
The Royal Yacht Dannebrog was built in 1931-1932 and nowadays serves as the official and private residence of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and other members of her family. They use the yacht for summer cruises in Denmark or (state) visits overseas. The yacht is also used for surveillance, sea rescue operations and training of future naval officers. The exhibition gives visitors a sense of being on board the ship itself in a setting of canvas, deck chairs and lifebelts with a view of the approach through the coastal inlet Kolding Fjord and accompanied by the sound of the engine mixed with the voices of the sailors and the cries of seagulls on the upper decks., the museum says.
On display is a wide range of objects associated with the Dannebrog. Visitors can see the cushions that the Queen embroidered for the ship, watercolours she painted on board, the sailor suits of her sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim from the early 1970s. The story of life on board over three generations is also shown through private films and photographs.
