In 1275, a large manor called Hillerødsholm was built on an islet surrounded by a marsh in North Zealand. When King Frederick II of Denmark purchased it in 1560 as a seasonal residence and hunting lodge, he renamed it Frederiksborg. His son, Christian IV, commissioned Hans and Lorenz van Steenwinckel, to enlarge it into this Dutch Renaissance castle in the early 17th century. Much of it was destroyed by fire in 1859 and then rebuilt with money donated by the Carlsberg Foundation and other fundraising efforts. In 1878, it became the home of the Det Nationalhistoriske Museum.
