Inspired by the breathtaking Crystal Palace in London, built for the 1852 World Exhibition, the Palm House at the University of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens is similarly designed using cast iron and glass. Danish architect Christian Hansen designed and built the conservatory in 1874.

The gardens have about 27 glasshouses on the property, but the Palm House is by far the grandest. With a narrow cast-iron spiral staircase leading visitors to the top of the 52 foot high dome. From there, visitors can look down at the conservatory from a bird’s-eye-view. 

Brewer I.C. Jakobsen pushed hard for the construction project to happen. With its central location in Copenhagen, the greenhouse is an important place to study and protect subtropical and tropical plants. The Palm House at Copenhagen features a large botanical collection and is committed to nature preservation. The botanical garden is part of the Statens Naturhistoriske Museum at the University of Copenhagen. This garden is Denmark’s largest collection of both living and preserved plants. The gardens cover almost 25 acres in the middle of the city. 

Special in the collections, is a palm brought to the gardens in 1824 and a collection of cycads likely more than a hundred years old. The Palm House was built to house the Natural History Museum of Denmark’s living collections. 

Today, the conservatory is a favorite free tourist attraction in Copenhagen.