Chinese Pavilion at Drottningholm

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The Chinese Pavilion, located in the grounds of the Drottningholm Palace park, is a Chinese-inspired royal pavilion originally built between 1753–1769. The pavilion is currently one of Sweden's Royal Palaces and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The first buildingThe first building was a simple pavilion with two wings in Chinese style. The buildings were prefabricated at Arsenalsgatan in Stockholm. They were made in the log cabin technique and shipped to Drottningholm where they were assembled. The architects were probably Carl Hårleman and Carl Johan Cronstedt. Everything was finished and in place in time for Queen Lovisa Ulrika's birthday on 24July 1753. The pavilion was a surprise gift to the Queen from King Adolf Frederick. At the presentation, she received the gold key to the castle from the young Crown Prince Gustav (later King Gustav III), seven years old, dressed as a Chinese mandarin.In a letter to her mother, Queen Sophia Dorothea of Prussia, the Queen wrote:Having been built in haste and secrecy, the small castle did not endure the harsh Swedish climate. After ten years, rot had begun to attack the wooden frame and the king and queen commissioned Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz to create a new and bigger pavilion made from more durable materials.