Thott Mansion

Thott Mansion
Thotts Palæ
Thott Mansion seen from the square
General information
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Location	Copenhagen
Country	Denmark
Coordinates	55°40′52″N 12°35′14″E / 55.68111°N 12.58722°E / 55.68111; 12.58722Coordinates: 55°40′52″N 12°35′14″E / 55.68111°N 12.58722°E / 55.68111; 12.58722
Construction started	1683
Completed	1686
Client	Niels Juel
Owner	State of France
Design and construction
Architect	Nicolas-Henri Jardin

The Thott Mansion (Danish: Thotts Palæ) is a listed town mansion located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built for the navel officer Niels Juel in the 1680s but his Baroque mansion was later adapted to the Neoclassical style by the French architect Nicolas-Henri Jardin in 1763. The building takes its current name after the Thott family how owned it from 1750 to 1930. It now houses the French embassy.

Originally known as the Juel Mansion, the house was built from 1683 to 1686 for the Danish naval officer Niels Juel. It was the second building which was completed on Kongens Nytorv which had been laid out by Christian V of Denmark in the years following his coronation in 1670 inspired by the royal squares of Paris. Niels Juel's victory in the Battle of Køge Bay had won him fame and wealth. His new mansion was designed by Lambert van Haven as an L-shaped building in the Dutch Baroque style.

After Juel's death in 1697, Christian V arranged for his official mistress and mother to five of his children, Sophie Amalie Moth, to take over his mansion. She immediately passed it on to their eldest son, Christian Gyldenløve, who in about 1700 extended the building with a third wing. The house stayed in Gyldenløve's family for two more generations, although it was rented out to foreign envoys during some periods. The owners included Frederik Danneskiold-Samsøe, Gyldenløve's second oldest son, who played an important role in the development of the Nyholm naval base and dockyard.