Countess Danner

Countess Danner, originally Louise Rasmussen, was the wife of Frederik VII from 1850. Louise Rasmussen was an illegitimate child. She was trained as a ballet dancer at the Royal Theatre. In 1841, after she had had a child with her lover at the time, the book printer Carl Berling, she retired as a dancer and opened a fashion store.

She knew Crown Prince Frederik (VII) during the 1830’s, and she later became his mistress. When he became king in 1848 she was made a baroness. In 1850 she entered a morganatic marriage with the King, and she became a countess. Because of her background she was met with dislike from both bourgeoisie and aristocracy, and she became a political liability to Frederik VII. At the same time she had a stabilizing effect on the King, who was very closely attached to her.

She bequeathed her assets to a foundation in Copenhagen for poor working class women, and at her palace, Jægerspris, several orphanages for poor girls were established.

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