Honouring Elvis Presley at Memphis Mansion, a copycat Graceland in Denmark

Were he alive today, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll would be blowing out 87 candles on his birthday cake in a few weeks’ time.

And if you’re in the mood to celebrate, Elvis Presley super-fan Henrik Knudsen has saved you a long-haul flight by painstakingly creating a replica of Elvis’s beloved Graceland mansion — on the outskirts of Randers in Denmark’s central Jutland.

The former power tools salesman opened Memphis Mansion in 2011. It’s the only non-travelling Elvis-appreciation museum outside America and attracts 150,000 visitors a year in normal times.

Lookalike: Memphis Mansion in the outskirts of Randers is modelled on Elvis’s Graceland

Squint and you could almost believe you’re in the Deep South as you approach the entrance, flanked by stone lions and kingly columns. 

Replicating the exterior was no challenge for Henrik, 57, who has visited Memphis, Tennessee, 112 times.

But step over the threshold, to the sound of Elvis crooning Welcome To My World, and you’ll notice a distinctive lack of green shag pile carpeting or indoor rock waterfalls, à la Graceland.

A statue of Elvis outside Memphis Mansion, the only non-travelling Elvis-appreciation museum outside America

Pictured is Highway 51, where 12,000 portions of Elvis’s favourite sandwich are served to visitors annually

Were he alive today, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll would soon be blowing out 87 candles on his birthday cake

‘From day one, we didn’t want to create an exact replica of Elvis’s rooms,’ says Henrik. 

Instead, he has introduced a diner called Highway 51, where a belly-busting 12,000 portions of Elvis’s favourite snack — the peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwich — are served to visitors annually. 

With twice the floor space of its transatlantic doppelganger, Memphis Mansion also has a gift shop, a wedding venue for Blue Hawaii-style nuptials and an entire floor dedicated to Henrik’s collection of Elvis memorabilia, valued at more than £1 million.

Graceland may have Presley’s pink Cadillac, but for Henrik, his quirky £4.5 million Danish museum offers something far more revealing.

Zoey says that Henrik’s devotion for all things Presley ‘keeps the show on the road at this king-size museum’. Pictured is the museum gift shop 

‘Take these for example,’ the Elvis aficionado enthuses, holding a pair of white suede shoes, one noticeably larger than the other.

‘This is an odd one because in 1956, Elvis was dealing with an ingrown toenail but he was too busy touring to do anything about it. 

So he actually bought two pairs of shoes, one a size bigger to give his sore toe space.’

There’s also the original recording of the Million Dollar Quartet — the fabled 1956 jam session with Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash — cufflinks presented to the Memphis Flash by President Nixon at their eyebrow-raising meeting, a bottle of sparkling water touched by greatness and a hot-red Lincoln Continental car bought by the star. 

‘Within a hip-swivel of the mansion is a replica (pictured) of Elvis’s humble birthplace,’ Zoey writes

Pictured is Elvis’s hot-red Lincoln Continental car, on display at Memphis Mansion 

The museum boasts an entire floor dedicated to Henrik’s collection of Elvis memorabilia, valued at more than £1 million 

Pictured here is the original Graceland –  Elvis’s beloved mansion in Tennessee

You can even walk Elvis’s rags-to-riches life story in less than 30 seconds, as within a hip-swivel of the mansion is a replica of Elvis’s humble birthplace. Memphis Mansion also has its own 24-7 Always Elvis radio station.

It’s Henrik’s devotion for all things Presley, from preserving a bumper car Elvis once rode in to rustling up tribute sarnies, which keeps the show on the road at this king-size museum.

Another famous Elvis — Elvis Costello — apparently agrees. ‘He stopped by and commented on our passion. He felt that Memphis Mansion was made by Elvis fans, for Elvis fans,’ says Henrik.