Copenhagen Castle

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Danish. (June 2012) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Danish article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 405 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing Danish Wikipedia article at [[:da:Københavns Slot]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|da|Københavns Slot}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Copenhagen Castle
Copenhagen Castle painted in 1698 by unknown artist
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
General information
Town or city	Copenhagen
Country	Denmark
Construction started	Late 14th century
Demolished	1731

Copenhagen Castle (Danish: Københavns Slot) was a castle on Slotsholmen in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built in the late 14th century at the site of the current Christiansborg Palace.^[1]

Copenhagen Castle seen on illustration from Peder Hansen Resen's Atlas Danica

History[]

In 1167, Bishop Absalon (c. 1128–1201) founded a fortress on the islet of Slotsholmen in the harbour of Copenhagen. It consisted of a courtyard with several buildings and surrounded by a wall for protection. During the years after the demolition of Bishop Absalon's Castle by the Hansa League in 1369, the ruins on the island were covered with earthworks, on which the new stronghold, Copenhagen Castle, was built. In 1343 King Valdemar Atterdag took over Absalon's castle, but upon his death in 1375 the right to the property returned to the Diocese of Roskilde.^{[2] [1][3][4]}

The castle had a curtain wall and was surrounded by a moat which had an inner diameter of about 50 meters and with a large, solid tower as an entrance gate. The castle was still the property of the Bishop of Roskilde until King Eric of Pomerania usurped the rights to the castle in 1417. The Hanseatic League attacked the castle and in the Bombardment of Copenhagen during the Dano-Hanseatic War (1426–1435). The attack was fought back by in 1428 by Queen Philippa, who led the defense from Copenhagen Castle.^[5]

From the middle of the 15th century, the castle served as the Danish monarch's main residence and center of government. The castle was expanded and rebuilt several times. King Christian IV, added a spire to the large entrance tower, which under the name of the Blue Tower gained a reputation as a prison. In the 1720s, King Frederik IV entirely rebuilt the castle, but it became so heavy that the walls began to give way and to crack. It became therefore evident to King Christian VI, Frederik IV's successor, immediately after his accession to the throne in 1730, that an entirely new castle had to be built. The demolition of the overextended and antiquated Copenhagen Castle was commenced in 1731 to make room for the first Christiansborg Palace.^{[6] [7]}

References[]

Other sources[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Copenhagen Castle.

• Frydendal, Flemming (red) (2005) Ruinerne under Christiansborg (København: Slots- og Ejendomsstyrelsen) ISBN 87-990389-4-3
• Hvidt, Kristian; Ellehøj, Svend; Norn, Otto (1975) Christiansborg Slot I-II. Udgivet af Folketingets præsidium (København: Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck) ISBN 87-1701955-9

Coordinates: 55°40′38″N 12°34′48″E / 55.67722°N 12.58000°E / 55.67722; 12.58000