CHRISTIANSBORG
Copenhagen,
Denmark
It is arguable whether Christiansborg
– more
properly a
palace than a castle – counts when considering Danish Castles.
But for most of
its existence it was a fortified structure and in Danish it is referred
to as
Christiansborg Slot – slot being the word for Castle and also
some remnants of
the earlier genuine castles do exist inside today’s palace.
The earliest
castle – which his
the one which has some
remaining stonework inside the palace – is known as
Absalon’s Castle and was
built by Bishop Absalon of Roskilde around 1167. For a while the Castle
and
City of Copenhagen was owned by the Bishops of Roskilde, but it became
the
subject of a bitter feud between the Church and the Danish Royal
family. Whilst
this feud was going on Wend pirates and Hanseatic sailors frequently
attacked
the Castle. In the 1250s it was occupied and plundered.
In 1369 after
a conflict with the
unpopular King Valdemar
IV, the Hanseatic League sent 40 stonemasons to demolish the Castle
stone-by-stone. They did this, but left enough that some remains exist
today.
In the years
following this demolition
a new castle – referred
to as Copenhagen Castle – was built on the site. It was still the
property of
the Bishops of Roskilde until Erik of Pomerania finally took the rights
to the
Castle in 1417. From that point onwards the Castle remained in Royal
hands and
from the mid-15th Century it also became the
seat of the
Danish
parliament.
The Castle was
rebuilt numerous times
but when Frederik IV
came to the throne he decided the time was right to demolish the cold
and
draughty castle and build a new palace. Work began in 1733 and was
largely
completed by 1745. Unfortunately a fire destroyed most of it in 1794.
The
second palace was started in 1803 and completed in 1828 – by
which time
Frederick VI decided he didn’t want to live in the castle after
all and so it
became used as a place for entertaining guests. This building burned
down in
1884 and it stayed ruined for some long while.
It wasn’t
until the early 20th
Century that a
competition was launched to design the third Christiansborg Palace. It
was won
by Thorvald Jørgensen and work started in 1907 and was completed
by 1928.
Despite its ancient appearance, it uses very modern techniques inside
such as
reinforced concrete with granite facades. The new palace was designed
to
accommodate both the Royal Family, the parliament and the main
judiciary. In
reality the Royal Family only use it for ceremonial purposes and the
Palace is
today most used by the Danish Parliament and judicial system.
During
construction of this
newest palace ruins of the two medieval castles were found and were
left open
to the public as part of an exhibition, which they still are today.
Guided
tours are available of parts of the palace which is one of
Copenhagen’s best
known buildings.
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Castles of Denmark
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Text copyright - Raving Loony Productions and Andrew J. Müller
© Photos and Artwork - Andrew J. and Jacqui Müller
© Web Design and Layout - Andrew J. Müller
2018