Kronborg (castle)

Kronborg is a castle on the narrowest point of the Øresund (also known as the Sund), a strategically important location between Sweden and Denmark that serves as a key entrance to the Baltic Sea. Kronborg is among the most visited locations in Denmark and has earned fame as the setting of William Shakespeare’s iconic play Hamlet (c. 1599). Construction on the current castle began in 1574, with reinforcements made to its military fortifications in the late seventeenth century. The building is characterized as a Renaissance castle, meaning that its construction style follows many of the conventions of the fifteenth-century period during which it was built. Unlike earlier Gothic-style castles, emphasis was placed as much on the comfort of its residents as its need to be easily defensible. As a result, it has an attractive exterior featuring sandstone walls, spires, and copper rooms. In the interior is a lavish courtyard.

Over the course of its lengthy history, Kronborg has variously served as a royal residence, a military garrison, a prison, and, most recently, a national museum. In 2000, the castle was named by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site, which has afforded it greater protections.

History

Kronborg is the second castle to be built on the Kronborg site in Helsingør, Denmark. In the 1420s, Danish King Eric VII of Pomerania constructed a fortress that he called Krogen (meaning “the Hook”) at Øresund on the northeastern tip of the island of Zealand. Eric sought to control the passage between Denmark and Sweden, which only stretches 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) between the two nations. On the opposite side, in Helsingborg, Sweden, stood a military tower called Kärnan. Together, the two sites enabled Eric to create a stranglehold on the entranceway to the northern Baltic Sea. Any ship passing through the strait was forced to pay heavy dues at Krogen. The revenues from these so-called Sound Dues made Eric very wealthy, while visiting ships made the city an important center of trade. This enabled Helsingør to become one of the richest and most strategically important cities in northern Europe.

By the late sixteenth century, the rules of warfare had shifted to include more powerful and long-range weapons like cannons. Krogen was no longer used as a fortress. Under King Frederick II, Krogen was rebuilt and renamed as Kronborg (meaning “Crown Castle”). Frederick hired Flemish architects Hans Hendrick van Paesschen and Anthonis van Obbergen to head the alterations. Between 1574 and 1585, three new wings were added to the castle to create more suitable quarters for the king and his staff. The existing medieval wing was altered to establish a church, with a ballroom placed in a new second-story addition over the chapel. To enhance its appearance and ensure its place as one of the finest buildings in Europe at the time, Frederick had sandstone shipped in from Sweden to serve as a finish to Kronborg’s exterior walls and copper placed over the castle’s roof.

On the night of September 4, 1629, an immense fire destroyed most of the castle’s interior. Only the largely stone chapel escaped complete ruin. Two centuries of priceless artwork and tapestries were lost. However, under the patronage of King Christian IV, Kronborg’s interiors were completely rebuilt. Christian demanded that head architect Hans van Steenwinckel restore the castle to its Renaissance style, while using newly popular Baroque touches, including specially made ceiling paintings, to heighten its period splendor.

Between 1658 and 1660, Denmark and Sweden engaged in the Dano-Swedish War. Kronborg’s proximity to Sweden and its well-known riches made it a prime target for Swedish invaders. When the Swedes finally left in 1660, they took with them many of Kronborg’s most famous artworks, including a fountain designed especially for the castle. The ease of their invasion demonstrated Kronborg’s vulnerability, and King Christian V initiated a vast renovation intended to restore its military value. Heavy ramparts and angular bastions were installed around the castle. However, as its military applications were heightened, the Danish royalty deemed the site unsuitable as an official residence, and it was primarily used as a barracks and then as a prison from 1739 to the early 1900s.

In 1772, Danish Queen Caroline Mathilde was arrested and sent to the prison at Kronborg after being accused of engaging in an illicit affair with German physician Johan Friedrich Struensee. Struensee was executed for his role and Caroline Mathilde was banished to Celle, Germany, and barred from ever seeing her children again.

In 1923, ownership of Kronborg shifted from the control of the military to the Danish national government. By this time, however, the castle was in poor shape. Over the next decade, Denmark engaged in a massive restoration project, with Sweden even agreeing to return some artifacts that had been stolen in the seventeenth century. In 1938, the newly refurbished castle was opened to the public as a national museum. After the closure of the Helsingør shipyards in 1982, the grounds of nearby Kronborg were restored to their glory during the Renaissance so that tourists could experience the castle’s splendor as a fortress and royal residence. Kronborg retains a place of great national pride for the Danish and receives more than three hundred thousand visitors each year.

Overview

Kronborg is an especially large castle, spanning 309,812 square feet (28,724 square meters). Although little remains of the castle’s original furnishings, the museum has been filled with period furniture and artwork intended to evoke its original Renaissance and Baroque interiors. Perhaps most important among Kronborg’s artifacts are the remaining king’s tapestries. In the 1580s, Frederick II commissioned the creation of forty-three tapestries that honored all one hundred of Denmark’s kings to that point. In the twenty-first century, fifteen of these tapestries remain and are regarded as masterworks of Renaissance weaving.

However, Kronborg is perhaps best known for its association with two legendary figures. In making Kronborg the setting of Hamlet, Shakespeare was probably aware of the castle’s reputation as a seat of luxury. Hamlet continues to be staged annually at Kronborg in honor of this connection.

The second figure associated with Kronborg is Holger the Dane, one of the twelve legendary knights of King Charlemagne. A statue of Holger may be found in the extensive catacombs underneath the castle. According to legend, the spirit of Holger will awaken during Denmark’s moment of greatest danger and will arise to defend both the castle and his country.

Bibliography

“The History of Kronborg Castle.” Kronborg, en.kronborg.dk/om-kronborg. Accessed 13 Jan. 2025.

The King Tapestries: Pomp and Propaganda at Kronborg Castle. Palaces and Properties Agency, 2011.

“Kronborg Castle.” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), whc.unesco.org/en/list/696/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2025.

“Kronborg Castle.” Visit Copenhagen, www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/kronborg-castle-unesco-world-heritage-gdk1077722. Accessed 13 Jan. 2025.

““Kronborg Castle [Elsinore].” Atlas Obscura, www.atlasobscura.com/places/kronborg-castle-elsinore/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2025.

“Kronborg Castle Was the Setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Is One of the Most Important Renaissance Castles in Northern Europe.” Vintage News, www.thevintagenews.com/2017/04/05/kronborg-castle-was-the-setting-for-shakespeares-hamlet-and-is-one-of-the-most-important-renaissance-castles-in-northern-europe/. Accessed 13 Jan. 2025.

“Kronborg Slot.” Lonely Planet, www.lonelyplanet.com/denmark/helsingor/attractions/kronborg-slot/a/poi-sig/1185972/358863. Accessed 13 Jan. 2025.

Reindel, Ulrik. “The King Tapestries at Kronborg Castle: A ‘Mirror of Princes’ for a Protestant Prince.” Studies in Western Tapestry, 7 (2015): 71-86.