Copenhagen Castle

Lore & Background

After the demolition of Absalon's Castle by the Hanseatic League in 1369, the ruins on the islet were covered with earthworks, on which a new stronghold was built in the years that followed; it eventually came to bear the name Copenhagen Castle. The exact date of construction is not known, but a bailiff (høvedsmand) is mentioned at the site in 1387, suggesting the new castle was likely completed by then. The bishops of Roskilde retained ownership of the castle until King Eric of Pomerania seized it in 1417, thereby securing definitive royal ownership. Eric of Pomerania's takeover was part of his policy of strengthening control over the trade route through the Øresund.

The castle became a royal residence when Christopher of Bavaria moved to Copenhagen in 1443, after his residence at Roskilde burned down. Under Christopher and the kings who followed, the importance of Copenhagen Castle grew, and it gradually became the monarchy's preferred residence. The castle was the setting for Christopher of Bavaria's wedding to Dorothea of Brandenburg in 1445, and four years later for Dorothea's wedding to Christopher's successor, Christian I. In 1515 it was the setting for Christian II's wedding to Isabella of Austria. During the revolt against Christian II in 1523, the town of Copenhagen remained loyal to the king, but after a siege from June to December 1523, Duke Frederick captured the town and castle. During the Count's Feud, the town opened its gates in 1534 to Count Christopher of Oldenburg, and in 1535 Christian III began a siege that forced surrender in 1536.

Reader's Guide

Copenhagen Castle served as a pivotal political and dynastic centre from the late Middle Ages through the early 18th century. It was the permanent seat of the chancery from the mid-15th century, and the central treasury administration was attached to the castle, with taxes and royal revenues brought to 'the tower at Copenhagen Castle.' The castle's importance is reflected in its selection for royal weddings and as the site of key sieges during the Dano-Hanseatic War and the Count's Feud. Architecturally, the castle was gradually expanded from the time of Eric of Pomerania onward, though it long remained within the confines of the old castle wall. Christian III undertook the first major expansion in the 1550s, shifting the castle from fortification to purely residential use. Christian IV raised the Blue Tower entrance tower in 1596, which became known as a prison. Frederick IV thoroughly renovated the castle in the early 18th century, filling in the moat and straightening the ground plan into a five-sided baroque form, but the rebuilt castle was already deemed too dark, cramped, and structurally unsound by 1730. Christian VI decided to demolish it in favour of an entirely new castle, the first Christiansborg Palace, with demolition beginning in 1731. The ruins of Copenhagen Castle were rediscovered and excavated in the early 20th century and can today be seen in the covered excavations beneath the present Christiansborg Palace.

Did You Know?

• The castle's Blue Tower was used as a prison, where Leonora Christina Ulfeldt was held captive for 21 years.
• Christian II commissioned an elaborate five-winged late-Gothic altarpiece for the castle's chapel around 1520, which was donated in 1728 to the Church of the Black Friars in Viborg, where it remains today.
• In 1428, during the Bombardment of Copenhagen, Queen Philippa of England led the defence of the castle against a Hanseatic fleet.
• The castle was long known as the shabbiest princely residence in all of Europe before Frederick IV's renovation in the 1720s.

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