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The impressive 62-metre high Trumpeter’s Tower is the tallest tower at Kronborg Castle. It is named after the trumpeters who previously sounded fanfares of warning from the tower’s gallery. The spire has been destroyed by fire and rebuilt twice. The immense flat-roofed tower used to serve as a cannon tower. During the summer months, you can enjoy a spectacular view across Kronborg and Øresund from the tower’s roof.
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As shown in the model the great defensive structure called the Crownwork stretches in a wide arch around the inner fortifications. It was constructed after the Swedish capture of Kronborg in 1658. It is called the Crownwork because seen from the air it resembles an enormous crown with three points.
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Model of the Castle itself
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The first Castle on the premises was built by the Danish King Erik of Pomerania around 1420. (King of Denmark 1396–1439 and best known as Erik af Pommern). The Castle was named “Krogen” - and was mainly build to gather Sound Tolls from vessels using the waters of Oresund - when passing trough the narrow strait - but also as a Royal residence.
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The entrance to the Castle is protected by the so-called Dark Gate’s ravelin, a triangular defence structure that offers extra protection between the two bastions outside the Castle’s corners The road into the Castle passes through the winding dark gate. As you walk through the gate, you have a view down a long tunnel-like passage. This used to lead from the original entrance gate to the Four-gate Courtyard.
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The Dark Gate
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From 1423 to 1857, the monarchs of Denmark charged “sound dues” to any vessel passing through the sound between Denmark and Sweden to enter or leave the Baltic Sea. These tolls were the chief revenue source for generations of Danish Kings. A 1585-1586 German atlas praised the Kings of Denmark for keeping pirates out of the Baltic. The heads of captured and executed pirates were displayed on the Kronborg battlements. Kronborg’s old cannons fire salutes to mark special occasions in the royal family and when the royal yacht Dannebrog passes by. The cannons were founded in Frederiksværk during the 1760s.
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In 1423, Erik of Pomerania (King Erik VII of Denmark) summoned merchants from the German Hanseatic League and informed them that every ship sailing past Helsingør would henceforth have to lower its flag, strike its topsails and drop anchor so that the captain could go ashore to pay a gold coin to pass in or out of the Baltic. Erik built the original castle on the site of Kronborg to ensure that no passing ship attempted to evade the sound dues. If a ship attempted to pass Helsingør without paying, the castle cannons would fire a shot across the bow, and the cost of the ammunition would be added to the captain’s dues when he finally came ashore,
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Some observers quietly grumbled that the King of Denmark was little better than a pirate himself for insisting that passing ships pay a percentage of the value of their cargo in sound dues. Since the King also had the first right to purchase any goods passing through the Sound, Captains were motivated to state a high value for their cargo to prevent the King from purchasing their goods at a loss. One historian described the system as “400 years of legal piracy.
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The era of sound dues finally came to an end in 1857 when an American merchant vessel refused to the pay the toll. The American government declared that Sound Dues dated from “a remote and barbarous age, even before the discovery of America” and that “they apply exclusively to the nations of Europe.” The United States’s refusal to pay the Sound Dues, however, encouraged European nations to do the same.
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As you leave the dark gate, you enter a small forecourt before you come to the actual castle courtyard. The main gate is decorated with statues of Neptune with his trident and Mercury, gods of the sea and trade, respectively
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Shakespeare immortalized Kronborg Castle by writing the play of "Hamlet" - and Kronborg Castle is best known as "Hamlets Castle". The small well at the centre of the courtyard was erected in 1934. This used to be the site of a magnificent fountain from 1583, but this was carried off by the Swedes as spoils of war after their capture of Kronborg in 1658.
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Being an architectural pearl near the Sound as a fortress and Royal residence - Kronborg Castle was ravaged by a very heavy fire in 1629 - and only the Chapel was saved. King Frederik II’ son King Christian IV excavated the remains of the site and started the rebuilding and restoration of Kronborg Castle in Baroque Style with new interior and decorations as it appears today.
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King Frederik II started to restore and renovate the buildings to turn the residence into a modern Renaissance castle. Furthermore the castle was rebuilt wit new ramparts and moats together with bastions connecting the entire fortress. When the Castle was completed in 1585 - it was a well-functioning and regular four-wing edifice - and a three story castle - built with yellow sandstone.
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Chapel Entrance
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The Chapel at Kronborg Castle with the original interior and the pew on the gallery for the King and Royal family - is from the period of King Frederik II - and was the only building that was saved by the fire in 1629. The baroque organ is from the period of his son King Christian IV.
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In the dungeons of Kronborg, you can see the legendary hero Holger Danske-"Holger the Dane" . Sleeping with crossed arms and his hands resting on the sword, he is ready to wake up and fight the enemy in times of danger. A bronze statue of the figure Holger the Dane, or Holger Danske, was commissioned for Hotel Marienlyst in Elsinore in 1907. The plaster figure on which the statue was based was set up in the casemates of Kronborg and gradually became much more famous than the bronze version. The statue was sculpted by Hans Pedersen-Dan. In 1985, the plaster cast had to be replaced with a concrete replica because it had been ruined by the damp climate of the casemates.
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Various other parts of Europe have their own “giants” who sit dormant waiting to emerge and rescue their country in time of need. In Poland the figur Knight” and sits in the Tatra Mountains. In Germany, Frederik I Hohenstauffen, nicknamed “Barbarossa” sits in the “Barbarossahöhle” in the Kyffhäusser Mountains south of the Harz. Legendary figures are also found in the Baltic States.
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The royal apartments were the home of the King and Queen when they resided at Kronborg. The chambers were originally designed when King Frederik II reconstructed Krogen and transformed it into Kronborg, but King Christian iV had to recreate them after the fire in 1629
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The ballroom was the largest royal hall in northern europe (62 x 12 metres). The walls feature a series of large paintings that were made for the great hall at Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen during the years 1618-31.
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In this hall there are seven tapestries that were originally part of a series of 40 tapestries with portraits of 100 Danish kings. They were commissioned by King Frederik II around 1580. A further seven tapestries are now on display at the National Museum of Denmark; the rest have been lost.
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The castle is being visited by its 426-year-old table canopy. The Danish King Frederik II and his Queen Sophie's table canopy is of very high quality and is one of only two of its kind that still exists from the Renaissance. Looking at the canopy closely one is struck by its wealth of colours, figures and symbols. In the most prominent position are the arms of the Royal couple, surrounded by a fantastic architectural construction with an abundance of details. We can see among other things the Virtues: Justice (with sword and scales), Temperance (running water dousing burning wine) and Fortitude (with helmet and shield). The virtues represent the qualitites a Royal couple were expected to have in the Renaissance.
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KRRobson 2015