DAY 17 - KRONBORG CASTLE - Tuesday 10th May, 2022.

Today we had the whole day to ourselves, Maria was finishing work early and had offered to pick the boys up on her way home from work, so we didn't have to rush home.  Since we had more time today, we decided to do a longer trip and head across to the East coast of Zealand to Helsingør to check out Kronborg Castle and even try and visit the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art..  We thought we might have visited the castle in the morning and the art gallery in the afternoon.  Little did we realize that both of these places deserved a day of their own, both amazing places to visit...

We left after we dropped the boys to daycare  and headed to Helsingør and arrived there around mid morning.  

 

 Helsingor, also known as Elsinore, is a port city in eastern Denmark. Overlooking the Oresund strait in the north eastern corner of the island Zealand, the 15th-century Kronborg Castle provided the setting for Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet.’ It is the closest city to Sweden, with frequent ferry connections to its twin city across the strait; Helsingborg. Nearby, the M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark illustrates 600 years of Danish seafaring history. The glass-walled Culture Yard in the old shipyard organizes cultural events.

The town itself  is  rich in architecture, pastel coloured buildings, and it is worth walking through the many pedestrian and historic streets finding where you find old narrow, cobble stoned streets with half timbered houses and other preserved buildings. There are several bakeries, fresh produce stores, delicatessens, cafes, home decor stores, antiques, etc., so much to do and see here...

Backdrop to Helsingor, lies Kronborg Castle

 What you can't miss in Helsingor is the famous Kronborg Castle which has existed here since 1420. It has been burned to the ground and rebuilt since, but always maintained its vital position at the head of the Oresund Sound. Ships passing into the Baltic Sea paid tolls at Kronborg Castle and Helsingor was once one of the most important towns in Europe. In 2000, Kronborg Castle became a UNESCO World Heritage Site

 

Museet for Sofart (Maritime Museum of Denmark) is located inside the shipyard’s old dry dock right beside Kronborg Castle. It’s all about Danish maritime history since the renaissance, told by ship models, films and interactive exhibitions on everything from the Danish colonies in India, Africa and West Indies over naval battles and the east Asia trade to recent history. The museum was designed by world famous architects BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group. The Helsingor Værftsmuseum (Shipyard Museum), in the old shipyard administration offices, is run by a group of passionate previous employees together with the city council who have set up an exhibition on shipbuilding in the city including collections on the craft in general. Free admission.

Museet for Sofart (Maritime Museum of Denmark)

Helsingor Harbor or known also the Dockland of Helsingor is a great place to explore. There are plenty of things to see particularly if one is interested into culture and art. On the water front you will see the The Culture Yard (Kulturevaerftet) building which very interesting to see. The harbour is great to spend time specially if the weather is warm and sunny. There are many places to sit down at the harbor. It's great location and you will also find inside IN the modern building is the stylish cafeteria and has plenty choices to eat.

The harbor is a mix of old 16th century buildings with ferries that leave every 15 min to Sweden. If you can find a guided tour you will get a lot of information you would not get by just walking around. You can find old houses (museums) that look like the 16th century houses did inside for very small amounts ($3-4)

 

By the harbour wall in Helsingor Havn is a statue reminiscent of the little mermaid in Copenhagen. This time it is a Mer Boy called HAN. The statue seems to be made out of stainless steel and has a wonderful blue hue. It is an obvious reinterpretation of the iconic "Little Mermaid" statue with the same-seated position! Its mirrored shiny surface is a contradiction to the surroundings.

 

There was so much even on the harbour front that we could have spent the day just exploring this alone without ever visiting the other big attractions in Helsingor.  

 

 

After wandering around the harbour for an hour or so, it was time to head towards the Castle we had come to visit.  We had a bit of a walk to get back there and once over the moat, there was a further walk until we could buy our tickets and then head through to the Castle itself...

 

Moat surrounding the castle

 

Welcome to Kronborg Castle

At the entrance to Kronborg, there was quite a bit of maintenance going on where they were replacing a lot of the cobble stone walkways.   We were quite taken by the size of the cobbles.  I mean we only see them laid in the street and had no idea just how thick and heavy each of there cobbles were.  It was a real eye opener...

 

 Just before we walked across the bridge over the moat, we found this scaled replica of Kronborg on the ground.  It was really interesting to be able to look down on it and see what it would look like from above.  It gives you some idea of the magnitude of the size that Kronborg and the surrounding buildings and moat take up.

 

 

One of the other rather funny things that caught our attention was the sculpture of a hand rising up out of the moat as we crossed over into the castle grounds...

A hand rises up out of the moat...

The moat and crown work around Kronborg Castle was constructed almost 200 years after the castle was first built.  During the Dano-Swedish War, Kronborg Castle was captured by Swedish troops in 1658.  It was after this war, that it was evident that the fortification of Kronborg had to be strengthened and this bought about the construction of the moat in 1699-1690...

 Kronborg is a functional castle that was actively used by the military until 1992.  It is situated on the extreme northeastern tip of the island of Zealand at the narrowest point of the Øresund, the sound between Denmark and Sweden which was also Danish at the time the castle was built.  At this part, the sound is only 4 kilometres wide, hence the strategic importance of maintaining a coastal fortification at this location commanding one of the few outlets of the Baltic Sea.  It was built to show Denmark’s wealth, with a copper roof spanning the entire castle and all walls covered in expensive sandstone, Kronborg shone like a beacon at the entrance to the Sound. The castle has seen war and invasions that have left their mark. What you see now is not a beautifully decorated and lavish interior, but a functional one that tells the story of how Kronborg has been in constant use since the 1400s.   Now the copper roof is beautifully patinated, and the walls tell the story of the brittle sandstones erosion through the ages. . Inside Kronborg, sparsely decorated rooms provide insight into how life was really lived. There are also traces of decadence, like the rare and imported Chinese porcelain that adorns the castle.

 From Kronborg, you can easily see across the Sound to Sweden, which it was built to guard.

 

The castle has been immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet and is one of the mot important Renaissance castles in the whole of Northern Europe.  It's story dates back to the stronghold Krogen, built by King Eric VII in the 1420'.  The king insisted on the payment of sound dues by all ships wishing to enter or leave the Baltic Sea through the Øresund.  To help enforce hi demand, he built a powerful fortress at the narrowest point in the Sound.  At the time, the Kingdom of Denmark extended across both sides of the Sound and on the eastern shore the Helsingborg Castle had been in existence since the Middle Ages.  The king collected taxes from all the trade ships passing by. At times, these taxes financed more than a third of the expenses of Denmark. With the two castles and guard ships it was possible to control all navigation through the sound.  From 1574 to 1585, King Frederick II had the medieval fortress radically transformed into a magnificent Renaissance castle. 

 

We were amazed at the height of the bricked fortress wall,  we found as we went through the castle that this wall of bricks was probably 4 to five bricks wide and to try and calculate the number of brick to build this was mind boggling.  These medieval castles are quite amazing... The workmanship and the number of man hours in building something like this is an amazing feat.  The age of these magnificent structures are hard to believe as we have nothing like this back home.  Our country is little more than a couple of hundred years old.
 

You can see Sweden in the distance

Massively heavy door at the entrance to the castle...

As a consequence of developments in the military technique of the era and the improved striking power of the artillery, it became clear that it was necessary to modernize the fortifications of Krogen. After the conclusion of the Northern Seven Years' War in 1570, King Frederick II initiated an extension of the advanced bastions to relieve the medieval curtain wall. The fortification works were completed in 1577. After this, the castle acquired its current name of Kronborg (lit. 'Crown Castle').

Between 1574 and 1585, Frederik II built the sumptuous renaissance castle, as a strong symbol of wealth and power. The Sound dues financed the towers and steeples, copper roofs, and sandstone ornaments. During the great period of Kronborg Castle in the late 16th century, sailors, businessmen, diplomats and aristocrats spoke of the magnificent castle and court in Elsinore with its pomp and splendor.

The work was extensive  with the separated buildings of Krogen being extended to three coherent wings. The north wing was equipped with chambers for the king, queen and her ladies-in-waiting as well as for the chancellery. In the south wing, the medieval building in the southeast corner was refitted as a modern chapel with the vaulted windows facing the chapel being retained. Frederick was a keen patron of theatre and players performed at the castle when he held court there in 1579. 

The enlargement was finished in 1585 and the castle has not been changed much since then. So what you see today is basically the castle as it looked after the enlargement in 1585.

 

Initially, the castle was reconstructed only to a height of two storeys. In 1578, however, the Flemish architect Anthonis van Obbergen was engaged as new master builder and work was undertaken to make Kronborg even larger and more magnificent. The sculptural work was coordinated by Gert van Groningen. As a sign of the new ambitions, the south wing was heightened by one storey and a new, gigantic ball room placed over the chapel. Soon after the west and north wings were also heightened by one storey. Finally, the east wing was also heightened with a passageway, The Queen's Gallery, allowing the Queen comfortable passage from her chambers in the north wing to the ball room in the south wing. The exterior walls were clad with sandstone from Scania, and the new castle was given a roof with copper sheeting.

In 1629,  Kronborg Castle was ravaged by a devastating fire.  A moment's carelessness by two workmen caused much of the castle to go up in flames in the night between the 24 and 25 September.   Only the chapel was spared by the strength of its arches.  The lavish court life vanished from the castle after the fire. The flames devoured most of the castle’s precious furniture, paintings and its copper roof. After that day, the castle's fortunes faded.  King Christian IV put great efforts into restoring the castle and by 1639, the exterior — which in keeping with the king's wish was reconstructed without major changes — was once again magnificent, but the interior never fully regained its former glory. Furthermore, certain modernizations were made, and portals, chimneypieces, ceiling paintings and other decorations were renewed in  Baroque style.

However, in 1658 another accident hit Kronborg, the Swedes bombed and occupied the castle.  Kronborg was besieged, attached and conquered in a disastrous war where Denmark lost Southern Sweden and was almost wiped out as a country.  (To save their national pride it would be noted that Sweden only won because they got lucky that the sea froze over and they could walk across the ice). The Swedes occupied the castle then from 1658 to 1660.   The Swedish army was brutal and burnt down many towns all over the country. They also pillaged the castle.  Kronborg was deprived of many of its most precious art works, including the richly decorated fountain in the castle courtyard, Frederick II's canopy and a number of the large ceiling paintings commissioned by Christian IV for the ballroom.  Many of the paintings are now found in castles in Sweden. The fountain in the courtyard was also taken and melted into cannon balls and church bells which is the reason why there is no fountain today.

After the Swedes captured Kronborg in 1658 it became clear that the castle was far from impregnable and fortifications had to be strengthened on the landward side.   From 1688 to 1690 Christian V oversaw the construction  of an advanced line of defense which was called the Crownwork.  Shortly afterwards, a new series of ramparts were built and then the excavation of the moat.  After their completion, Kronborg was considered the strongest fortress in Europe.

Even with Christin V bulking up Kronborg’s defences, the Danish royals gave up trying to make the castle a home.  From 1739 until the 1900s, Kronborg was used as a prison. The inmates were guarded by the soldiers billeted in the castle. The convicts had been sentenced to work on the castle's fortifications. The convicts were divided into two categories: those with minor sentences were categorised as "honest" and were allowed to work outside the castle walls; those serving sentences for violence, murder, arson or the like were categorised as "dishonest" and had to serve the full sentence doing hard physical labour inside the castle ramparts. Otherwise, they served their time under the same conditions: they all had to wear chains and spend nights in cold and damp dungeons. From January 17, 1772, to April 30, 1772, Kronborg was the place of imprisonment of Queen Caroline Mathilde, sister of King George III, following the scandal of her affair with Johann Friedrich Struensee.

As Kronborg's importance as a royal castle diminished, the armed forces came to play a greater role. From 1785 to 1922, the castle was completely under military administration. During this period, a number of renovations were completed. In 1924 Kronborg then became a museum.  (The Swedish government sportingly returned some previously looted items)

Today, life has returned to the castle which now receives 325,000 visitors a year.

There are several areas of the castle to explore and we started off at the Casemates.  We had no idea what to expect but it certainly wasn't what we expected.  This were like a highlight of the visit for me..

Under Kronborg’s four protruding bastions lie the castle's underground passages. The casemates are gloomy, cold and damp, but have saved many lives during times of war. The underground passages have protected soldiers when enemy bullets were fired into Kronborg.

Soldiers were able to barricade themselves inside the casemates for weeks. They had room for horses and soldiers and there were provisions to feed 350 men for up to six weeks. The casemates were built in 1574-76, when the medieval fortress Krogen (literally “The Hook”) was rebuilt into the renaissance castle of Kronborg.

Down in the casemates, we came across on of Denmark's famous heroes.

The large stature of "Holger the Dane" is one of the most famous attractions at Kronborg Castle.  It was created by Hans Peder Pederen-Dan and has made it's home in the tunnels underneath the castle.

According to legend, Holger remains sleeping until he’s required to wake to save the Danish homeland.

The legend of Holger Danske, or Holger the Dane, is nearly a millennium old. The legend tells of a Danish prince accomplishing great feats after being sent to Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne as a hostage.

The legend actually originated in France, but it has been adopted by the Danes with gusto. He has become a national hero, turning up everywhere from the inspiration for World War II resistance to cultural references to modern commercial branding.

"Holger the Dane"

Holger’s connection to Kronborg is rather tenuous. The link is actually one of Han Christian Andersen's fairy tales (1846) that placed Holger in the casemates (or tunnels) under Kronborg.

The statue you see is also relatively new. Danish sculptor Hans Peder Pedersen-Den cast the original in bronze in 1907. The one on display now is a cast of that original.

As you can see, it doesn’t have the typical dynamism of a statue of a hero. Instead, Holger is sleeping, his arms resting on his sword. Legend has it that he will awake if Denmark is ever again threatened.

As the casemates were quite dark and the floors were all cobbles, I decided to wait with "Holger the Dane" whilst Steve explored the casemates. I figured that his walk through them would bring him back to me but after waiting for him for more than 20 minutes and him still not returning, I thought I better head through and find him incase it exited somewhere else..  Boy was I so glad I wandered through,  it actually turned out to be a bit of a highlight of my visit.  I had to be super careful though as the tunnels were dimly lit with very uneven cobblestone floors.  In mainly places the ceiling was low and how 350 men could live down here for six weeks at a time is a little beyond me...

Down in the casemates,  there are arrows to show you where to go and you can either guide yourself by the sparse candlelight or bring a torch as you carefully make your way across the uneven ground, where the kings’ soldiers lived and where the dungeons were. The dark underground experience under the castle gives a unique and different view of how life was for the soldiers and prisoners at Kronborg, providing a markedly different castle experience from anywhere else.  I was so thankful for the arrows as I am positive that it would be very very easy to get lost down in the bowels of the castle...

Posing as "Holger the Dane"

We actually came out of a door that was very close to the main entrance door of the castle.  When we first arrived Steve noticed that door and actually went over to it to see where it led too, but as it had a no entry sign on it, didn't venture it.  In the end we did manage to check it out as it was the exit for our Casemate walk...

From the casemates, we headed for the toilet before exploring the castle courtyard and a few of the exit doors leading from the main courtyard of the castle.  Kronborg Castle's inner courtyard is in its core. The courtyard is centered on the remnants of a fountain looted by the Swedes during their raid. The gun tower, the kitchens entry, the dungeons, and the church are all visible from here.

Main castle courtyard

From the courtyard we headed to the Chapel.  This was the only section of the castle that wasn't destroyed during the great fire of 1629.

The Chapel at Kronborg Castle isn’t especially large, and it’s not ornate by the standards of other European churches, but it has its charms. It’s also one of the oldest parts of the castle. It dates back to 1582 and is the only building not to be destroyed by the fire of 1629. It still preserves its original altar, pews and gallery. It features fine carvings and painted panels.

The chapel is located in the ground floor of the south wing and was inaugurated in 1582. In 1785, as the castle was being fitted for use as army barracks, the chapel was fitted out as a gymnasium and fencing hall and the furniture stored away. The chapel was refurnished with the original furniture in 1838 and re inaugurated in 1843.

 

 

 The Chapel’s floor is covered with black and white checkered tiles, and above is a whitewashed arched ceiling. The altar is nice but not overly ornate, and an impressive pipe organ sits at the other end. But it was the sitting area that particularly struck me. From a distance, the pews look like any other wooden pews. But as you get close, you see that each is topped with a painted headpiece. Each is unique, and some are quite striking. They depict various aspects of the royal coat of arms and religious figures and symbols.

The most ornate decorations are around a set of three windows in the upper-floor gallery on the left as you’re looking towards the altar. This is the king’s throne area, built on the orders of King Christian IV.

 

 In the 1840s it was returned to its religious purpose. It is occasionally used for royal weddings, and from time to time members of the local parish of St. Marie Church use it for weddings. The bells are still sounded on the first Sunday of each month and for church festivals.

 

 

 

 From the chapel we checked out some of the wagons that were on display in the courtyard.  We also had some fun with them and our cameras..

It was almost lunch time by the time we came out of the chapel and checked out the wagons, we planned on finding somewhere to have some lunch but before hand we took a quick look at the kitchen of the castle..

When Kronborg Castle was built by Frederik II in the 1570s, the castle's main kitchen was located here while the adjoining rooms served as brew-house and food storage. The exact appearance of the kitchen is unknown. Archival records, however, state that a flagpole, which was put on top of a richly decorated chimney, was commissioned by the king. In all probability, the records refer to the kitchen chimney.

After the castle fire in 1629, Kronborg was rebuilt by King Christian IV. He decided to retain the kitchen in its former setting. Contracts between the master builder and the king have been preserved, testifying that a large fireplace was installed. It contained a smoke bonnet and a chimney supported by five columns. In 1857, the chimney and the fireplace were removed. Underneath the floor, however, remnants of the kitchen at the time of Christian IV can still be found.

Kronborg had four kitchens in total, one dedicated to the king and one dedicated to the queen, both wit all the necessary utenils, and a specific and faithful staff that served to prevent any poisoning of the members of the royal family.  A third kitchen was dedicated to the soldiers and the castle's interal staff, while the last one was a kitchen reserved for fried food, capable of arousing the envy of any fast food restaurant.

The kitchen that is open for us to inspect is the King's kitchen.

 

We didn't realize that we could have bought our own food in and wished that we had when we found there was so restaurant or cafe on the premises.  There was a gift store which we visited who sold coffee or hot chocolate for almost $7AU.  And even at this cost, you were jut given a take away cup and a sachet of chocolate, then directed to an urn where you had to make it yourself.   We were thirsty and hungry so we ordered one.  We were going to have to starve though as they had no food on offer.

No food, only a self made drink was available from the Gift Shop..

However there were some tables and chairs in a side room where we could sit and enjoy it.  There were also a couple of video presentations on the history and a history time line of Kronborg Palace and we both found this very interesting.  We actually watched the whole presentation before heading into the fift shop to check it out...

Both Steve and I were very impressed with the massive timber beams which supported the floor above a well as the amazing brick work in the room.  The thickness of the brinks and the name required to build this castle really is mind boggling.

After enjoying our hot drink and warming ourselves back up, we checked out the gift shop.  They had a lot of wonderful things in there, but we resisted the temptation to buy any.  These days,  I photograph the things I like as a memory keepsake rather than spend money of material possessions that usually once you bring home end up collecting dust..

Lots of little peacocks

Dress up clothes for children

Knights and Maidens

My shining knight...

Cute make up bag, but not at $75AU...

Quill Pens - a blaze of colour...

This one took my fancy...

It was after 2pm by the time we left the gift shop.  We still had more to explore.   We spent a little more time in the courtyard where we took some more photos.  We had a brief moment of time where the courtyard was completely void of other people and we had it all to ourselves...

No one else in sight - we had the whole courtyard to ourselves...

From  here we headed to explore the North Wing.  This is another castle that you could literally spend hours in exploring...

Looking below the floor of the castle..

Long spiral staircases led to the different floor of the castle

We hadn't realized that there was so much more to see and were totally blown away by the very detailed and amazing Jim Lyngvild's  photo exhibition of the Kings and Queens of Denmark which is on diplay at the Castle until 30th December 2022.    The exhibition is a collaboration between Jim Lungvild, Kronborg Castle and the National Museum.  Kronborg Castle was chosen as the venue for the exhibition that recreates the line of Danish Kings and Queen.  Jim Lyngvild has made this possible as he has made the Kings and Queens come alive through his very special photo exhibition.  Because of the lack of paintings (possibly due to the fire and pilfering by the Swedes), he did not know what many of them looked like when they were alive, Lyngvild has an interpretation of his own, based on what he had managed to find out about them.  He reconstructed costumes and jewelry, dressed up models that he then photographed.  We were hugely inpressed when looking at the photos as no details were left out.

 In his book “Danmarks konger og dronninger fra Gorm til Margrethe II” (The Kings and Queens of Denmark, from Gorm to Margrethe II), designer Jim Lyngvild has brought the kings and queens of the past back to life – as people of flesh and blood. With feelings and shattered dreams. Pride and delusions of grandeur.  We were blown away by the exhibition’s more than 3-metre-high portraits, which recount the history of Denmark’s monarchy in an alluring and fascinating way.

In was really interesting in that in his exhibition, the photographs have taken on a new role as modern “tapestries” for the old royal castle. Spicing up his portraits with reconstructed regalia and images of scenes that may well have unfolded here at the castle,  we loved how Lyngvild has breathes life into the Danish royal line.  We were absolutely thrilled that we got to experience this exhibition and feel a little disappointed that it will not remain at Kronborg Castle as it really did help to bring the castle to life.

Vikings & the Midle Ages

 

Some additional background information about Kronborg and the royal line: Between the 1420s and 1857 Kronborg Castle has played an important role in the history of Northern Europe. This Renaissance castle has towered over the Sound between Sweden and Denmark for centuries after it was completed in 1585. The castle  also became world famous because of William Shakespeare's well known drama, Hamlet - Prince of Denmark. The play was written in the late 1800s and Kronborg was chosen as the home of Hamlet and the scene where the drama took place.

The museum curator, Poul Grinder-Hansen meets designer and photographer Jim Lyngvild in a friendly dispute between facts ( Grinder-Hansen) and the imagination (Lyngvild). The title of the exhibition is "Fakta & fantasi" which means 

"facts and imagination".

The Royal lineage.

The Royal Lineage is huge and gives a good idea of this long line of royalties in one of oldest monarchies in the world. But to me it actually looks like a puzzle! Impressive.  We actually spent quite a bit of time just sitting and looking at it and trying to piece it all together.  Very very interesting....

Frederik 2nd . - The Tiger hunt

Again, I only have a photo of the Danish text. Lyngvild tells that it may seem strange to see Frederik 2nd with a tiger, but also points out that in records of the Kronborg tapestries there has been one that has had the title " The tiger hunt". It is also not common to see the king without armor, but here Lyngvild has chosen to think logical - that kind of clothing is not suitable for hunting. I agree, but what about hunting naked? Lyngvild is quite daring in his interpretation, but I love it!

The tour took us from room to room. We startet at the beginning with Harald Bluetooth who was the son of the first Viking king Gorm the Old. During his rule Christianity was introduced and with him the royal lineage started. The rooms were dark with spot lights to highlight the photographs, making it a difficult to take good shots.

We also love how this exhibition was inspired by the tapestries that were made on the initiative by King Frederik 2nd. The photo shows the king together with his little son Christian, who later became King Christian the 4th .

In the largest room the walls are covered with photos of the kings and queens from Christian 1st (1426-1481) until today's Queen Margrethe 2nd. I took photos of each couple and also each costume. They were so elaborate and colourful and I loved them.  These are just a few of them.

We were so very impressed with the exhibition.  So many stories, so much detail, and it was unfortunate that we had to rush through  as we were fast running out of time, and we still had lots to see in this wing and we still had the south wing to explore.

The next room we went into was Great Hall  which was furnished with seven tapestries origninally from a series of forty tapestries portraying one hundred Danish King.  These tapestries are Kronborg's most famous drawcard.  The collection of 43 large tapestries depict Denmark's history and royal lineage.  They were commissioned by Frederick II.  The story goes that Frederick II went to war with the Swedish king Erik XIV. They were constantly trying to outdo each other. In 1581, the Danish king ordered an expensive suite of woven tapestries to adorn the Ballroom at Kronborg. This was because his rival had commissioned a suite of tapestries that depicted the family history of the Swedish king. Frederick II had to go one better than his rival.

The result was a series of 43 tapestries depicting 101 Danish monarchs and legendary kings. 1,000 years of royal family history and mythology from the legendary King Dan to Christian IV were woven onto silk and yarn. Some of the kings were more fabled than others.

The crowning glory of this masterpiece was the canopy which was woven in gold and silver. Work on the tapestries was completed in 1586. However, only 15 of the 43 tapestries have survived to the present day. 7 of the tapestries are at Kronborg.

Seven more tapestries are at the National Museum of Denmark, while the rest have been lost.  

From the Great Hall with the tapestries we moved on into the Ballroom. It was the longest ballroom in all of Scandinavia (at 62 meters long), and was the epicenter of royal entertainment. The large windows that flood the room with natural light are alternated with large paintings on the walls, while at the other end of the room two thrones are positioned.  To enter the ballroom,  you walk down a corridor which was apparently practically reserved for women, through which they could reach the ballroom without having to go outside, safeguarding their delicate slippers.  The Ballroom  wasn’t just for dancing; it was also used for extraordinarily lengthy exaggerated banquets, so much so that they included no less than 65 courses and, for this reason each guest was given a bucket in which he could vomit during the binge. All very fascinating stuff.  The walls were decorated with paintings and tapestries; most of the tapestries have been moved out and some are displayed separately now.

Frederick II ensured that Kronborg had Europe's finest ballroom. The king’s servants would hang the precious tapestries on the walls whenever a banquet was held. At the end of the Ballroom next to the large fireplace, the king would preside under a magnificent canopy of purple silk with woven gold and silver threads. The loft was paneled with elaborate wood carvings, paintings and gilding. Seven large brass chandeliers lit the beautiful hall.

For hundreds of years, the marble floor saw dancing courtiers and kings and queens. Most of the ballroom furniture was consumed by flames in 1629 or plundered during the Swedish occupation of the castle in 1685. However, the chapel’s decorations, which have survived fire and looting, give us a glimpse into what the ballroom would have looked like in its heyday.

Originally, the ceiling was decorated with wood carving. Today the ceiling is of plainer timber.

The walls are hung with a series of large paintings which were originally made from 1618 to 1631 for the Great Hall of Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen. The paintings in the Ballroom include: Children off to School by Franci Cleyn,  Feminine Pursuits  and Riding at the Ring by  Reinhold Timm,  A Boys School and, A Wedding in a Church by Francis Cleyn , An Academy for Noblemen by Reinhold Timm and A Banquet (1622) by Isaac Isaacsz. The present floor and the fireplaces are from the rebuilding in 1924–38.  It was quite grand but nothing anywhere near as grand as what we had seen in Frederiksborg Castle.

The beautiful marble floor of the Ballroom

By the time we got through the Ballroom it was going on for 4pm and we still hadn't been seen through the royal apartments.  Unfortunately we had to rush this section as the Castle closed at 5pm.

From the Ballroom we came back out into the Courtyard and then had to head back across the couryard to enter the tower again.  The views from the windows were very impressive.

The royal apartments are located on the first floor of the north wing. The apartments were originally furnished by Frederick II around 1576, but after the fire in 1629, Christian IV had the apartments refurnished and richly decorated with ceiling  paintings,  stone portals and chimneypieces. The original floors were tiled in black and white which were replaced with wooden floorboards in 1760–61, and the walls were clad in gilt-leather. Today the chambers are furnished with Netherlandish furniture from the 17th century. 

As you walk through them when you visit Kronborg Castle today you’re seeing rooms that have been reconstructed to appear much as they would have appeared at the time. Much of the furniture consists of either reconstructions or were acquired much later than Frederick II’s time.

Decorating various places around the castle you can find a monogrammed shield with the letters F and S. It was a bit of playfulness on Frederick II’s part. It can either be interpreted to stand for Fredericus Secundus (Frederick II) or Frederick and Sophie.

We did learn quite a bit of interesting information about King Frederik II and his queen Sophie on our tour of Kronborg.  Frederik II reigned from 1559 to 1588 but it wasn't until 1572 that he married his half-cousin Sophie Mecklenburg, she was 14 and he was 38.  Before Frederik II married, his primary occupation was to try to become Scandinavia's most powerful king. For seven years, he fought an exhausting war with his rival the Swedish king Erik XIV. At the end of the war, neither of them was in a position to be able to declare himself the victor.

Frederick II spent the rest of his reign rebuilding his reputation as Scandinavia’s most powerful king in the Baltic and refilling the state coffers which were largely empty after the unsuccessful wars. With Peder Oxe’s help, Frederik II managed to make changes to the Sound Dues, so that he was able to collect a large sum of money every time a ship sailed past Elsinore. It proved to be a goldmine, and the revenues collected paid for the rebuilding of Kronborg Castle in 1588. 

Frederick's marriage to Sophi was reputed to be one of the happiest royal marriages in Europe.  In the first ten years of their marriage they had seven children and the couple were inseparable.  Sophie would accompany the king on most of his journeys.  The queen was also known as one of the most educated queens of her time and she was also said to have nursed her children personally through illness, something most Renaissance queens apparently did not do, Frederick and Sophie were also grandparents of the tyrannical and tax-loving King Charles I of England who was executed for high treason in 1649.

Queen's Gallery

 Frederik II felt very strongly about giving his young queen Sofie direct access from the royal chambers to the Chapel and the Ballroom in the opposite wing of Kronborg. The Gallery was made a convenient connecting passage. The Gallery’s width allowed the queen to walk through it to court festivities in the Ballroom wearing voluminous dress as the fashion at the time. Besides their beauty, the very girth of the dresses gave a certain degree of protection against insistent gentlemen. The gallery was more colorful in Frederik II’s and Christian IV’s era than it is today.  Although the Queen's Gallery doesn't look particularly special today back then the floorboards were painted in alternating colors of yellow and blue, and the walls were papered with red canvas. A large birdcage – a gift from Frederik II to Sofie in 1585 – stood along one wall.

As you wander through the Royal Apartments, you move through a number of rooms that were used for specific purposes.  The Chancellery is a smallish room which was actually a government office handling a full range of bureaucratic tasks that came with governing Denmark.  There are large cabinet that held the king's correspondence.  Other cabinets and chest held archives of anything from receipts to royal edict to laws and proclamations.

Despite the name,  "King’s Chamber",  this wasn’t the King's bedroom. It’s one of the larger rooms in the Royal Apartments and relatively airy. It was used for meetings and dinners, both for pleasure and government business. There are several paintings embedded into the ceiling depicting members of the royal family.

One doorway is particularly decorated. It has a prominent gold monogram of C4, for Charles IV, the son of Frederick II and Sophie.

King’s and Queen’s Bedrooms were really quite small rooms. That’s not a sign of austerity of humility. Far from it. Small rooms are much easier to heat–this is a cold part of the world, after all–and contrast to the bedrooms of most people of the time when multiple people shared a bed so as to maximize natural warmth. Even having a dedicated room for sleeping was itself a sign of wealth at the time.

The Queen’s Chamber pretty much mirrored the King’s Chamber on the opposite end of the bedrooms, the Queen’s Chamber was where she spent much of the day with guests and her ladies in waiting. 

Frederik II fitted up this room for his beloved queen Sofie of Mecklenburg. Back then it was common for a king and queen to each have their own bedroom. Sofie’s chamber was a profusion of colors, precious materials and polished marble. During the day, sunlight sparkled in the water of a silver fountain and in the evening candlelight glittered in the large brass chandelier, reflected in the gilt ceiling. The room was renovated after the fire. Christian IV commissioned modern ceiling paintings to replace the carved wooden ceiling and added a new door made of precious wood. The door had already been ordered before the fire as part of the ongoing remodeling of the castle and was fortunately delivered after the fire. Today it is in the Ballroom.

It certainly was an interesting castle to visit.  We originally thougth we would see it all in the morning and then move onto the Louisanna Gallery of Modern Art, but we ended up spending all day at the castle and till could have spent a lot more time exploring it.  We never even really made it into town to take a good look there.  There will have to be left for another time when we visit.

By the time we got through the Royal Apartments, there was only about half an hour until closing time.  Our legs were pretty tired so we thought we would call it a day.

For our walk back to the car, we decided to walk along the water's edge which was a much quicker route that the way we approached the castle this morning.  I am glad though that we did get down to the harbour's edge as there is much to see and do there also...

There are so friendly ducks in Denmark, this couple were quite friendly and didn't seem to mind at all that we were walking close by...

Our last glimpse of Kronborg Castle.

 

On of the things that amuse us in Denmark is the number of people that just strip off down to basics and take a dip in the water.  They are lucky to last in there for 5 minutes, and then out they hop, towel down, back into their clothes and on their way again.  We saw this on several occasions whilst we were over here.  The water is ice cold. like someone has emptied a truck of ice cubes into a pool. It seems a lot of effort for a few minutes in the water and I am sure your body would remain cold for the rest of the day.

A quick dip in Arctic water.

It was after five by the time we left for our drive home.  We had a good 30-40 minute drive, so there would be no stopping on the way home, as Pete and Maria like to have dinner around 6pm so that we can get the boy into bed at a reasonable hour.  We have had a great day exploring Kronborg, it was amazing and had so much more than we expected.  We are going to have to come back to visit Louianna. Maybe that will be our outing tomorrow...