Kronborg Castle dates back to the 15th century. It is built on
a slip of land jutting out into the water at the narrowest point of the Sound
that separates Denmark and Sweden ( a distances of about 2.5 miles).
Denmark’s king specifically chose this spot to build the castle since he
had just introduced a customs duty to be imposed on all foreign ships passing
through the Sound. That “Sound Dues” proved economically important to the King
and the country of Denmark for more than 400 years.
The sound due came to an end when a merchant ship from a young country called
the United States of America refused to pay the toll. The American government decided
that the toll applied only to European nations and upheld the vessel captain’s
decision. That proved to be the first salvo since it encouraged European
nations to do the same.
On the night of September 25, 1629, carelessness of workers caused the
castle to be engulfed in fire. Only the chapel survived due in large part to the fact that the vaulted ceiling was strong
enough to withstand the falling, burning beams.
The Castle was quickly
rebuilt by Christian IV but it never returned to its former glory. By the mid-1700s, royalty had vacated the Castle.
Afterwards, it became a prison. The damp, dark dungeon is still there and open
to tourists. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to visit.
Kornborg is the setting of William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Hamlet,
Prince of Denmark. The play was performed at the castle for the first time to
mark the 200th anniversary of the author’s death. It has since been
performed there several times with esteemed actors such as Laurence Olivier,
John Gielgud and Christopher Plummer in the leading role.
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| Kronborg Castle is built high on a bluff to
control the entrance to the Baltic Sea. At one time more than 1,000
soldiers were posted at the fortress. |
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The fortress was chosen by William Shakespeare as the sight for Hamlet.
The original performance of the play was here and it has been held every
year in the fortress courtyard since then.
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| The water fountain in the middle of the courtyard spouts potable water. |
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| On a guided tour of the Castle, we saw many of the rooms decorated simply but tastefully in period furnishings. |
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| On display were some of the 14 of 40 wall tapestries that survived the 1629 fire. |
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The Ballroom was an important place at Kronborg Castle.
When the castle was completed in 1585, the Ballroom was the largest hall in
Northern Europe (200 x 40 ft.). The floor is decorated with Swedish marble.
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| The Chapel, located within the Castle, was the only building not to have been ravaged by the
1629 fire. Today it has the original interior including the altar. |
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| The ornately carved and painted pews were for the King and the Royal family. |
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| Beautiful organ on the upper level. |
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| Our lunch was an interesting and tasty collection of Danish specialty
dishes. The pickled herring with capers and red onion was a first for
me. It was a real winner and I look forward to eating it again. | |
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After lunch we had a short visit at the Louisiana Museum. The museum name, Louisiana, comes not from the French
king, but from a resident who once lived nearby. He married three times.
Two of his wives were named Louisa. Not sure if the third wife was
named Ana.
The featured
artist was Emil Nolde, a prolific German artist whose work is only
occasionally displayed in the USA. |
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| With so little time at the museum, I
rushed through the Nolde exhibits which included varied mediums in large and
miniature formats. I especially enjoyed the sculpture garden with pieces
from different artists. Unfortunately it was raining but I enjoyed
viewing the pieces from the glass enclosed hallways |
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| And then we were off to the pier to begin our cruise on the Norwegian Star. Yes, those are raindrops on the window of the bus. I'm optimistic that we'll see the sun soon. |
