Kronborg Castle and Louisiana Museum

Kronborg Castle dates back to the 15^th 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 200^th 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.

 

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.

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.
 

The water fountain in the middle of the courtyard spouts potable water.

On a guided tour of the Castle, we saw many of the rooms decorated simply but tastefully in period furnishings.

On display were some of the 14 of 40 wall tapestries that survived the 1629 fire.

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.

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.

The ornately carved and painted pews were for the King and the Royal family. 

Beautiful organ on the upper level.

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.

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. 

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

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.