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7 RUNDETÅRN (THE R O U N D TOW ER ) 1646
In 1637 the buildin g o f Rundetårn and T rin itatis Church
was begun on the in itiative o f Christian IV . The tower
was completed 1642, the church 16 5 1 , but not until 1656
were the buildings o fficia lly opened and used. It seems
very likely that the K in g him self supplied the plans for the
tower, just like the tripartite d ivision of the church w as
his idea, too. It w as m eant to serve as a parish church for
the students and at the same time, in a room betw een the
arches and the roof, house the U n iversity Library; the
tower was to be an astronom ical observatory. The en
graving shows Rundetårn approxim ately as it looked from
a roof-top behind Regensen (a dorm itory for the students
at the U niversity o f Copenhagen). H ow ever, G reyss made
the embrasures more round than th ey actu ally were, and
he left out the five sm all ob servatory houses put up on
the flat roof o f the tower. In the background the Sound
and Nyboder, and in the bottom right-hand corner Store
Kannikestræde. The engravin g is the first reproduction
that we have o f a single bu ildin g in Copenhagen.
Reproduced p. 19.
8
RUNDETÅRN 16 5 7
This engraving is the result o f a further treatm ent of the
plate for cat. no. 7. It w as to be used once more for
the title page o f the second edition o f B ang's book,
and since in the m eantim e T rin itatis Church had been
completed, it goes w ith o u t sayin g that it must also be
completed in the picture. Hence the on ly m odifications
that have been undertaken in comparison w ith cat. no. 7
are the roofing o f the nave and the change of date in the
inscription.
9
COPENHAGEN FROM THE NO R THW E ST 1658
With Christian IV 's expansion tow ards the northeast the
city was almost doubled in size. A n ew rampart w ith
bastions connected the redoubt St. A n n a near the Custom
House (4), built by the King, to the old N ørrevold (the
northern rampart). But Christian IV 's plans w ent further
than that — he wanted to include the lakes in the outer
fortifications where three protruding redoubts were con
structed: N y V artov 1630 (1) near the present Trianglen,
Ravnsborg in the 1640s (28) near the present Ravnsborg-
gade, and Ladegården near the present Å boulevarden -
the last-mentioned is not to be seen in the engraving. The
approach roads w ent b y these redoubts; the road from
Elsinore leading to the new Ø sterport (the eastern gate)
from 1647 (12), and w hat w as later to become Nørrebro-
gade, ending in Nørreport (the northern gate, 23) on the
right-hand side. The tw o roads are connected b y Farimags-
gade running between the city and the Sortedam lake.
A lo n g these roads residential suburbs soon sprang up. In
the city we see Trinitatis Church w ith Rundetårn (the
Round Tower, 17), the unfinished St. A n n a Rotunda (15),
and the steeples of Vester- and Nørreport (21 and 23)
erected by the King.
10
THE DUTCH A U X IL IA R Y FLEET O N THE
RO A D S T E A D OF COPENHAGEN 1658
A fter the start of the Swedish siege of Copenhagen in
A ugust 1658, a Dutch auxiliary fleet w ith troops and
equipment arrived in Copenhagen October 29 of the same
year. Onboard one of the ships was "scheepsteykenaar"
W illem van de Velde sen., who had already done sketches
during the Battle of the Sound w hich ended in the Dutch
conquering the Swedish fleet. These sketches were shown
to Frederik III who later received an enlarged copy, now
in the Frederiksborg Museum . Undoubtedly there were
also smaller prepatory draw ings for this view , w h ich were
then transferred to larger sheets, evidently w ith the inten
tion o f transferring it to an oil painting. It is supposed
that yet another sheet existed, for on the left-hand side
part of the city seems to be "m issin g", and the same side
show s the stern and bow of ships w hich probably "con
tinued" on the m issing sheet. The view is taken from the
entrance to the harbour. The monumental buildings are,
107