162 / 318
Absalon ’s castle originally stood as an isolated Citadel on the low Slots
holm (Castle H olm ) the original shoreline o f which (see fig. page 157) has
been establislied by modern inve stigations. The castle was entirely destroyed
in 1368, and was later rebnilt and, in the course o f time, extend ed to an
irregular group o f buildings characterized by the changing building styles
o f the d ifferen t centuries, and severa l utility buildings were at various times
built there. The holm was extend ed by reclaiming and partly through raising.
During the reign o f Christian the Fourth, it reached its present extent.
B etw een the castle and the town, as well as behiiul the exchange, several
private buildings w ere erected (fig. pages 159, 160 and 161). A fte r the
construction o f Christianshavn and Knippelsbro (se details at page 67 f f )
about 1620, the general tra ffic was increasingly routed across the holm,
which faet caused the latter to becom e connected with the town by several
bridges. Am ong these, how ever, Løngangen (the Secret Passage) was r e
served fo r the king, and form ed a part o f the special fo rtif ications o f Slots
holmen, which were abandoned in the 1660s. At the time o f Christian the
Fifth plans fo r a com p lete re-cirrangement o f the buildings o f Slotsholmen
were first brought up in connection with a p ro jected but never ex ecu ted
plan fo r a castle (see plan at page 162). Frederik the Fourth rebuilt the old
castle, and erected new stables.
Christian the Sixth built the first Christiansborg (see fig. page 163), re
placed
—
after the d ifferen t fires
—
in 1828 by C. F. H ansens seconcl and
about 1918 by Thorvald Jørgensen’s third castle. The privcde buildings be
tween the castle and the town disappeared already when the first Christians
borg was built. The buildings behind the exchange gradually acquired an
increasingly elegant character, and have to a great exten t been taken over
fo r the use o f various Governm ent depcirtments, a developm en t which com -
m enced with the erection o f F rederik the Fourth ’s chcincellery building in
1715, and which will presumably be continued.
Bremerholm , like the Slotsholm, was a low shore holm (fig. page 165),
on which King Hans built the first navy yard o f the Capital. The channel
which then separated Bremerholm from the town was partly filled in by
private initiative, and disappeared en tirely a fter the siege in 1535-36. On
Bremerholm , which was now a part o f the mainland, several buildings in
connection with the Royal shipy ard were erected in the 16th ceritury.
The old area o f the holm was cut in two by the construction o f Christian
the Fourth ’s ramparts in 1606 (see edso fig. page 165). On the ground inside
the ramparts Skipperboderne (the Skipper Stalls) were erected (see page
6te f f ) . The part outside the ramparts was reserved fo r the use o f the navy
yard, and raised and extend ed to Nyhavn (N ew port) which was excavatecl
in 1681. Abou t the same time Mastegrcwen (the Mast Pond ) was constructed ;
nothing came o f the projects once more to isolate the holm by connecting
Nyhavn with Holmens Kanal.
Although cdrecidy at the creation o f Nyholm (N ew Holm ) in 1690 (see page
151) it was planned to m ove all the activities o f the navy yard there, the
plan was not carried out. Not even the faet thcit the fire o f 1795 origincded
at the holm, and thence spread to the town, had any e ffe c t in this respect,
and Gammelholm (Old H olm ), as it was later ncimed, was not released fo r
private developm en t until 1858.
T H E H O L M S
f
S L O T S H O L M E N A N D H H E M E H H O LMJ
THE MEDIÆVAL
CASTLE
PRIVATE BUILDINGS
TRAFFIC LINES AND
BRIDGES
CHRISTIANSBORG
CHANCELLERY
BUILDINGS
BREMERHOLM
ROYAL SHIPYARD
THE SKIPPER STALLS
THE NAVY YARD AT
GAMMELHOLM
SLOTSHOLMEN
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