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T H E F O R T R E S S
Through his castle, which was constructed to a fford protection against the
piratical attacks o f the Vandals, Absalon made Copenhagen a fortress o f
importance, m easnred by the standards o f his time.
The situation and ex ten t o f the fo r tif ications may be seen from fig. p. 15,
cfr. fig. p. 199. The low ramparts with a crest o f palisades (see illustration
at p. 20b) were, towards the end o f the middle ages, rep laced by townwalls
and towers, and the gates w ere later pro tected by ou ter fo r tif ications (fig.
p. 201). W ith a view to the water supply o f the moats, exten sive embank-
ments were constructed, resulting in »Søbæ ltet« (The Lak es) com ing into
existen ce and being extended . The maintenance o f these fo r tif ications was
originally entrusted to the local authorities o f the City o f Copenhagen, but
general taxes were levied too, especially a fter Christian the Fourth had
begun modernizing the fortress.
Although an earthen mound had been made behind the town wall, the
fo r tif ications were not up-to-date as huge earthen ramparts with pro-
truding bastions had becom e common during the Renaissance. During the
period from 1606 to 162b Christian the Fourth had the town walls rep laced
by such ramparts, the line o f fo rtif ications at the same time being extended
from
»
Ø sterport
«
to
»
Stranden
«
(fig. p. 203). In 1617, the building o f the
independent, fortified town o f Christianshavn was comm enced on the island
o f Amager, which was to strengthen the d efen ce against attacks from the
sea. In line with the Lakes, Christian the Fourth had retrenchm ents and
advanced positions constructed (p. 205).
In connection with the great expansion o f the town towards the north
undertaken by that king, the construction was begun o f the new
»
Øster
vold
«
from
»
R osenborg
«
to »Skt. Annæ Skanse«, which was built at the same
time, and was later re-m odelled by Henrik Ruse into the
»Frederikshavn
Citadel
«
(»K a s te lle t«), in connection with the comp letion o f the new »Ø ster
vold« under Frederik the Third.
As
ci consequence o f the exp erien ce gained
during the siege o f 1658, Frederik the Third had
»
V estervold
«
as well as
» Christianshavns Vold
«
extend ed to the channel o f
»
Kallebodstrand«.
»
Lange
b ro
«
was built fo r militciry reasons (cfr. fig. cd p. 207 and 209). Christian
the Fifth had
» Christianshavns Vold
«
extend ed north (fig. cd p. 210), among
other things, to protect the new naval base and the extensions o f the navy
yard (fig. at p. 211). Through these measures, the fo rtif ications had reached
the limits which they retained until they were demolished (see fig. p. 216).
The line o f demarcation laid down in 1661 proh ibited the rebuilding o f
the suburbs destroyed during the siege o f 1658, and although plans were
entertained to build new suburbs in connection with one o f the many pro-
jects to replace Christian the Fourth ’s fo r tifications by a more advanced belt
o f outworks, such plans did not materialize. These plans did not even
materialize when it hcicl been proved , in 1807, that it was possible unopposed
to bombard the Capital due to the absence o f such fo rtifications. The line
o f demarcation, on the other hcincl, was repeated ly altered. A comm ittee
appointeel in 175b discussed ci plan to push the line o f fo rtif ications farther
out at Kallebodstrand ( p. 215), cilong the cocist o f Zealand as well as along
the coast o f Amager.
Abou t the year 1700 the fortress had reached the exten t shown at p. 213.
THE CASTLE
THE MEDIÆVAL
FORTRESS
EXPANSION TOWARDS
THE NORTH
CFR . TOW N -PLAN N IN G B Y
CH R IST IAN IV AND NEW
CO PENHAGEN
P. 59
EXPANSION AND RE-
MODELL1NG OF THE
FORTRESS
LINE OF DEMARCATION
THE FORTRESS
1 9 6