Kronborg Castle, Elsinore
Internationally known as "Hamlet's Castle Elsinore"
Kronborg Castle or Hamlet´s Castle raises its mighty towers at the narrowest point between Sweden and Denmark coasts, renaissance castle Kronborg lights up with its towers, arches, sandstone and magnificent copper roofs. Kronborg Castle is a castle in class and designated World Heritage by UNESCO
Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, at the entrance to the Sound is one of Northern Europe's most important Renaissance castles. It is also the most famous Danish castle, known worldwide from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Holger the Danish and is visited each year by about 250,000 Danish and foreign tourists / visitors and is a great Danish tourist attraction.
Hamlet: Kronborg Castle is known all over the world as Elsinore Castle
or Hamlet´s Castle and the setting for William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, one of the most famous and frequently performed stage plays in the world.
We have placed Kronborg Castle at the "Elsinore Historical City
Walk" on your mobile phone or printable PDF as No.
Kronborg Castle History short
In more than 400 years was Kronborg Castle headquarters for the collection of Sound Due. Kronborg and Elsinore castle is a legend in its heyday in the late 1500s. With Kronborg dangerous guns pointing directly at the ships in the
narrowest Sound passage, daring seafarers nothing more than to pay the Danish king to sail pass by. Sound Dues fills the king's coffin, and Frederik d. 2. beautifies Kronborg with spiers, towers, sandstone and copper roof. Kronborg Castle is one of the finest Renaissance castles. Sea travels trade men, diplomats and royal recounts the magnificent castle and court of Elsinore with pomp, pageantry and cannon greetings.
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| William Shakespeare |
Hamlet and Kronborg
The legend’s association with Elsinore and Kronborg did not begin until Shakespeare, presumably due to Elsinore’s status as one of the world’s most important towns in the 1600s. Thanks to the Sound Dues which was a special toll that all passing ships had to pay in the town, Elsinore had become a traffic hub for international shipping.
From Amleth to Hamlet
The figure of Hamlet appeared for the first time more than 800 years ago in Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta danorum, or History of the Danes. From Saxo the legend continued to Danish writer Christiern Pedersen, who published a story about “Amleth” in 1514.
This publication made the drama famous outside Denmark. A French version of the story was authored by François de Belleforest in the 1500s, and when English dramaturge Thomas Kyd interpreted the work in 1590, he turned it into a drama of revenge.
Presumably inspired by Kyd’s now lost rendition, William Shakespeare wrote the play “The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” around 1600, thereby immortalising Saxo’s legendary
prince.
Shakespeare used the names Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern for two noblemen in the play. It is not known whether Shakespeare was thinking of anybody in particular when he chose these names, but Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern, or in Danish “Gyldenstjerne”, were the most powerful and wealthiest families in Denmark in the 14th and 15th centuries. Shakespeare had also seen the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe’s family crest, with Brahe’s ancestors Sophie Gyldenstjerne and Erik Rosenkrantz.
Hamlet is one of the most famous and frequently performed stage plays in the world. Since the 1600s, countless theatrical productions at the castle and many other venues have endeavoured to keep the legend of Hamlet alive. That is why Kronborg is now known all over the world as Hamlet’s castle, and Elsinore is known as the Town of Hamlet.
The Shakespeare Festival at Hamlet's Castle
It is now an established tradition that there a performances of plays by William Shakespeare at Kronborg Castle every summer.
HamletScenen invites you to a series of magical Shakespearean evenings at Kronborg
Castle in the company of guests from around the world. When the August
sun sets over the historic town of Elsinore, HamletScenen will be
joining forces with some world-renowned theatre companies to guarantee
you some exclusive experiences in the Castle courtyard. Shakespeare’s
popular works will transport you all on a journey that alternates
between seriousness and poetry, and rhythm and musicality. World-class
entertainment will provide you with food for thought and contemplation
as you make your way home from the Castle along the banks of the
torch-lit moat.
Shakespeare at Hamlet’s Castle is a major Danish event
and a tradition, which started in 1816 here at Kronborg Castle:
spectacular, startling, world-class interpretations of Shakespeare,
staged and performed by some of the most widely acclaimed artists and
theatre companies of their time. These open-air performances are
presented every August in the courtyard of Kronborg Castle.
Read more about William Shakespeare and Hamlet
play very short.
Read much more about Kronborg, click on the top right menu link
More about Kronborg Castle
Kronborg Castle - in which Shakespeare's Hamlet take place and in the casemates Holger the Dane sleep.
Kronborg Castle was finished in 1585. The builder was Frederick II, and the architects were Hans Van Pieschen and Anthonis Van Opbergen.
Elsinore castle / Kronborg Castle, with its unique location on the Sound, contains among other things Northern Europe's largest hall (62 x 12 m), the king and queen's chambers, the Privy Council Chamber, Queen's gallery and the chapel. Kronborg has among other 7 by Hans Knieper royal tapestries, made the hall, and coming in 1585.
Kronborg Castle on UNESCO World Heritage Site
Kronborg Castle was November 30, 2000 declared a World monument at a conference in Cairns in Australia. This is Kronborg officially become part of the world cultural heritage. It is the UN organization UNESCO's World Heritage Committee at its annual session chose to put Kronborg on the prestigious World Heritage List. The list includes more than 600 monuments, buildings, cities, scenery etc. worldwide, which is estimated to be of universal significance.
In good company
Kronborg Castle is listed in the company of, among other things Pyramids, the Acropolis and the Great Wall.
Kronborg Castle gets the coveted status because the castle is a unique example of Renaissance castles, which even has played a significant role in Northern Europe's history.
King Frederik 2.
Frederik 2. reigns from 1559 to 1588 and held lavish parties at Kronborg Castle. Kronborg was built to impress the many visitors who come from near and far to celebrate for days. They were serviced with future gourmet dishes and beer in barrels full.
Before Frederik 2. is married, he is most concerned to be Scandinavia's most powerful king. For seven years he is fighting an exhausting war against its rival in Sweden, Erik 14th.
After seven years of war, none can call himself the victor. Frederik 2. spend the rest of his days to rebuild his reputation as king of the north in the Baltic and fill the treasury again. money box is virtually empty after the failed wars.
Frederik 2. put a senior official, Peter ox to raise more money in Sound customs box. Sound Toll was at beginning a rose nobel per. ship, but Peter ox changed duty to cargo customs fee instead. It filled very well in the king's private money coffers and could be used to finance castles (Kronborg example) and wars that swallowed a lot of money. Very smart it was, because the ships were increased, could go further and carry more cargo and specific products, all contributed to higher revenues. Greeted a ship correctly or attempted a ship failing to pay, fired Kronborg warning shots, either from Kronborg or guard ship in the Sound. The incident was followed by "pay a fine" shoot money for guns and bullets. It will be a profitable gold mine, and the revenue ensures the construction of magnificent castle Kronborg Castle in 1574 and onwards.
In 1572 married Frederik second with his young Queen Sophie. Their relationship is known as one of the happiest royal marriages in Europe. In the first ten years after the wedding night will have seven children and they are inseparable. Sophie accompanying the king on most of his travels.
The Royal Apartments
The Royal Chambers, the Ballroom and the Little Hall
The Royal Chambers
The king and queen resided in the royal chambers whenever they were in residence at Kronborg Castle. The royal chambers were originally established during Frederik II's rebuilding of Krogen into Kronborg Castle, but had to be rebuilt by Christian IV after the fire of 1629.
The Ballroom
The Ballroom was the largest royal hall in Northern Europe (62 x 12 metres). The series of large paintings on the walls were originally made from 1618 to 1631 for the Great Hall of Copenhagen's Rosenborg Castle.
The Little Hall
In the Little Hall you will find seven tapestries originally from a series of forty tapestries portraying one hundred Danish kings. The tapestries were commissioned by Frederik II around 1580. Seven more tapestries are at the National Museum of Denmark, while the rest have been lost.
The Casemates
The word "casemate" is Latin, meaning "home in the darkness".
In these damp, low areas, soldiers would stay for longer periods during sieges and bombardments. It takes little imagination to picture how demanding, physically and mentally, it must have been to be confined for days or even months in the damp and sinister casemates.
The casemates are situated in the castle´s four protruding bastions. The bastions were constructed in 1574-76 as a part of the modernization of the medieval castle of Krogen, the end result being the splendid renaissance castle of Kronborg. Although approximately four metres thick, the old encircling wall of Krogen could no longer resist the improved striking power of the 16th century cannons. The new fortifications, on the other hand, would keep the enemy in proper distance from the main castle.
Read much more about Kronborg, click on the top right menu link
Kronborg burns down
But Kronborg was to experience several dramatic events. On the night of 25 September 1629 the castle was ravaged by fire and only the chapel survived. Christian IV rebuilt the castle, carrying out modernisations and extensive new decorations in the Baroque style. In September 1658 Kronborg was shelled and captured by the Swedes, who took many valuable art treasures as spoils, including a fantastic ornamental fountain from Frederik II's time.
The Crownwork
In the years that followed, work was carried out on the outer fortifications, and in 1690 Christian V built the Crownwork as an advanced defence against a land attack. From this time on the castle was not generally used as a residence by the royal family, and in 1785 the army converted it into barracks. A number of rooms were rebuilt, but after the army left the castle in 1923, it was thoroughly renovated and restored to how it had been in the days of Frederik II and Christian IV.
Holger the Dane
For centuries, Holger the Dane has been an important national symbol for the Danish people.
The Statue’s Origins
A bronze statue of the figure Holger the Dane, or Holger Danske, was commissioned for Hotel Marienlyst in Elsinore in 1907. The plaster figure on which the statue was based was set up in the casemates of Kronborg and gradually became much more famous than the bronze version. The statue was sculpted by Hans Pedersen-Dan.
In 1985, the plaster cast had to be replaced with a concrete replica because it had been ruined by the damp climate of the casemates.
The Legend
The legend did not originate in Denmark at all, however, but appeared for the first time in Chanson de Roland, a principal work in medieval French literature. Holger the Dane appears in the work as one of Charlemagne’s great warriors named “Ogier le Danois”.
Later the tale of Holger the Dane wandered northward, appearing for the first time in Scandinavia around 1510. A Danish version of the tale was published in 1534 entitled “Kong Olger Danskes Krønike”, or The Chronicle of King Olger the Dane. As the author Christiern Pedersen came from Elsinore, the heroic figure became naturally associated with Kronborg. The book was republished several times and was a primary source of inspiration for the Danish populace’s knowledge and awareness of the bearded giant Holger the Dane.
According to the legend, when the kingdom is threatened by a foreign enemy, the stone figure will turn into flesh and blood, and Holger the Dane will rise to defend his country.
The legend of this heroic mythical character was also a source of inspiration for literature and music.
Hans Christian
Andersen, for instance, wrote the fairytale “Holger the Dane” in 1845.
Read much more about Kronborg, click on the top right menu link
Kronborg Castle - in which Shakespeare's Hamlet take place and if casemates Holger Danish sleep - was finished in 1585.
The builder was Frederick II, and the architects were Hans Van Pieschen and Anthonis Van Opbergen.
Kronborg Castle, with its unique location on the Sound, contains among other things Northern Europe's largest hall (62 x 12 m), the king and queen's chambers, the Privy Council Chamber, Queen's gallery and
the
chapel.
Kronborg Castle has among other 7 by Hans Knieper royal tapestries, made the hall, and coming in 1585.
Opening Hours at Kronborg Castle
January - March
Tuesday - Sunday 11:00 - 16:00
Please note the Castle is closed on Mondays.
Last admission is 30 minutes before closing time.
April - May
Daily 11:00 - 16:00
Last admission is 30 minutes before closing time.
June - September
Daily 10:00 - 17:30
Last admission is 30 minutes before closing time.
October
Daily 11:00 - 16:00
Last admission is 30 minutes before closing time.
Please note: From 16th of October until 22nd of October the castle is open from 10:00 until 17:00 due to the castle's Renaissance Festival. The castle is closed Monday 31st of October.
November - December
Tuesday - Sunday 11:00 - 16:00
Please note the Castle is closed on Mondays
Last admission is 30 minutes before closing time.
The castle is closed for the public on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December 2016 and on 1 and 2 of January 2017.
The castle was in 2000 on UNESCO's world heritage list.
Read more about Elsinore
Hamlet´s City
Do not forget that Elsinore has many more sights and attractions, try and see
"Elsinore Historical City
Walk"
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