Visit Kastellet (The Citadel) in Copenhagen

Look at any map of Copenhagen and the chances are that one of the first things to catch your eye will be the distinctive star-shaped construction just to the north of the city centre.

This pentagon-shaped Kastellet (Citadel) is one of the best-preserved fortresses in northern Europe. It was built in 1662, and as we’ll see in this article, is still used on a daily basis by the Danish military. It is open to the public though, so let’s find out why Kastellet is well worth an exploration of its grassy banks and buildings.

The construction of Kastellet

King Christian IV of Denmark started Kastellet's construction in 1626 with the building of an advanced post, St. Anne's Redoubt (Sankt Annæ Skanse in Danish), on the coast north of the city. This was intended to guard the entrance to the port, together with a blockhouse that was constructed north of Christianshavn - which at the time was a brand new settlement which had just been founded on the other side of the strait between Zealand and Amager.

The Kastellet’s church lies at the centre of the fort

The memorial to soldiers fallen in WWII outside the southern bank of kastellet.

After the Swedish siege of Copenhagen (1658–1660) the Dutch engineer Henrik Rüse was called in to help rebuild and extend the construction. The fortification was named Citadellet Frederikshavn (‘The Citadel of Frederik's harbour’ in English), but it is nowadays simply called Kastellet ("the Citadel").

Kastellet was part of the defence of Copenhagen against the United Kingdom in the Battle of Copenhagen (1807) during the Napoleonic wars. This battle is known as the first ever ‘terror attack’ on a European capital, as the British, who had not even declared war on the Danes, intentionally targeted civilian habitations in order to lower morale.

During the German invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940, German troops landing at the nearby harbour captured Kastellet from the Danish military without resistance.

Kastellet was renovated 1989–1999 with funds from the A.P. Møller and Wife Chastine McKinney Møllers General Fund.

Exploring the buildings of Kastellet

Kastellet can be approached from the north or south by permanent bridges across the moat. I recommend taking the southern route (the direction of the city centre and river boat stop), which takes in the church and WWII memorial (pictured abvoe). Make your way over the bridge and through the tunnel which runs through the rampart wall. The first thing you’ll see is the cobbled street leading through the centre of the fortress, with neat rows of 2-storey barracks on either side.

The Rows

The Rows (Danish: Stokkene) are six terraces that were originally built by Henrik Ruise as barracks for the soldiers based at the Citadel. The dorms measured four by four metres and contained two triple beds, a small table and two benches. Over time they became known under individual names: General Stock where the commanders resided until the Commander's House was built, Artillery Stock for the artillerists, and Star Stock, Elephant Stock, Swan Stock and Fortuna Stock. The Mansard roofs are not part of the original design but date from 1768 when the rows were altered.

The Commander's House

The Commander's House (Danish: Kommandantboligen) was the residence of the commander of Kastellet. It was built in 1725 in the Baroque style by architect and master builder Elias Häuser. He also designed the first Christiansborg Palace which burned down in 1794. Built in yellow-dressed masonry with white detailing, it consists of two floors under a red tile roof. The triangular pediment is decorated with a relief and Christian VII's monogram under topped by a crown. It served as the official residence of the Chief of Defence up until 2008.

The Powder house

The Powder House at the Queen's Bastion, which was used for the storage of gunpowder, is the only surviving of originally two identical powder houses which were built by Domenico Pelli in 1712. It was designed with large stone walls and a slightly vaulted ceiling to ensure that a possible explosion would move upward and thereby cause a minimum of damages to the surroundings. When in 1779 a powder house at the East Rampart exploded, causing damages in the Nyboder area , it was decided that it was too dangerous to store explosives at the site, and the powder houses at the Citadel instead came into use as a jailhouse.

The Church

The Kastelskirken ("Citadel Church"), pictured above, was built in 1703–4 in heavy Baroque style during the reign of King Frederik IV. It includes sound holes to the prison to enable prisoners to follow services.

The Windmill

Walking along the top of the ramparts your eyes will soon be drawn to the windmill, which sits atop the King's Bastion, in the southwestern corner of Kastellet. Built in 1847, it replaced another mill from 1718 which was destroyed by a storm the year before. The original mill was a post mill while the current mill is of the Dutch type.

Since a fortified city needed secure supplies, including supplies of flour and rolled groats, in the event of a siege, several windmills were constructed on the Copenhagen bastions. In 1800, there were 16 windmills on the ramparts of Copenhagen. The mill at Kastellet is the last which is still working, while another one, Lille Mølle at the Christianshavn Rampart, was transformed into a private home in 1915 and now functions as a historic house museum.

Russian Empress Consort Maria Feodorovna, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark, got her rye flour from the mill at Kastellet. The Army's Bread Factory would send it to the Imperial Court in Saint Petersburg where she was served øllebrød (a Danish rye bread porridge) each morning in the Anichkov Palace.

Visiting Kastellet

The site includes two small museums with limited opening hours (N.B. recently permanently closed due to Coronavirus restrictions - check their website before visiting). The Garrison's Historical Collections and the Livjæger Museum are on display in one of the guard buildings inside the North Gate.

There is a changing of the guard ceremony at the Central Guard House every day at 12.00. Military concerts take place at the drill grounds on summer afternoons at 14.00. The Citadel Church often arranges concerts as well - you can see the upcoming dates on their website.