Gurre Castle ( da, Gurre Slot, link=no) was a royal castle situated in

North Zealand North Zealand, also North Sealand ( da, Nordsjælland), refers to the northern part of the Danish island of Zealand which is not clearly defined but generally covers the area north of Copenhagen. The Danish tourist authorities have recently in ...

, Denmark. Its ruins lie on the outskirts of

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northern ...

, close to the town of

Tikøb Tikøb is a small town and parish located 8 km west of Helsingør and six km north of Fredensborg, between Lake Esrum to the southwest and Gurre Lake to the east. in Helsingør Municipality, some 40 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Hist ...

on lake Gurre Sø at

Gurre The Gure or Gurre ( Somali: ''Gurre'') is a Somali clan, a sub-clan of the major Dir clan family. Distribution The Gurre live in Liben zone and Afder zone. They dominate the districts, Qarsadula, Gorobakaks and Guradamol, which are named af ...

. The ruins have been excavated and are now restored.

History

The castle was built in the 12th century. Four towers and a perimeter wall were added in the 1350s. It was first mentioned in court chronicles in 1364, when

Pope Urban V Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the on ...

sent a gift of relics to its chapel. King

Valdemar Atterdag Valdemar IV Atterdag (the epithet meaning "Return of the Day"), or Waldemar (132024 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance ...

died in the castle in 1375. Many stories, ballads, and poems have been made about Valdemar. The castle is associated with a legend about King Valdemar, his love for his beautiful mistress Tove Lille, who according to tradition stayed for a long time at Gurre Castle, and the resulting jealousy of his Queen

Helvig of Schleswig Helvig of Schleswig (also erroneously Hedwig; 1320–1374) was the queen of Denmark as the spouse of King Valdemar IV. She was the mother of Queen Margaret I of Denmark. Life Helvig was the daughter of Eric II, Duke of Schleswig, and Adelaide ...

. Over the centuries, this core saga was enriched by other legends, eventually growing into a national myth of Denmark. The myth was put into poetical form by the Danish novelist and poet

Jens Peter Jacobsen Jens Peter Jacobsen (7 April 1847 – 30 April 1885) was a Danish novelist, poet, and scientist, in Denmark often just written as "J. P. Jacobsen". He began the naturalist movement in Danish literature and was a part of the Modern Bre ...

(1847–1885). A German translation of his poems forms the text of the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

Gurre-Lieder ' is a large cantata for five vocal soloists, narrator, chorus and large orchestra, composed by Arnold Schoenberg, on poems by the Danish novelist Jens Peter Jacobsen (translated from Danish to German by ). The title means "songs of Gurre", refe ...

'' by Austrian composer

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

(1874–1951).

Excavations

A partial excavation of the ruin took place in 1817. In 1835, a major excavation of the ruins took place, during which the remains were surveyed and mapped. Additional research took place in the 1890s. In 1921, the remains of a stone building were exposed. In the years 1936 to 1939, a restoration of the ruin was carried out.

History

Excavations

References

Further reading