Skansen Kronan ("the Crown

Sconce Sconce may refer to: *Sconce (fortification), a military fortification *Sconce (light fixture) *Sconcing, imposing a penalty in the form of drink *Sconce Point Fort Victoria is a former military fort on the Isle of Wight, England (), built to ...

") is a redoubt on the hill Risåsberget, in the Haga district of

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The fortress and its twin,

Skansen Lejonet Skansen Lejonet ("the Lion Sconce"), formally Westgötha Leijon ("the Westrogothic Lion"), is a redoubt on the hill Gullberg in Gothenburg, Sweden, built in 1687-92 on the site of an earlier medieval castle. It was decommissioned in 1822 and has ...

, were built to protect the city of Gothenburg against possible

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

attack, and thus had a similar purpose to the

sea fort 300px, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, an example of an Early Modern coastal defense Coastal defence (or defense) and coastal fortification are measures taken to provide protection against military attack at or ...

of New Älvsborg, which was built around the same time.

History

The city of

was founded in 1621. The new settlement was equipped with an impressive network of fortifications, but military engineers were concerned by the fact that the city was overlooked by two hills, the Gullberg and the Risåsberg, and so it was decided to construct forts on both hilltops in order to prevent potential attackers from siting artillery there. The two forts were designed by Erik Dahlbergh, with the one on the Risåsberg being named Skansen Kronan and the one on the Gullberg being named Skansen Lejonet. Kronan1697

Work began on Skansen Kronan in 1687, and the fort was officially commissioned in 1698 and equipped with 23 guns, though the roof was not actually completed until 1700. It has 4-5 metre thick walls made of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

and

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-graine ...

. Skansen Kronan was never attacked, and the cannons were never fired in anger. Around the year 1900 it was decided to turn the fortress into a

military museum Military Museum may refer to museums of military and war, or specific museums including: * Aldershot Military Museum, in Aldershot, England * Athens War Museum, in Athens, Greece * Base Borden Military Museum, Borden, Ontario, Canada * California ...

, which opened on 23 November 1904. The museum closed in September 2004, and its collections were transferred to the

Museum of Gothenburg The Museum of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs stadsmuseum) is a local history museum located in the city centre of Gothenburg in western Sweden. It is located in the East India House ( sv, Ostindiska huset), originally built as the Swedish East Indi ...

. Skansen Kronan was recognised as a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1935. At the time of its construction, Skansen Kronan was located outside the city walls, but the hill was later swallowed up by urban sprawl, becoming part of Haga in west-central Gothenburg. Today Skansen Kronan is privately-owned and used as a venue for conferences and private parties.

References

Other sources

* *Mattsson, Britt-Marie (1992) ''Parkernas Göteborg'' (Göteborg: AB Långedrag, Tryckeri AB Framåt) *Rhedin, Per (1996) ''Med hammare, sax och tång: En liten historik om plåtslageriet i Göteborg'', (utgiven av Göteborgs Bleck- & Plåtslagaremästareförening) *Schånberg, Sven; Stig Allan Agroth (1989) ''Vid Skansbergets fot : Hagastudier i bild och ord'' (Göteborg)

External links

Skansen Kronan websiteGöteborgs skansar
*https://skansenkronan.se Official Website 17th-century fortifications Buildings and structures completed in 1698 Castles in Västra Götaland County Forts in Sweden History of Gothenburg Museums in Gothenburg Military and war museums in Sweden 17th-century establishments in Sweden 1698 establishments in Sweden Listed buildings in Gothenburg {{Sweden-museum-stub

History

See also

References

Other sources

External links