Trekroner Søfort (literally ''Three Crowns Sea Fortress'') is a
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 ...
at the entrance to the
Copenhagen harbour. From 1713 until after World War I, Trekroner Fort was part of the
fortifications of Copenhagen
The fortifications of Copenhagen is the broad name for the rings of fortifications surrounding the city of Copenhagen. They can be classified historically as follows:
* The medieval fortifications dating from the 12th century
* The bastioned fort ...
.
The original location of Trekroner Fort was a few hundred meters north of the current one. In 1713, three old ships of the line were sunk to form the basis for a battery. One of the ships was called ''Trekroner'', and she gave her name to the fort.
Construction of the current fort began in 1787. The fort was an important part of the Danish line of defense during the
Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. The fort also was engaged during the
British attack on Copenhagen in 1807.
From 1818 to 1828 and in 1860, the fort was strongly enhanced, but its military significance diminished after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In 1934 it was sold to the Copenhagen harbour services. During the
German occupation of Denmark
At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December ...
the Germans used the fortress as a barracks. After the war it was used for a few years as a prison for German officers and the former German ambassador to Denmark. Afterwards, it fell vacant until 1984, when it was opened to the public.
Trekroner Fort is one of three artificial islands that were created to defend the entrance to Copenhagen's harbor. (The other two are
Middelgrundsfortet
Middelgrundsfortet or Fort Middelgrund, known as Ungdomsøen (The Youth Island) since 2015, is a sea fort located on an artificial island in the Øresund between Copenhagen and Malmö. The fortress is constructed at a point where the seabed is 7 ...
and
Flakfortet
Flakfortet, meaning sand-shoal fortress, is a sea fort located on the artificially built island of ''Saltholmrev'', in the Øresund between Copenhagen and Saltholm. The island and fort are simply known as ''Flakfortet''; the name of the island; ' ...
.)
Cultural references
Trekroner is seen, as a ferry with Hallandsen onboard passes by, at 0:31:20 in the 1977 ''
Olsen-banden
The ''Olsen Gang'' ( da, Olsen-banden, no, Olsenbanden, german: Die Olsenbande) is a Danish comedy film series created by Danish director Erik Balling and special effects expert Henning Bahs about the eponymous fictional criminal gang. The gang's ...
'' film ''
The Olsen Gang Outta Sight
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''.
See also
*
Prøvestenen, Copenhagen
Prøvestenen, also known as Benzinøen, is an artificial island off the northeast coast of Amager in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located between the Amager Hill combined incineration plant and ski slope to the north and Amager Strandpark to the sout ...
References
External links
Official site* https://web.archive.org/web/20110719123716/http://www.fortunfortet.dk/FFsider/ffleksikon/trekroner/trekroner.htm
![Trekroner fort Copenhagen harbour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Trekroner_fort_Copenhagen_harbour.jpg)
{{Denmark islands
Fortifications of Copenhagen
Sea forts
Port of Copenhagen
Artificial islands of Denmark