The Garderhøj Fort () is a Danish fortification, and was part of Copenhagen's fortifications. ATO8451

History

The fort was built between 1886 and 1892 with private funding and designed by Lieutenant colonel E.J. Sommerfeldt. Upon completion, the fort was then

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to the War ministry. The ministry on its part, gave E.J. Sommerfeldt control over the fort. Construction costs were 1.5 million Danish Crowns. The fort was in use by the Defence ministry until 1920, when it was closed and control was handed back to the private funders. In 1921, the fort was leased again by the ministry, this time to be used as an

ammunition depot Supply depots are a type of military installation used by militaries to store battlefield supplies temporarily on or near the front lines until they can be distributed to military units. Supply depots are responsible for nearly all other types of ...

and as a training ground for police and military. In 1996, the fort was given to the Danish people, and an organization was set up to restore the fort and allow it to open to the public. The fort was in poor state at the handover, being badly maintained and plagued by moisture that penetrated through walls and ceilings. With financial support from

Realdania Realdania is a private association in Denmark which supports projects in architecture and planning. It was established in 2000 following the sale of Realkredit Danmark to Danske Bank, when a fund of approximately 20 billion kroner (EUR 2.7 billio ...

, the

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and the

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the fort was restored between 1996 and 2013. The fort reopened officially on 27 September 2013.

Armament

The fortification was equipped with a variety of turrets and guns. It was therefore also used as a training ground. Fixed towers as well as 'disappearing towers' (''forsvindingstårne'') were placed at the fort. The disappearing towers could be stored almost entirely below ground level, hence the name. The downside of these towers was their limited size and reduced armor. The largest guns at the fort were two iron cannons, manufactured in 1887 in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and fitted in an armoured tower. The tower in which they are fitted is the highest tower of the fort. The weight of the moving part of the tower is 100 ton and the entire tower with armour weighs 200 ton. Two French-made 'disappearing towers' were placed on the outer sides and housed one 75 mm gun each. Each towers weighs 19 tons and has a 15-ton counterweight. To move the tower upwards, a 550 kg weight was added to the counterweights.

Gallery

File:Garderhoejfort_Cuppola_signal.jpg, Intercom from the storage area to a turret tower. File:Garderhoejfort_Fodfolkskasernen.jpg, Barracks for infantry File:Garderhoejfort_Lokummer.jpg, File:Garderhoejfort_Saillantkaponiere2.jpg, File:Garderhoejfort_Skydeskema.jpg, The shooting scheme in an armoured tower File:Garderhoejfort_Kanonbetjening2.jpg, Controls in an armoured tower File:Garderhoejfort_Cuppola_mitrallieuse2.jpg, Retractable tower for 10 mm mitrallieuse File:MG 0531 GentofteNatten 2013.jpg, Corridor in the barracks File:MG 0527 GentofteNatten 2013.jpg, Office in the barracks. The barracks were used during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. File:MG 0526 GentofteNatten 2013.jpg, Phone system in the office. File:ATO8935.jpg, Firing of double cannons during the reopening on 27 September 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortifications Of Copenhagen Tourist attractions in Copenhagen Coastal fortifications