The Royal Danish Nautical Charts Archive () was a
Danish Navy department, responsible for making accurate
nautical charts
A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or banks. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of land (topography), na ...
for the Danish government, primary the
Navy
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
, for nearly 200 years. Its former building at Toldbodvej, now
Esplanaden, was also the first home of the
Danish Meteorological Institute
The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI; ) is the official Danish meteorological institute, administrated by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities. It makes weather forecasts and observations for Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Is ...
. The building was used as an extension office for Maersk Group services, but is being renovated and will soon house the Maersk Foundation offices.
History
The Royal Danish Nautical Charts Archive was initiated by royal resolution of 25 October 1784, at the initiative of a naval captain,
Poul Løvenørn, who would also become the first director of the department. It was originally located on
Holmens Kanal, next to
Holmen Church
The Holmen Church () is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having hosted the wedd ...
.
On 1 April 1973 the department, together with
Lodsvæsenet (the pilot service),
Fyrvæsenet (the lighthouse service) and
Redningsvæsenet (the rescue service), was merged into
Farvandsdirektoratet, in that process changing its name to ''Nautisk Afdeling'' and gaining a few more responsibilities. By royal resolution of 9 October 1987, the nautical chart production part was detached and combined with
Geodætisk Institut
Geodætisk Institut (1928–1987) was a Danish state-run cartographic institute.
It was created by law number 82, of 31 March 1928, combining Generalstabens Topografiske Afdeling and Den danske Gradmaaling, two institutions that did somewhat o ...
and
Matrikeldirektoratet to form
Kort & Matrikelstyrelsen, where it today is a department called ''Søkortområdet''.
According to resolution of 1816, nautical charts produced by ''Søkortarkivet'' have no copyright expiration date. They are permanently copyright protected by the Danish government. This order is still valid, according to the Danish copyright law § 92.
[Schønning, Peter (2008) ''Ophavsretsloven med kommentarer'', 4th ed. . Copenhagen: Forlaget Thomson, p. 746. .]
Directors
* 1784–1826
Poul de Løvenørn
* 1826–1853
Christian Christopher Zahrtmann
* 1853–1888
Hans Peter Rothe
* 1889–1898
Carl Frederick Wandel
* 1899–1909
Gustav Frederik Holm
Gustav Frederik Holm (6 August 1849 – 13 March 1940) was a Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer born in Copenhagen.
Career
He was made commander in the Royal Danish Navy, navy in 1899, was chief of the hydrographic bureau from 1899 to ...
* 1909–1919
Christian Bloch
* 1919–1933
H. O. Ravn
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Det Kongelige Danske Sokortarkiv
Government agencies of Denmark
Royal Danish Navy
Hydrology organizations
Cartography by country
Maps of Scandinavia