Aalborghus Castle () is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

, Denmark. It is a half-timbered (''bindingsværk'') castle built by King

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

from 1539 to around 1555 initially as a fortification. A building had existed at the site before

's castle. It stood south of the castle and is mentioned in the first documentation of Aalborghus, dating back to 1340. It was owned by

Margrethe I Margaret I (; March 1353 – 28 October 1412) was Queen regnant of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included Finland) from the late 1380s until her death, and the founder of the Kalmar Union that joined the Scandinavian kingdoms together for ...

and was the death place of King Hans in 1513 who died in a horse riding accident. King Frederik I had originally intended to destroy the initial building around 1530 and moving to a different site to convert Aalborg's

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery into a castle. However he left the decision to his son Christian III, who later decided to demolish the original in 1539 and contracted the royal architect Morten Bussert to build a new fortified castle north of the old site, near the

Limfjord The Limfjord ( common Danish: ''Limfjorden'' , in northwest Jutlandish dialect: ''Æ Limfjord'') is a shallow part of the sea, located in Denmark where it has been regarded as an inlet ever since Viking times. However, it now has entries both ...

. A barrier wall was built alongside the fjord, and later in 1633, King

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is the longest in Scandinavian history. A member of the H ...

built a north wing facing the port, which was used as a granary for the storage of food supplies such as grain. A western wing was built to the same effect later, holding other supplies such as meats and fish. The south-facing wing was created between 1808 and 1809 but all that remains today of the original castle is the east wing. Between 1954 and 1964 the old granaries underwent full renovation by the Royal Inspector of Listed Buildings, Leopold Teschl, who converted them into council offices.

References

{{coord, 57, 2, 58, N, 9, 55, 27, E, type:landmark_region:DK, display=title Buildings and structures in Aalborg Castles in Denmark History of Aalborg Listed buildings and structures in Aalborg Municipality Timber framed buildings in Aalborg Municipality Tourist attractions in Aalborg

See also

References