Fredrikstad fortress (''Fredrikstad festning'') was a fortification in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It was the base of the Østfold Regiment, with defence related responsibilities for the east side of

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn, Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows s ...

History

Fredrikstad Fortress was constructed between 1663 and 1666 by the officer Willem Coucheron and his son Anthony Coucheron following the order of the

Dano-Norwegian Dano-Norwegian (Danish language, Danish and ) was a Koine language, koiné/mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Denmark–Norway, Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1 ...

King Frederick II. A temporary fortification had previously been built on the site during the Torstenson War (1644–1645) between

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

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ) is a term for the 16th-to-19th-century multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (includ ...

. The first commander was appointed 6 January 1662; he was Lieutenant Colonel Johan Eberhard Speckhan, succeeded by Johan von Fircks in 1663. Besides the fortress the prison works was also under the supervision of the commander of Fredrikstad fortress. In 1716 the fortress was used by the naval hero Peter Tordenskjold when he attacked the Swedish fleet during the Battle of Dynekilen. The only time the fortress were attacked was during the

Swedish–Norwegian War (1814) The Swedish–Norwegian War, also known as the Campaign against Norway (), War with Sweden 1814 (), also called the War of Cats or the Norwegian War of Independence, was a war fought between Sweden and Kingdom of Norway (1814), Norway in the s ...

. The fortress, under the command of Nils Christian Frederik Hals, capitulated on 4 August 1814.Kommandant Hals kapitulasjonsrapport fra 1814
The fortress was closed in 1903, but continued to serve as a garrison. Fredrikstad fortress is unique in Norway by being the only fortress that is preserved as it was. The remaining military installations in Fredrikstad were closed in 2002 and today the fortress with its mix of old buildings and art exhibitions is very popular for visitors.

Fortifications

The fortifications in Fredrikstad included: *Kongsten fort *Isegran fort *Cicignon fort *Huth fort *Akerøya fort *Slevik battery

References

Other sources

*Lisk, Jill ''The Struggle for Supremacy in the Baltic: 1600–1725'' (Funk & Wagnalls, New York, 1967) *Oppegaard, Tore Hiorth ''Østfold regiment'', 1996

External links

Forts in Norway Buildings and structures in Fredrikstad Military installations in Østfold {{Fort-stub