Original subtitles

The Danish Film Museum presents:

A CASTLE WITHIN A CASTLE Krogen and Kronborg

For over 350 years, Kronborg has stood at the entrance to the Sound.

On the other side of the narrow sound there used to be a fortress,

which controlled entry together with Kronborg.

Passing ships had to pay a sound toll.

Frederik II built the Eenaissance castle at the end of the 16th century

with money raised by the sound toll.

In spite of sieges, wars, and fires,

the external castle has survived unchanged for over three centuries.

But all these years, it has guarded a secret known only by a few:

inside the walls of Kronborg lies another, older castle.

It was called Krogen and was built by Erik of Pommern in around 1420.

This ground plan shows Kronborg as built by Frederik II

and as it looks today.

And here is a ground plan of Erik of Pommern's castle, Krogen.

Both are square and cover the exact same area.

During the great restoration from 1926 to 1935,

a number of newer floor and room divisions were removed.

During the last century, Kronborg was an army garrison,

and the idea was to recreate the castle built by Frederik II.

Here, the great hall has been restored to its original form.

The whole castle has undergone a thorough restoration.

Newer walls have been removed, and many hidden details uncovered.

The work revealed much masonry to be older than Frederik II's castle.

And so Erik of Pommern's castle Krogen was discovered.

The wall remnants were measured and registered,

and piece by piece, Kronborg yielded its secret.

It became clear what Erik of Pommern's castle had looked like.

The entrance was at exactly the same place as the present gateway.

To the left of it was the steward's house.

It was a small, half-timbered house for the bailiff and the gunners.

To the right of the gateway was a larger building.

In an old description it is referred to as the "Eoyal Majesty's House".

This is where the king stayed when visiting Krogen.

There were two rooms: a front room

and a long hall divided by a row of wooden columns.

This hall has been taken back to its original state.

The columns support a heavy middle girder under the ceiling.

At the opposite end of the hall there is an unusual, round window.

Viewed in cross-section, the window is shaped like an hourglass.

At the time, it overlooked the courtyard.

On the inside of the window, frescoes have been uncovered.

In the middle are the arms of Christ with the instruments of the Passion.

To the left are Erik of Pommern's arms.

To the right are the arms of his queen, Filippa.

Next to it are the remnants of one of the old lancet windows

which let light into the king's chamber.

Across from the king's house was the armoury

with gunpowder and weapons.

The end wall has been uncovered

with the lancet window and remnants of the staircase tower.

Here are remnants of a winding staircase

and a doorway leading to one floor.

The window's upper and lower parts are separated by a floor.

The walls of old Krogen are built with heavy bricks

laid in what is called English bond.

That means alternating a stretcher and a header,

or having the length of a brick, and then a width facing outwards.

Opposite the end wall of the armoury was the most important building:

the great hall of Krogen, which was 37 metres long

and had six tall, lancet windows.

The arches have a characteristic, four-layered profile.

Two of the 5 metre high windows have been exposed.

They extend up through the first and the second floors at Kronborg.

Originally they opened up onto the building opposite, the armoury.

If we look from the outside into the long hall inside the building,

we see one of the tall stellar vaults, which has been restored.

The ribs rest on corbels on the side wall.

From here, they spread out in beautifully shaped lines.

The ribs meet in a rosette in the middle of the stellar vault.

One of the old Gothic vaults has been restored.

Originally there were six stellar vaults

over the largest and finest hall.

At the end of the great hall there is a fully preserved staircase.

It leads down to a mediaeval cellar

running the entire length of the building.

The floor was dug up and 1.5 metres down, the original floor was found.

There are seven double cross vaults resting on six central columns.

At the time of Krogen, there were large kitchens here.

In the innermost vault, there is a brick well, still holding water.

The fortress is surrounded by a ring wall,

which has been preserved inside the walls of Kronborg.

A segment of the old ring wall with a gun port has been exposed.

500 years ago, the guns were directed at the seafarers

to prevent ships from getting past without paying a toll to the king.

More than 350 years ago, Frederik II moved the guns out onto the bastions.

He built Kronborg and preserved the old castle inside the new one.

THE END