Fredriksten festning

What can you do when your beloved mountains are covered with snow and you have two left legs for skiing? It’s best to find an alternative. Preferably not too far, to not spend too much time in the car. Searching the internet for nearby attractions, I came across the border town of Halden and one of the largest defensive stronghold in Europe. And I already found out how to spend this Sunday. But first things first. I suggest to move back in time to the fourteenth century …

Union with Denmark and Sweden
From the fourteenth century, Norway and Denmark formed one political entity (as a result of a royal marriage). The kingdom was called Denmark-Norway and the capital was Copenhagen. The importance of Norway has diminished over time, as evidenced by the introduction of the Danish language as the official language. In 1397 Sweden joined the alliance. The resulting coalition was called the Kalmar Union, from the town of Kalmar in Sweden, where an union letter was signed. The union’s political center was in Copenhagen, the king and officials elected by all three countries, above all, looked after Danish interests, which the Swedes and Norwegians did not always like. There were further revolts, mainly in Sweden, and in 1523 the country, already under the rule of the new king, Gustav Vasa, broke the Kalmar union.
Over time, Norway completely hid in the shadow of its ally and the Danish-Norwegian monarchy was simply called the kingdom of Denmark. Despite the signing of a peace agreement with Sweden, after the collapse of the Kalmar Union, the conflict between the two countries was systematically returning. The consequence of the Danish-Swedish war (1643-1645) was the loss of Gotland, Ozylia and several Norwegian provinces to Sweden. When Sweden got involved in the war with Poland (1657), the King of Denmark, Frederick III, wanted to take advantage of the absence of the main enemy forces, invaded Sweden, but he became convinced that he underestimated the opponent. The Swedish monarch, Charles X Gustav, resisted the attack and struck the Jutland peninsula. Sweden was then a great military power and as soon as its army arrived at the gates of Copenhagen, Frederick III had to capitulate. Under the peace treaty of 1658, Denmark was to hand over to the winner Skania, Halland, Blekinga and the island of Borholm. Norway lost the provinces of Trøndelag and the border Bohuslän. Despite the concluded agreement, the King of Sweden, Charles Gustav, attacked the hated Denmark, starting another war. Only because of support of allied forces, among others Polish troops and Dutch fleet, Denmark managed to avoid the final conquest.

After losing the order province of Bohuslän and fort Bohus, it became clear that the newly created border between Sweden and Norway should be fortified. In 1659, work began in the small settlement of Halden. A year later, the Swedes arrived with a powerful army. The battle for Brådland embankments was extremely fierce. Norwegian forces defended fifth attacks, but at the sixth Swedish assault they had to retreat into town. However, this was not the end of the battle. The commander of the Norwegian garrison launched a counterattack and recaptured the hill, which was besieged by the Swedes for the next six weeks. Finally, because of lack of supplies, exposed to cold and in fact that the swedish King Charles X Gustav died after a long illness in Göteborg, swedish army retreated to the south.

Fredriksten fortress
The battle and siege of Halden in 1660 showed how strategically important this place is. The Danish king, Frederick III decided to erect a powerful and modern fortress in Halden, to protect the southern border of Norway against Swedish invasion.

Construction of the fortress began in 1661. The town was renamed to Fredrishald (it changed to Halden in 1928) and was granted city rights. Quartermaster Willem Coucheron, who took part in the battle for embankments Brådland, was the designer of the fortress and supervisor of the construction site. The irregular shape of the fortress is due to the adaptation the walls to the terrain on the hill. To the east and south of the main citadel, three smaller, single forts (Gyldenløve, Stortårnet and Overberget) were built. The stronghold, as you can guess, was named after the king of Denmark, Frederick III. It is the largest border fortress in Norway.

Death of the king
The Swedes did not give up and returned to the fortress walls twice: in 1716 and 1718. For the Swedish king, Charles XII, the fortress of Fredriksten turned out to be particularly unlucky. In 1716, town residents set fire to their homes to drive out the invaders, protecting themselves behind the fortress walls. Two years later, when the king visited trenches, an accidental shot of defenders of the fortress deprived the monarch of his life.
Today, there are several theories about the death of Charles XII. One of them assumes the existence of a assassin in the ranks of the Swedish army. However, when asked the Norwegians about it, they will answer with pride that it is their work. Many researchers are inclined to the theory that Charles XII was killed by a canister shot from Overberget Fort.

As the exact place of the King’s death is unknown, several monuments were erected to commemorate his death. The present monument, rising near the Gyldenløve fort, is the seventh of its kind in the fortress.

19th century and union with Sweden
Less than a century later, Europe was torn by Napoleon wars, in which Denmark supported France. At the beginning of 1814, under pressure from the overwhelming military superiority of Sweden, Prussia and Russia, the Danish king Frederick VI offered to join his country to the anti-Napoleon coalition and, as part of war compensation, handed over the entire territory of Norway to the Kingdom of Sweden. The Norwegians themselves did not have much influence on this decision. The fate of the whole nation was somehow decided behind them. When they realized that they had suddenly become people of the King of Sweden, they were not satisfied with this fact. Norwegian nationalists wanted full independence for their country, and in the same year, on May 17, 1814, the Norwegian constitution was signed. This day is celebrated as a Norwegian national day.

The Swedes had an army of 65,000 soldiers, they had the support of other European powers and a nation that had been hidden in the shadow of Denmark for centuries now has some objections was only a signal for the Swedish monarch to invade. After the fiasco of diplomatic talks, on July 29, 1814, the Swedes attacked Norway. Defenders of the Fredristen fortress surrendered on August 4, but they managed to reorganize and merge with larger units beyond the Glomma River, where the Battle of Langnes took place. Terrain, muddy ground after heavy rains, and lethal cannon fire from Norwegian cannons prevented Swedish troops from getting ramparts. After three unsuccessful attacks, the Swedes stopped further attempts. It was an important victory, because although it did not change the disproportion of forces between the two sides, it gave Norway a better starting position in peace talks. The Swedes failed to force the opponent to unconditionally surrender, and as a result of the peace agreement with Moss (August 14, 1814), a union of Norway with Sweden was established. The Swden agreed to respect the Norwegian constitution.

Independence
The union of two nations lasted 90 years, until 1905, when the increasingly stronger aspirations of the Norwegians for independence and the supported them Sweden citizens led to referendums on the issue of secession from Sweden. 99.95% of the population said yes of independence. Norwegians were also supported by other European powers, including Great Britain. The Swedish king Oscar II waived his claims to the Norwegian throne and in October 1905 the union was dissolved and Norway became an independent state. The Danish Prince Carl was elected for king and he, changed the name after the coronation to Haakon VII in honor of the long Norwegian royal dynasty from the 13th century.
After 1905, the Fredriksten fortress served as home for several military schools. During the Nazi occupation German soldiers were stationed there. The last school was closed in 2005 and since then the fortress has only been used for tourist and cultural purposes.
Concerts and festivals are organized in its spacious courtyard. Terrain around the stronghold as well as the fortifications themselves are publicly available and open all year round, and parking in front of the fortress is free of charge. The museum, housed inside is closed for winter, but instead of it (or in addition), throughout the year, a special light show is displayed on the walls of the fortress after dark, during which the 350-year history of the Fredriksten fortress is presented. During important days for Norwegians, such as national days or the birthday of members of the royal family, salutes are fired from the fortress’s cannon.

Spending a few hours walking along the ramparts and learning about the history of this place is a great alternative to mountain expeditions. It is also an ideal place for a family get-together during the weekend. A playground, barbecue area and three interesting trails around the fortress walls can effectively pull the kids away from TV screens or tablets.