Castles and fortifications in Norway
Akershus Fortress
Akershus Fortress or Castle is a medieval castle that was built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. The first construction on the castle started around the late 1290s, by King Haakon V, replacing Tønsberg as one of the two most important Norwegian castles of the period (the other being Båhus). It was constructed in response to the Norwegian nobleman, Earl Alv Erlingsson of Sarpsborg’s earlier attack ...
Founded: 1290s |
Location:
Oslo, Norway
Fredriksten Fortress
Fredriksten Fortress was constructed by Denmark-Norway in the 17th century as a replacement for the border fortress at Bohus, which had been lost when the province of Bohuslän was ceded to Sweden by the terms of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The fortress was named after King Fredrik III of Denmark and Norway. Fredriksten took part to the battle first time two years later, in January of 1660, when the Swedish forces ...
Founded: 1659 |
Location:
Halden, Norway
Bergenhus Fortress
Bergenhus fortress is one of the oldest and best preserved castles in Norway. It contains buildings dating as far back as the 1240s, as well as later constructions built as recently as World War II. The extent of the enclosed area of today dates from the early 19th century. In medieval times, the area of the present-day Bergenhus Fortress was known as Holmen (The islet), and contained the royal residence in Bergen, as wel ...
Founded: 1240s |
Location:
Bergen, Norway
Fredrikstad Fortress
Fredrikstad fortress was constructed between 1663-1666 by the officer Willem Coucheron and his son Anthony Coucheron following the order of the Dano-Norwegian King Frederick II. A temporary fortification had previously been built on the site during the Torstenson War (1644-1645) between Sweden and Denmark-Norway. The first commander was appointed 6 January 1662; he was Lieutenant Colonel Johan Eberhard Speckhan. Besides ...
Founded: 1663-1666 |
Location:
Fredrikstad, Norway
Kristiansten Fortress
Kristiansten Fortress was built to protect the city against attack from the east. Construction was finished in 1685. General Johan Caspar von Cicignon, who was chief inspector of kuks fortifications, was responsible for the new town plan of Trondheim after the great fire of 18 April 1681. He also made the plans for the construction of Kristiansten Fortress. The fortress was built during the period from 1682 to 1684 and s ...
Founded: 1681-1685 |
Location:
Trondheim, Norway
Fredriksberg Fortress
The Norwegian fortress Fredriskberg lay strategically placed on Nordnes’ highest point with a precipitous cliff face to the sea on the west side. Dutch Engineer Major General Henrik Ruse (1624-79) initiated the fortress construction, planned with three bastions and a half bastion on the land side and a wall on the side adjacent to the cliff. The fort was built between 1666 and 1667. It was built after and in many re ...
Founded: 1666-1667 |
Location:
Bergen, Norway
Munkholmen Fortress
Munkholmen is an islet which has served as a place of execution, a monastery, a fortress, prison, and a World War II anti-aircraft gun station. In the years prior to the founding of the city of Trondheim in 997 by Viking King Olav Tryggvason, Munkholmen was used as an execution site by the Jarls of Lade. The arrival of Olav Tryggvason to Norway in 995 coincided with a revolt against Haakon Sigurdsson, who was killed by T ...
Founded: 1658 |
Location:
Trondheim, Norway
Fredriksvern Fortress
Fredriksvern or Stavern has probably been a harbor since ancient times. The name is found in written sources the 11th century and in the 12th century it is referred to as a good fishing harbor. The military activities in Stavern began with building of Staverns Fortress, part of a major construction of Norwegian Fortresses which took place from 1675 to 1679 under Christian IV. Citadellet Fort was built in the 1680s by coun ...
Founded: 1675-1679 |
Location:
Larvik, Norway
Vardøhus Fortress
In 1251, an embassy from the Republic of Novgorod to King Haakon IV Haakonson of Norway complained of clashes between the Norwegians and the Karelians in northern Finnmark. A Norwegian embassy was dispatched to Novgorod where a treaty (the original of which is unfortunately now lost) was signed to conclude a peace between the two countries, including the Novgorod tributary land of Karelia. The first fortification was erec ...
Founded: 1306 |
Location:
Vardø, Norway
Oscarsborg Fortress
The narrows at Drøbak, called Drøbaksundet, is a natural point for the naval defence of Oslo, the capital of Norway. The first defences were constructed during the reign of Christian IV of Denmark and Norway and were ready in 1644. The fortifications were however not involved in battle during the Hannibal War. After the war the fortifications were dismantled, and only resurrected for a short period during the 1814 war w ...
Founded: 1846-1855 |
Location:
Drøbak, Norway
Christiansholm Fortress
Christiansholm Fortress was finished in 1672 and formed a part of King Christian IV's plan for defense of Kristiansand when the city was founded in 1641. The architect of the fortress was quartermaster general Willem Coucheron. It was built on an islet, about 100 yards from shore. Today the fortress is connected to the mainland. The only time the fortress has been in battle was against an English fleet force, lead by HMS ...
Founded: 1672 |
Location:
Kristiansand, Norway
Kongsvinger Fortress
A rather desultory war between Sweden and Denmark-Norway, often called the Hannibal War, resulted from 1643 to 1645. Vinger was the staging area for several minor Norwegian invasions into Sweden as this final episode of the Thirty Years" War was completed. The most important consequence of this war was that the royal governor identified the need for fortifications at Kongsvinger (then Vinger) and elsewhere along the ...
Founded: 1682 |
Location:
Kongsvinger, Norway
Austrått Fort
Austrått Fort is a disused coastal artillery site constructed in 1942 by the German Wehrmacht to protect the Trondheimsfjord during the German occupation of Norway during World War II. The fort"s centrepiece is a triple 28 cm SK C/34 naval gun turret from the German battleship Gneisenau, which was damaged in Kiel. The three gun turret weighs 800 tonnes and was capable of firing 38 kilometres. The last firing to ...
Founded: 1942 |
Location:
Opphaug, Norway
Steinvikholm Castle
Steinvikholm Castle is an island fortress built between 1525 to 1532 by Norway's last Catholic archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson. Steinvikholm castle became the most powerful fortification by the time it was built, and it is the largest construction raised in the Norwegian Middle Ages. The castle occupies about half of the land on the rocky island. The absence of a spring meant that fresh water had to be brought from the m ...
Founded: 1525-1532 |
Location:
Stjørdal, Norway
Fjell Fortress
Fjell fortress was built by the German occupation forces during the Second World War. The construction works were commenced late summer 1942, and completed so far that they could fire the main gun for the first time as early as in June–July 1943. The fort was a significant link in the coastal defence of Norway. The main gun was also to a certain extent employed in the interception of foreign aircraft raids against ...
Founded: 1942 |
Location:
Fjell, Norway
Karljohansvern
Karjohansvern was the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1819 to 1963. It was the site of the Navy Main Yard, Navy Air Plane Factory, Navy Museum, Navy Schools and the forts Norske Løve andCitadellet. Naval District East (ØSD) based there was disbanded in 2002. The Museum, the Royal Norwegian Navy Band, a department of theNorwegian Defence Research Establishment and some of the Navy"s school a ...
Founded: 1819 |
Location:
Horten, Norway
Hegra Fortress
Hegra Fortress is a small mountain fortress built between 1908–1910 as a border fort as a defence against the perceived threat of a Swedish invasion. After the 1905 dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden, the Norwegian military harboured continued fears of a Swedish invasion to retake Norway. The fort"s guns came from the dismantled Ørje Fortress in Marker. The artillery was made up of flat ...
Founded: 1908-1910 |
Location:
Stjørdal, Norway
Blaker Fortress
Blaker Fortress is one of the Norwegian fortresses which were constructed in the period of intense competition among the Baltic powers (Denmark-Norway, Sweden, Russia, Poland and the German states) for northern supremacy. In 1675 Gyldenløve indicated an intent to construct a fortress in the Glomma river where Blaker (a former township in Akershus) lies as part of his general program of Norwegian fortification upgra ...
Founded: 1675 |
Location:
Blaker, Norway
Staverns Fortress
The construction of Staverns Fort began in 1677 when Ulrik Frederick Gyldenløve built a blockhouse with battery and palisades on a hill as part of the overall development of Norwegian fortresses. The fort was first built on Karlsøy during the Gyldenløve War (1675–1679). Fredriksvern and Fredriksvern Verft was established as the headquarters for the Norwegian Fleet from 1750 until 1758 so that the older fortification ...
Founded: 1677 |
Location:
Larvik, Norway
Basmo Fortress
Basmo fortress was constructed in the 1680s and was abandoned after 62 years of service in 1745. The first mention of this Norwegian fortress is in a letter from Field Marshal Wedel Jarlsberg to the King in 1683. Major General Johan Caspar von Cicignon developed the plans. During the Great Northern War it was manned by up to 1,350 men. On the night of March 9, 1716, the pyres on the mountaintops announced Swedish King Ch ...
Founded: 1680s |
Location:
Marker, Norway