Malmö Castle, Malmö, Sweden - SpottingHistory.com

Malmö Castle (Malmöhus) was founded in 1434 by King Eric of Pomerania. This structure was demolished in early 16th century. The castle acquired its present appearance following major reconstruction in the 1530’s, when King Christian III ordered the building of a modern fortress, splendid Renaissance castle and county governor´s residence, all on the one site. Historically, this fortress was one of the most important strongholds of Denmark.

Denmark´s coins were minted there in the Middle Ages. Crown Prince Frederick held wild parties in the 16th century. Prisoners were beheaded in the courtyard in the 19th century. Malmöhus has now been restored in the spirit of the 16th century and is part of the Malmö Museums, the largest museum in southern Sweden. The castle is part of Sweden´s cultural heritage and is managed by the National Property Board.

The castle was for five years (1568-1573) the prison of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. The earl was taken into custody on the orders of the Protestant Danish king Frederick II of Denmark when his ship ran aground in Bergen, Norway during a storm. He was sent to Malmö Castle to be imprisoned, although he had previously been released from Tower of London for lack of evidence in the murder of Mary's second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. As a bachelor, Frederick II courted Elizabeth I of England and was made a Knight of the Garter. Some sources suggest a second reason for the involvement in this matter by the Danish king; he is thought to have held hopes of collecting a ransom from Scotland. However, the Earl of Bothwell died in 1578 in Dragsholm Castle, Zealand, where he had been moved after the first five years in Danish captivity, without ever being the subject of Danish-Scottish negotiations for his release.

References:

User Reviews

Waldemar “Forest Afghan” Konieczny (5 months ago)
A tiny castle. Weird and original. a piece of the fascinating history of post-war Sweden in a glass case. It is worth stopping, even for a moment.

Dj Joa (6 months ago)
Cool place, even for an adult it was interesting to get to know the local history.

Roja EA (7 months ago)
The castle is a bit boring, nothing really interesting/unique can be found in the museum or the art exhibition. But it has an aquarium, which is nice to visit, particularly if you have kids.

Suyash Kutumbe (8 months ago)
Place for history lovers specially those who are interested in World war II incidents as the castle is also a museum with lot of material and information about WWII survivors. Castle also hosts an aquarium so please keep at least 2-3 hours in case you want to visit whole castle area comfortably.

Sajid Decosta (10 months ago)
There’s an aquarium in the Castle where you find out a lot about the inhabitants of the oceans, seas and lakes. The museum is meant for visitors of all ages - both kids and grown ups learn something new every time. I recommend it to the families with children.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright nikonaft

Historic Site of the week

Cesis Castle

German crusaders known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword began construction of the Cēsis castle (Wenden) near the hill fort in 1209. When the castle was enlarged and fortified, it served as the residence for the Order's Master from 1237 till 1561, with periodic interruptions. Its ruins are some of the most majestic castle ruins in the Baltic states. Once the most important castle of the Livonian Order, it was the official residence for the masters of the order.

In 1577, during the Livonian War, the garrison destroyed the castle to prevent it from falling into the control of Ivan the Terrible, who was decisively defeated in the Battle of Wenden (1578).

In 1598 it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Wenden Voivodship was created here. In 1620 Wenden was conquered by Sweden. It was rebuilt afterwards, but was destroyed again in 1703 during the Great Northern War by the Russian army and left in a ruined state. Already from the end of the 16th century, the premises of the Order's castle were adjusted to the requirements of the Cēsis Castle estate. When in 1777 the Cēsis Castle estate was obtained by Count Carl Sievers, he had his new residence house built on the site of the eastern block of the castle, joining its end wall with the fortification tower.

Since 1949, the Cēsis History Museum has been located in this New Castle of the Cēsis Castle estate. The front yard of the New Castle is enclosed by a granary and a stable-coach house, which now houses the Exhibition Hall of the Museum. Beside the granary there is the oldest brewery in Latvia, Cēsu alus darītava, which was built in 1878 during the later Count Sievers' time, but its origins date back to the period of the Livonian Order. Further on, the Cēsis Castle park is situated, which was laid out in 1812. The park has the romantic characteristic of that time, with its winding footpaths, exotic plants, and the waters of the pond reflecting the castle's ruins. Nowadays also one of the towers is open for tourists.

Do you know an ancient castle or magnificent church near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory.com.

It's absolutely free, easy, and doesn't even need registration!

Upload data

Malmö Castle

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

History of Guernsey & Jersey

Most beautiful castles in Lithuania

Cultural Landscape of Sintra, Portugal

Historic Site of the week

Cesis Castle

Looks like you are a history fan!