HISTORY
LANDSKRONA CASTLE – THE CITADEL
In 1549 Peder Skram, the governor of Helsingborg, was ordered by
King Christian III of Denmark to erect a fortress in Landskrona.
The recent civil conflict had revealed weaknesses in the Danish defends.
Landskrona´s strategic site and deep natural harbour made it suitable for fortification.
The fortress, or Castle as it came to be known was erected on a site that straddled the city walls, which involved the demolition of several existing buildings, The most famous of these was the Carmelite Convent of our Lady, the oldest in Scandinavia, endowed by Erik of Pomerania in 1410.
In 1559 the original square Castle was completed. The main wing ran along the south-west side, the other three sides being enclosed by thick defensive walls. An artillery tower was placed at each corner, the western one containing a dungeon. A moat 60 metres wide surrounded the Castle.
The peace of Roskilde in 1658 meant that Scandia became Swedish and a fresh period of history began with Landskrona forming part of the Swedish border defences.
THE PRISON TOWER
This was originally a roundel or circular bastion. In 1846 the northern and eastern roundels were divided into a series of cells on the American pattern. At the same time as the cell block, since demolished, was erected in the courtyard, two more floors comprising 32 single cells were added to the eastern roundel.
The large windows of the warders quarters are in contrast to the small barred ones of the prison cells, the door walls between the cells.
Some 20.000 refugees passed through the Citadel between 1945 and 1053. The pillars near the stair still bear a number of names and graffiti from this period.
The future of the tower has been fuel for discussion. The Cultural Committee would dearly like to turn it into a youth hostel – perhaps in combination with training courses run by the Scandia Handicrafts Foundation.
The idea of using it to house a Prison Museum and to document the Citadels history has also been mooted.
The traces of the beam roof that once divided the vault into two storeys are discernible in the wall. The change was a result of the fire in 1886. In 1924 the room was converted into a prison chapel. Furnishings have now been removed although two benches remain in the kitchen entrance.
The room is used mainly for concerts and exhibitions. Air heating was installed in the thorough restoration of the Citadel between 1971 and 1975.
LONG GALLERY
The gallery is a long roofed passage running inside the full length of southwest wall. Doorways at either end gave access up steps to the adjoining walls. The outer wall is pierced with nine firing slits.
The gallery formerly had no access to the inner rooms. After the fire in 1886 openings were made partly to give the prison workshops more light. Via the gallery you could reach the surrounding walls and artillery towers and follow the wall walk around the castle. The oval window above the bridge in the gallery was for the hoist mechanism.
Erik Dahlberg was appointed to direct the work of extending the fortifications. The earthworks surrounding the inner moat were raised between 1667 and 1675. Each corner contained a bastion with the names Landskrona, Carolus, Banér and Wrangel. A wide and deep outer moat encircled the entire fortification. The castle was not built as residence but was intended to serve solely as a stronghold.
In 1822 Landskrona Citadel ceased to be a national fortress and until 1940 was only in use as a prison. Between 1971 and 1975 the Ministry of Works carried out a major restoration superintended by the castle architect Sven Silow.
THE MAIN WING AND WEST TOWER
The main wing is 50 metre long by 15 metre wide brick building with the three-storey West tower at its western corner.
There were originally three sections of the lower floor, with the brewery to the left and the fireplace and chimneys on the right.
The building was formerly know as the “great granary” because the upper storeys consisted of four grain stores. This arrangement disappeared in the rebuilding of 1731, when a large barrel vault was constructed with the aim of reinforcing the building to withstand bombardment. To support the structure a longitudinal wall with arched openings was built that extended to the upper floors. At the same time buttresses were erected on the courtyard side. The outer walls date from the mid-16th century when the castle was built, and bear traces of the holes used to seat the scaffolding.
THE DUNGEON
This originally had a beam roof with a central opening for access. In 1656 an extra floor was added to the tower, the dungeon was given a rotunda roof, and a narrow entrance was cut through the wall.
The niches in the wall were used by prisoners to sit and sleep. Channels for light and air, originally three in number, give some indication of the thickness of walls.
During the opening decades of the 18th century both Polish and Russian prisoners of war were housed here. The fortress ranked with the most important in Sweden, along with Malmöhus, Varberg, Bohus and Marstrand.
Prisoners were now held in held in primitive log cabins in the courtyard. Accommodation was cramped, considerably restricting the number of prisoners that could be held. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the situation improved when the prison took over some of the military installations. Further improvements were made in 1860 when a block of 108 single cells was erected in the courtyard. It was demolished a century later to make room for the Landskrona exhibition in 1963.
THE LARGE HALL - SECOND FLOOR
Like the floors above and below the hall is divided by an arched wall.
After a fire in 1886 the four storage lofts were converted to the presents second and third storage and the three gunports were fitted with glazed windows.
In 1889 the prison was changed to a forced labour institution. On this floor were the workshops. Prisoners had to work wool and cotton looms, repair military uniforms, knit socks, sort peas for Weibulls, and similar tasks.The large heater was installed during restorations made Nicolas Ellis, from Billeberga, now hang in the room.
THE TOWER ROOM
There are four windowed openings, originally gunports. The compact beamed roof is the oldest remaining in the castle and dates from 1656. It was erected at the same time as the dungeon acquired its rotunda.
The small room was used as a powder magazine. Note the hooks in the wall – in prison times used by women to hang their washing lines.
Landskrona Citadel Rotary Club hold their meeting here every Monday. It is also hired out to clubs or persons who wish to use it for lectures, conferences or parties.
THE WEDDING ROOM
The large cupola above the tower room dates from 1699 when the powder magazine was installed. The wall bears clear traces of an older beam roof.
To show you what a gunport looked like, one of the original three has been restored. Note the smoke hole above the cannon. The cannon was anchored by a cross piece inserted into the holes in the central wall.
The room today serves primarily as civil registry office for weddings.
THE CHAPEL
Wee see here two parallel tunnel vaults. They replaced the single large vault with its supporting wall that was built in 1731 and lasted a hundred years.
In 1549 Peder Skram, the governor of Helsingborg, was ordered by
King Christian III of Denmark to erect a fortress in Landskrona.
The recent civil conflict had revealed weaknesses in the Danish defends.
Landskrona´s strategic site and deep natural harbour made it suitable for fortification.
The fortress, or Castle as it came to be known was erected on a site that straddled the city walls, which involved the demolition of several existing buildings, The most famous of these was the Carmelite Convent of our Lady, the oldest in Scandinavia, endowed by Erik of Pomerania in 1410.
In 1559 the original square Castle was completed. The main wing ran along the south-west side, the other three sides being enclosed by thick defensive walls. An artillery tower was placed at each corner, the western one containing a dungeon. A moat 60 metres wide surrounded the Castle.
The peace of Roskilde in 1658 meant that Scandia became Swedish and a fresh period of history began with Landskrona forming part of the Swedish border defences.
THE PRISON TOWER
This was originally a roundel or circular bastion. In 1846 the northern and eastern roundels were divided into a series of cells on the American pattern. At the same time as the cell block, since demolished, was erected in the courtyard, two more floors comprising 32 single cells were added to the eastern roundel.
The large windows of the warders quarters are in contrast to the small barred ones of the prison cells, the door walls between the cells.
Some 20.000 refugees passed through the Citadel between 1945 and 1053. The pillars near the stair still bear a number of names and graffiti from this period.
The future of the tower has been fuel for discussion. The Cultural Committee would dearly like to turn it into a youth hostel – perhaps in combination with training courses run by the Scandia Handicrafts Foundation.
The idea of using it to house a Prison Museum and to document the Citadels history has also been mooted.
The traces of the beam roof that once divided the vault into two storeys are discernible in the wall. The change was a result of the fire in 1886. In 1924 the room was converted into a prison chapel. Furnishings have now been removed although two benches remain in the kitchen entrance.
The room is used mainly for concerts and exhibitions. Air heating was installed in the thorough restoration of the Citadel between 1971 and 1975.
LONG GALLERY
The gallery is a long roofed passage running inside the full length of southwest wall. Doorways at either end gave access up steps to the adjoining walls. The outer wall is pierced with nine firing slits.
The gallery formerly had no access to the inner rooms. After the fire in 1886 openings were made partly to give the prison workshops more light. Via the gallery you could reach the surrounding walls and artillery towers and follow the wall walk around the castle. The oval window above the bridge in the gallery was for the hoist mechanism.
Erik Dahlberg was appointed to direct the work of extending the fortifications. The earthworks surrounding the inner moat were raised between 1667 and 1675. Each corner contained a bastion with the names Landskrona, Carolus, Banér and Wrangel. A wide and deep outer moat encircled the entire fortification. The castle was not built as residence but was intended to serve solely as a stronghold.
In 1822 Landskrona Citadel ceased to be a national fortress and until 1940 was only in use as a prison. Between 1971 and 1975 the Ministry of Works carried out a major restoration superintended by the castle architect Sven Silow.
THE MAIN WING AND WEST TOWER
The main wing is 50 metre long by 15 metre wide brick building with the three-storey West tower at its western corner.
There were originally three sections of the lower floor, with the brewery to the left and the fireplace and chimneys on the right.
The building was formerly know as the “great granary” because the upper storeys consisted of four grain stores. This arrangement disappeared in the rebuilding of 1731, when a large barrel vault was constructed with the aim of reinforcing the building to withstand bombardment. To support the structure a longitudinal wall with arched openings was built that extended to the upper floors. At the same time buttresses were erected on the courtyard side. The outer walls date from the mid-16th century when the castle was built, and bear traces of the holes used to seat the scaffolding.
THE DUNGEON
This originally had a beam roof with a central opening for access. In 1656 an extra floor was added to the tower, the dungeon was given a rotunda roof, and a narrow entrance was cut through the wall.
The niches in the wall were used by prisoners to sit and sleep. Channels for light and air, originally three in number, give some indication of the thickness of walls.
During the opening decades of the 18th century both Polish and Russian prisoners of war were housed here. The fortress ranked with the most important in Sweden, along with Malmöhus, Varberg, Bohus and Marstrand.
Prisoners were now held in held in primitive log cabins in the courtyard. Accommodation was cramped, considerably restricting the number of prisoners that could be held. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the situation improved when the prison took over some of the military installations. Further improvements were made in 1860 when a block of 108 single cells was erected in the courtyard. It was demolished a century later to make room for the Landskrona exhibition in 1963.
THE LARGE HALL - SECOND FLOOR
Like the floors above and below the hall is divided by an arched wall.
After a fire in 1886 the four storage lofts were converted to the presents second and third storage and the three gunports were fitted with glazed windows.
In 1889 the prison was changed to a forced labour institution. On this floor were the workshops. Prisoners had to work wool and cotton looms, repair military uniforms, knit socks, sort peas for Weibulls, and similar tasks.The large heater was installed during restorations made Nicolas Ellis, from Billeberga, now hang in the room.
THE TOWER ROOM
There are four windowed openings, originally gunports. The compact beamed roof is the oldest remaining in the castle and dates from 1656. It was erected at the same time as the dungeon acquired its rotunda.
The small room was used as a powder magazine. Note the hooks in the wall – in prison times used by women to hang their washing lines.
Landskrona Citadel Rotary Club hold their meeting here every Monday. It is also hired out to clubs or persons who wish to use it for lectures, conferences or parties.
THE WEDDING ROOM
The large cupola above the tower room dates from 1699 when the powder magazine was installed. The wall bears clear traces of an older beam roof.
To show you what a gunport looked like, one of the original three has been restored. Note the smoke hole above the cannon. The cannon was anchored by a cross piece inserted into the holes in the central wall.
The room today serves primarily as civil registry office for weddings.
THE CHAPEL
Wee see here two parallel tunnel vaults. They replaced the single large vault with its supporting wall that was built in 1731 and lasted a hundred years.
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