Korsør Fortification / Korsør Fæstning

Korsør Fortification, formerly also referred as Korsør Fortress, is an fortificational complex of formerly meaning in danish and Swedish history, for which it is worth seeing. Since the 17th century the aim of the fortification was to secure the seacoast defense of the Great Belt from the shore of the danish island of Zealand. On the Funen side of the Great Belt the fortifications of Nyborg constituted the counterpart in the defense of the waterway.

During the 1100s the foundation of the fortificational history of Korsør was set by the construction of a castle a the narrow of the “Korsør Nor” close to today’s naval port. Since then the castle served as residence by the king, when he came to the town, often in preparation for crossing the Great Belt. Along the way, Korsør was considered an important commercial town, in medieval times.

During the 2nd Karl Gustav war of the 17th century, swedish troops captured Korsør and its castle. Realizing the military potential of this place the King of Sweden ordered to fortify the castle in a contemporary manor, for which reason earthen rampats and bastions were erected around the castle  between 1658 and 1660. The four impressive bastions are primary targeted to the Belt while the complex stayed open and mainly unprotected to inland waters side. When Denmark took the possession back in 1660, the fortification was armed with ten cannons and two mortars. Since then, the fortification of Korsør stayed in service for centuries, but lost its status as a fortress in 1856 and became downgraded to a Coastal Battery.

Today, there are several historical buildings, which serve as cultural monuments on the ground. The tower or keep of the castle, erected in the 1200s, is the oldest remaining part of this first fortification at Korsør, while other remains of the castle were demolished in 1813. In 1826 the subsoil ruins were partially overbuilt by the construction of a mounting house. The second oldest building will be the huge magazine building from 1609, which was originally intended to store grain from the king’s tenth part duty. The building stayed in service as a military depot until 1993. During the 1720s two wooden buildings were erected next to each other, to serve as residences for the fortifications’s commandant and Korsør’s harbourmaster. The least oldes building on site is an Guardhouse, constructed in 1856. Today all these buildings serve peaceful intentions and houses for instance the Korsør City and Strait Crossing Museum or a local archive.

Since 2015 the fortress area is in the state of refurbishment. In connection to this process, a knowledge transfer and education project was started here and aided with about 2.440.000 DKK (386.590 USD).