Mosede Fortress

When Copenhagen finally expanded across the old city walls in 1845 there was no longer any defense around the city – this left the town open to attack in the case of war. After the Danish loss in the Second War of Schleswig it became apparent there might be a need for a new modern fortification to protect the city. After a lot of debate over the years in the Danish parliament the fortification was finally built between 1888 and 1892. The fortification was a state of the art modern defense of the capital.

The fortification of Copenhagen might have been modern in the 1880s but it didn’t stay that way for long. By the beginning of the 20^th century the range of the cannons increased and Copenhagen could be hit from the old fortification of the city. in the years before the outbreak of world war I tension were growing in Europe and it was decided to improve the fortification of Copenhagen in case of a major war which could involve Denmark if Germany decided to attack to secure the access to the Baltic Sea.

In view of the risk of war it was decided to improve the fortification around Copenhagen with a new series of trenches from the Bay of Køge to Roskilde. The new fortification was called the Tune position. The main fortress on this fortification was the large Mosede fort which is located at the sea towards Køge Bugt. The fortress was built at the most likely point of attack if the Germans would try to invade Denmark.

The construction of the fort was started in 1913. Unfortunately the fort was nowhere near finished in 1914 when the war broke out. The construction of the fort continued until 1916 when it was finally finished. Fortunately the Germans never attacked so the fort was never used in war.

The fort was still used by the military until 1969 when it was finally sold. Today it is preserved as a museum at a nice beach area. It is a nice place to go and visit – and during normal times it is possible to go inside the museum and learn more about the period.