Fortress of Charlottenlund

After the loss in the war of 1864 Denmark lost a large chuck of its old territories and it was realized there wasn’t enough resources to defend the open country side in case of an invasion from the powerful Prussian neighbor to the south.

It was decided to concentrate all the resources on the defense of Copenhagen. A modern fortification was built to the west of Copenhagen to protect against attacks from land. The city was still vulnerable to attacks from the sea – so to supplement the land fortification a series of fort were built along the coast of Øresund. A large fortress to the south is Mosede Fort and to the north you find a fort at the small suburb of Charlottenlund.

The original fort was built in 1886-88 as a small battery to protect the northern approach to Copenhagen. Unfortunately it soon turned out the fort was not really up to the standard of a modern fort so it was decided to upgrade the fort. In 1909 the money for an upgrade to an actual fort was approved and the reconstruction was done between 1910 and 1912. So the fort was ready in time for the beginning of World War I. Fortunately Denmark never joined in the terrible war so the fort was never used.

In 1932 it was decided the fort no longer served any military purpose so it was decommissioned. From this time it was transformed into a beach park and the fort is still a nice park in a pretty setting. The old fort is a place where the locals like to enjoy a sunny day and there is a nice little restaurant in the middle of the fort with a view of the sea if you sit at the terrace outside the fort.