Christiansborg and the Blue Tower

Look at the palace, then look at the ground. Beneath Christiansborg survive the ruins of the castles that came before it: the wall of Absalon’s castle and, among other remains, the foundations of the Blåtårn, the Blue Tower, the largest tower of old Copenhagen Castle, square in plan and about sixteen metres a side.

1The king’s daughter in prison

For centuries the Blue Tower served as a jail for political prisoners. Its most famous inmate was Leonora Christina, Christian IV’s favourite daughter and wife of Corfitz Ulfeldt, the traitor of Gråbrødretorv. In 1663 she was handed over to Denmark and locked up here without trial.

She spent almost twenty-two years in the tower. She was released on 19 May 1685 and, according to accounts of the time, left at night, wearing a veil. She died in 1698.

In her cell she began writing ‘Jammersminde’, her ‘Memory of Woes’, which was not published until 1869 and is now a classic of Danish literature.

2A palace of fires

The islet seems to be haunted by fire. The first Christiansborg burned in 1794 and the second in 1884. No serious source speaks of curses, but the palace you see is already the third, finished in 1928. The Blue Tower was pulled down with the rest of the old castle around 1731–1732.

Today the Parliament, the government and the Supreme Court meet here, on top of a princess’s prison.

3What to look out for

• The entrance to the ruins, signposted at the palace.
• The square and the palace, which occupy the site of old Copenhagen Castle.
• The granite façade, built to withstand another fire.