Norrköpingshus
Norrköpingshus was a royal castle in the Swedish city of Norrköping until 1604 , which stood on the site where Hedvigskirche (Swedish: Hedvigs kyrka) is today.
history
The origin of the castle was formed by a royal estate , which Gustav I. Wasa had built on the throne in his last years. During the Three Crown War , the Swedish troops under Erik XIV burned the building down, as it was feared that it could fall into the hands of the Danish military leader Daniel Rantzau and serve as his base for further campaigns.
About ten years later, Johann III started. a new building at the same location, which lasted from 1575 or 1576 to 1578. From 1581 work began on expanding the castle garden, which also received a carp pond . In addition to Norrköpingshus, supply buildings such as a brickworks , a slaughterhouse , stables , a bathhouse , a brewery , blacksmiths and carpentry workshops were built . The castle builder Hans Fleming had workers from all dependent areas of Sweden come for the construction .
No pictures have survived of the castle, but it is described as a showy half-timbered building with two towers, 300 windows, an entrance portal with a royal coat of arms, a copper roof, a church room with vaults and many chambers. The valuable furnishings were created by artisans from Germany and the Netherlands .
King John III often entertained his guests here. Elisabeth Wasa , a daughter of Gustav Wasa , lived there between 1594 and 1597 . She was the widow of Duke Christoph von Mecklenburg and brought a court of almost 1,000 people with her, which significantly increased the city's population. The hustle and bustle at the Fürstenhof was glamorous and lively, as most of the royal relatives lived nearby. In contrast, the palace in Stockholm was empty because the then King Sigismund III. ruled from Poland. Elisabeth died on November 19, 1597 while visiting Stockholm, after which her court was dissolved.
The later King Charles IX. was interested in the palace and wanted to hold a Reichstag there in 1604 , but shortly before this event the building burned down, and so the appointment as head of state took place in another building in the city - probably in the city church or in the town hall. Norrköpingshus was never rebuilt. Instead, another castle was built: Johannisborg .
The grounds of the castle were donated to the German Christian community in 1663, which built the Hedvigskirche here, which is now also known as the German Church. Shortly after the Second World War , archaeological excavations in the vicinity of the church brought to light some valuable finds.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Norrköping . In: Theodor Westrin (Ed.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 19 : Mykenai-Norrpada . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1913, Sp. 1486 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
Coordinates: 58 ° 35 ′ 32.5 ″ N , 16 ° 11 ′ 12.9 ″ E