Fredriksten: A Seventeenth-Century Border Fortress in Norway
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Norway
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Denmark–Norway
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page8 sections
History
Fredriksten is a seventeenth-century military border fortress in Halden, Norway, built by the Denmark–Norway kingdom during a period of conflict with Sweden. Construction began after Denmark–Norway ceded Bohuslän and Bohus Fortress to Sweden through the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The new fortress was named after King Fredrik III, while Halden was known as Fredrikshald from 1665 to 1928.
Foundation during the Northern War
Swedish attacks on Halden in September 1658 and February 1659 prompted the Norwegian commander Tønne Huitfeldt to organize a new defense. He began building a fortified citadel called Cretzenstein in 1659. The work formed the core of the later fortress, which was subsequently renamed Fredriksten.
Swedish forces returned in January 1660 while seeking a base for an advance against Akershus Fortress at Christiania. The garrison, numbering about 2,100 men and commanded by Huitfeldt, rejected demands for surrender. It resisted an assault and bombardment until the Swedish forces withdrew on 22 February 1660.
The campaign was followed by negotiations that produced the Treaty of Copenhagen. With the intervention of Hannibal Sehested, the settlement revised the Treaty of Roskilde in Denmark–Norway’s favor and returned Trøndelag to Norwegian control. Fredriksten was then improved during the years of peace from 1661 to 1675.
Expansion and seventeenth-century wars
In 1673, Denmark sent Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve to Norway as statholder, a senior royal governor and representative, to organize the country’s military forces and strengthen its defenses. During the summer of 1675, 1,800 men worked on fortifications at Akershus, Fredrikstad, and Fredrikshald.
During the Gyldenløve War from 1675 to 1679, 4,000 troops were concentrated at Fredrikshald under General Russenstein. Norwegian forces reoccupied Bohuslän in 1676, and Fredriksten did not face a major defensive action because Swedish troops did not cross the frontier. The fortress was expanded between 1682 and 1701, including work directed by Major-General Ernst von Tettau from 1684 to 1689. This phase added the outer fortifications of Gyldenløve, Overberget, and Stortårnet.
Charles XII and the Great Northern War
During the Great Northern War, a major conflict between Sweden and neighboring states, King Charles XII invaded Norway in March 1716. He wanted to capture Fredriksten both to remove the threat behind his army and to use the fortress and the harbors at the mouth of the Glomma as bases for operations against Akershus.
Swedish forces captured Halden after fierce fighting on 4 July 1716, but the inhabitants burned their own houses, and Charles XII could not take Fredriksten. The Norwegian naval commander Peter Tordenskjold then captured or destroyed the Swedish transport fleet at the Battle of Dynekilen. The loss forced the Swedish army to withdraw, and all Swedish troops had left the area by 12 July.
Charles XII invaded Norway again in autumn 1718. The approximately 1,400-man garrison resisted, although Fort Gyldenløve fell on 8 December. On the evening of 11 December, Charles XII was shot and killed while inspecting Swedish siege works near the main fortification. His death ended the attack, led to the withdrawal of the Swedish army, and brought the war toward its conclusion.
Later military and cultural history
In 1788, Fredriksten served as a staging area for a mock attack on Sweden during the Theater War. During the Swedish–Norwegian War of 1814, the fortress was bombarded but not captured. Swedish forces under Charles John, the Swedish crown prince and military commander, passed the fortress and left a contingent to demand its surrender. The garrison and its commander held out, but Fredriksten was transferred to Swedish sovereignty after the Convention of Moss.
After 1905, Fredriksten no longer had its strategic military function, although military units continued to use it and a Norwegian defense logistics and administrative institution remains located at or beside the fortress. The grounds later accommodated museums and art exhibitions and became Østfold county’s millennium site. A museum clearance also led to the discovery of a suitcase containing objects connected with Janken Wiel-Hansen, a Norwegian-Swedish pioneer of fencing and swordsmanship, bringing renewed attention to his life.
Remains
Fortified layout
Fredriksten occupies an elevation overlooking Halden and the city’s harbor, within an area of approximately 2.6 hectares. The principal complex has a star-shaped plan. At its center is the citadel begun by Tønne Huitfeldt as Cretzenstein in 1659, later renamed Fredriksten. The expanded defensive system includes three outer fortifications: Gyldenløve, Overberget, and Stortårnet. Together, these surviving elements express the fortress’s development from a central fortified core into a broader border defense.
Memorials, collections, and cultural spaces
A memorial to Charles XII stands in the park directly in front of the fortress at the place where he was killed in 1718. Inside the inner fortress, a museum preserves the old fortress flag from 1814, which Swedish troops took during the war and returned to Norway in 1964. The complex also contains several museums and spaces for art exhibitions. Its grounds are used for outdoor performances of classical and contemporary music.
