Nordborg Castle

Nordborg Castle (Danish: Nordborg Slot) is a small castle which lies on the southern side of Nordborg Lake (Nordborg Sø) in Nordborg on the island of Als in Sønderborg Municipality, Denmark. The castle premises are currently used by Nordborg Slots Efterskole as a boarding school. Nordborg Castle has also been the backdrop for a number of years for Nord-Als Musikfestival.

According to Saxo, Nordborg Castle was founded by King Svend Grathe (c. 1125–1157) under the name Alsborg. Hence, it can be dated to around 1150. Alsborg was built while the Wends still dominated the Danish coast; its location a few kilometers inland meant that the castle could not be attacked without warning, and the local population had a better chance of taking refuge there.

The first written evidence of Alsborg is from the end of the 12th century. From this, it is known that Bishop Valdemar of Slesvig (1158-1236) was held prisoner at Alsborg between 1192 and 1197.

After Sønderborg Castle was built at the south end of the island of Als (ca. 1158), Alsborg was renamed Nordborg, literally "northern fortress" (compare English "Norbury"). Nordborg was for a large part of the Middle Ages the property of the king, and was on several occasions a source of income for the king's widow.

In 1571, King Frederick II’s brother Hans the Younger (1545–1622) inherited his mother Queen Dorothea's possessions of Als and Sundeved including Nordborg. Hans was an enterprising man, who in the next 50 years constantly expanded and improved his properties. There was a series of building projects in and around Nordborg Slot.

Upon Hans' death in 1622, his possessions were divided into separate dukedoms, including Nordborg, which went to his son Hans Adolf (1576-1624). Hans Adolf died only two years later and so the dukedom then went to Hans the Younger's other son Frederik (1581-1658).

Nordborg was occupied several times during the Swedish wars, first by the Swedes, then by the Brandenburgian and Polish troops and finally by Swedish troops until peace came in 1660.

In 1665 fire broke out in the castle, and it burnt down. Duke Hans Bugislav (1629-1679) went bankrupt and forfeited his estate, which reverted next to August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (1635-1699). In 1678 rebuilding of the castle began, and at this time the ducal coat-of-arms was placed over the castle entrance.

Text adapted from “Nordborg Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Nordborg Castle ranks #4,211 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #46 of the 53 mapped in Denmark. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Kolding, 51 km away. See how Denmark compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗