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The Renaissance

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Tycho Brahe was a Renaissance man and of course he built a Renaissance castle. The small castle functioned as habitation, laboratory and as the demonstration of the ideal of the Renaissance

Glimmingehus
Adam van Düren is responsible for several important buildings in the time of the transition from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. He renovated Lund´s Cathedral, but he was also the architect behind the Laxmand hall in the Our Lady monastery in Elsinore and he designed the late medieval castle Glimmingehus in Österlen in Scania. The builder was the vassal in Gotland and the later admiral Jens Holgersen Ulfstand.
The castle, which was built in 1499, was originally an outdated building. It could handle a local peasant rebellion, but no a siege with the new military device, the cannon. Perhaps the building was designed as a nostalgic memory of the Middle Ages and the romance of chivalry, based on the interest of the renaissance man´s interest for the past and the need to assert himself. This is evident from the interior of the castle, which consists of reliefs, which portrays the builder, and objects they had taken with them from Gotland.
Glimmingehus
Glimmingehus
Glimminge
Glimminge
Glimmingehus
Glimmingehus
Jens Holgersen Ulfstand
Jens Holgersen Ulfstand
Kneels with his dog.
Kneels with his dog.

Örup and Bollerup
Örup and Bollerup are other Scanian examples of late medieval buildings with one leg in the style of the renaissance. In Bollerup you can see, that the gothic decoration is just scenery. Scalding holes have changed into brick ups and have no defence function whatsoever.
Örup´s
Örup´s
Bollerup, Scania
Bollerup, Scania
Christ figure
Christ figure
Borgeby by Lödde River
Borgeby by Lödde River
Billehuset
Billehuset

Castles and Manor Houses
The enormous income of the royal power and the aristocracy in the period was largely invested in prestigious renaissance buildings. Form the latter part of the 16th century the aristocracy started a massive building of manors, which even today marks the Scanian landscape. Approximately 150 of these buildings are still standing, while approximately 20 have disappeared.
The number of genuine renaissance manor houses was reduced in connection with the 19th century´s romantic restoration fad, but some buildings are fairly well preserved.
Building Chart
Building Chart

Vittskövle, Skarhult, Torup
One early and very well preserved example is Vitskövle Castle in north western Scania, which is the largest castle building in Scania. It was built by the Brahe family in the 1550´s. Vittskövle castle still has some of the massive weight of the medieval castle. The castle is shut in by broad moats. In connection to the castle there is a chapel dedicated to the Brahe family.
Skarhult in Eslöv´s municipality in Scania also has a massive and well preserved castle. The building style with swung house ends points toward the renaissance.
Torup is a building with a medieval style (as Vitskövle)and was built 1537-50.
Vitskövle
Vitskövle
Family Portrait in Vittskövle
Family Portrait in Vittskövle
Nobel Family
Nobel Family
Skarhult
Skarhult
Torup
Torup

Svenstorp and Rosendal
Svenstorp in Lund´s municipality was built in the so-called Christian IV-style. Typical of this style is the red tile in combination with horizontal bands and window casings in white sandstone. Svenstorp is not a fortress, more an opulent summer castle. The entrance portal is ascribed to Hans van Steenwinkel, who also worked with Kronborg.
Rosendal in Helsingborg is a very preserved rennaisance building.
Svendstorp
Svendstorp
Rosendal
Rosendal
Anders Bille
Anders Bille
Billehuset
Billehuset

Zealandic Manors
In mid- and south Zealand which belonged to the nobility, as did Scania, there are a number of manors in the Renaissance style. Gisselfeld is also among the early manors, which was built in the time after the Count´s Feud. Is says 1547 on the main building, begun by Per Oxe and finished before his death in 1575.
Vallø close to Køge has certain similarities to Skarhult in Scania: Massive with the two towers five storeys high. The original building from 1580-86 the south wing with the two towers only had two storeys, but it was heightened around 1610.
Lystrup close to Fakse is an early example of Dutch Renaissance, and like Svenstorp in Scania red bricks in combination with white sandstone have been used. It s obviously a smaller castle, built for Eiler Grubbe in 1579. The many sandstone works may have been done by Hans Steenwinkel the older, who also worked in Kronborg.
Gisselfeld
Gisselfeld
Gavnø
Gavnø
Lystrup Castle
Lystrup Castle

Uraniborg in Ven
The renaissance prince Frederik II saw Tycho´s greatness and offered his support. February 18th 1567 he was awarded a yearly sum of 500 daler, a very large governmental support. The king had, during his inspections in the building site of Kronborg, come to think of the island Ven as a suitable place for Tychos activities. Tycho was offered the island on favourable terms, if it could prevent him from leaving Denmark. Tycho Brahe accepted.

A Symbolic Castle
The central part of the ground plan was made up of a square, which measured 60 feet, approximately 15,5 metres on every side. This square was divided by perpendicular corridors, which formed four smaller square rooms. The corridors also tied the central part with symmetrical extensions in the north and south and with symmetrical entrance portals in east and west.
The building consisted of two storeys, attic and basement. On the outside there were balconies, which were used for astronomical observations. The basement functioned as a chemical laboratory.
Astronomy and chemistry/medicine was the sciences he was to engage in and two statuette niches marked this over the entrance portals. Two short Latin inscriptions connected these allegorical works of art: Despiciendo suspicio och Suspiciendo despicio, which roughly means, ”When I look down, I look up” and ”When I look up, I look down”. The first maxim refers to the chemical experiments and the other undoubtedly on the astronomical observations. The deeper meaning is that chemistry and astronomy are connected.
Uranienborg
Uranienborg
Ground plan
Ground plan

The Architecture of Kronborg
In his work ”the History of Kronborg” from 1939 V. Wanscher sums up his art historic description of the castle during its different building stages:
When we are to determine Kronborg´s placing in art history, which we are better prepared than the old, we should stress that this castle is unique among the north European through its greatness and rhythmical idea. Kronborg unites the late Gothic architecture with the renaissance baroque.
The square shape was taken from the time of Erik of Pommern, but still it was not until much rebuilding that Kronborg could fill out and assert the shape.
Such are also the strict processing of the façades, especially the external with their strict walls and widely distributed square windows in the third storey, the watchman´s gallery, the dormer ends and the square corner tower, a heritage from the late Gothic architecture...”
Wanscher thus claims that Kronborg contains elements from three different styles, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. The watchman´s gallery, which Wanscher mentions, was covered in the second building stage, but on the other side even the windows of the castle church in Gothic pointed arch style can be pointed out as another Gothic style element.

Inspiration
Wanscher mentions that the sandstone lining of the second stage, like the building of the east wing are elements, which endow the castle a more homogenous (cubic) character, perhaps inspired by southern palaces. The dominating styles in the external decoration of the castle are renaissance of the strongly decorative Flanders type, with decorated towers, gables, window casings and portals.
If you want to look for models out in the world, you will get lost. This is partly due to the fact that the master builders and the craftsmen had gone away from the uncertain relationships in the Netherlands (The Netherlands suffered under Spanish rule and grave conflicts was especially hard on the Protestants). The Danish king offered safe conditions and career opportunities in the north. Knowledge and competence was imported, but the building became unique and Kronborg had its own style and a unique placing.

The Interaction
The interaction between the towers and the gables are striking. It is typical of the Nordic renaissance, but the extensive decorative touches are also striking.
The east wing, the last to be built, is in its lower part designed with a so-called diamond or ashlar joint. This leads to the Italian renaissance, but once again with a very decorative stamp.
The portals are also numerous. Mercury and Hermes – probably a reference to the importance of the Sound duty, flank the main entrance. Originally this portal was meant for Skanderborg Castle, but it was moved to Kronborg.
Kronborg
Kronborg
The Main Portal, Kronborg
The Main Portal, Kronborg
The Castle Yard
The Castle Yard
The castle church has gothic windows
The castle church has gothic windows

Renaissance Houses
The building of Kronborg was founded on a practical cooperation between the royal power, the town and many hired craftsmen, who lived in Elsinore. The activities surrounding the building, but even the increasing trade and the business brought in by the Sound duty, led to the increase of the population. This also led to a clear element of foreign inhabitants, for instance Germans, Dutchmen and Englishmen. This meant that new houses had to be built. Some of the houses had a direct connection to the work in Kronborg. This was the case with for instance the customs officer David Hansen’s house in Stengade 76, built in 1579.
Jörgen Kock built a stone house in Malmo around 1525 – an early example of the affluent resources of the upper classes. The house still has the staircase house ends of the Gothic, but the horizontal bands of sand stone and the decorations of the house end front anticipates the entry of the renaissance style.
Stengade 70 - 76
Stengade 70 - 76
Stengade 76
Stengade 76
Hansen´s Epitaph
Hansen´s Epitaph
Strandgade
Strandgade
Malmo
Malmo
Kock´s House, Malmø
Kock´s House, Malmø

Half-timbered Houses
Apart from stone houses there are many half-timbered houses in renaissance style. A beautiful example of this is mayor Iver Pedersen´s estate (from around 1600) o the corner of Stengade and Skyttenstræde.
Half-timbered houses in renaissance style are common in the entire Sound region and not least in Ystad, whose atmosphere is reminiscent of that of Elsinore.
Stengade-Skyttenstraede
Stengade-Skyttenstraede
Ystad
Ystad
The Anchor
The Anchor

©  Øresundstid 2009