Kronborg Castle

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Kronborg Castle is about an hour north of Copenhagen facing Sweden. It was built by a former King, for the same reason that the Robber Barrons along the Rhein built castles. It's primary purpose was to collect taxes from ships that wanted to pass the narrow waterway between Sweden and Denmark.

Ever wondered why royalty is called nobility? It's because they have no-ability to do real work, and end up building castles to collect money from those who do.

Strangely the castle was free to enter. No taxes or fees to pay. No robber barrons to enrich. But surprisingly, you pay to go see the underground tunnels and also the Royal rooms and the so called maritime museum. None of those were worth paying for.

Holger Danske is a Danish mythological giant who sits in the basement of this castle as a statute. Legend has it that he will wake up and come to the aide of Denmark when the country is in trouble. Well if the 2nd European War of last century didn't wake him up, then no idea what he considers a calamity worth waking up for eh.

The castle was well worth visiting, but the rooms insides can be easily skipped. If you really want to see the inside rooms, you can enter from the exits. Unlike in Berlin, there's no one posted to stop you. It's all on the honour system.

Sweden is only about 5 or 6 km away across a narrow channel and there is a similar castle on the Swedish side that probably served the same purpose for Swedish nobility. Couldn't see the cannons on that castle, but they were likely there. Merchant ships generally don't stop for pirates ... ummm nobility ... unless there's a real threat.

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