In Copenhagen

Samuel Kiechel’s observations of Copenhagen are typically brief. He wrote that the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Denmark. It was not very large and lacked fortifications. The King of Denmark had his residence there, but the palace could be mistaken for a fortress. Copenhagen had a very deep harbour that allowed even large, heavily loaded ships to anchor. At the time of Kiechel’s visit, all vessels in the harbour were trapped in the ice. Eight large ships belonging to the king were anchored close together near the palace.

Two views of Copenhagen appear in volume four of the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum”. Both images are profile views and are on the same page. One view shows Copenhagen from the land. In the foreground, there is a farm and a few windmills. In the background, behind the city’s silhouette, are the Øresund and, on the horizon, the coast of Scania. In the foreground of this view are two carriages. One is a peasant’s cart leaving the city, and the other is approaching Copenhagen, seemingly the coach of a wealthy individual. Both vehicles suggest the different modes of transportation available to our traveller.

The city’s silhouette has two focal points: the Church of Our Lady and the royal palace. Kiechel’s remark that the palace looked like a fortress is fitting. It was originally a castle built in the late Middle Ages to defend the harbour. By the mid-fifteenth century, it had become the residence of Danish kings. Neither the church nor the palace still exists. The Church of Our Lady was destroyed by fire in the eighteenth century. The old palace was demolished and rebuilt several times over the centuries. Today, the site is occupied by Christiansborg Palace, constructed in the early nineteenth century.

The second image depicts the city from the Øresund. The narrow strips of land in the foreground are islands close to the coast that offer some protection to Copenhagen’s harbour from the sea. The city appears relatively small, just as Kiechel described. Its significance as a major trade centre on the Øresund is highlighted by numerous large ships either anchored or at sea in both images. The palace and the Church of Our Lady are also visible.

An alternative view of Copenhagen from the early seventeenth century provides a more detailed depiction of the city. In this view, the harbour is in the foreground and the Øresund on the right. Both are filled with many ships. On the right is also a shipyard. On the far left side of the image is the Arsenal of Copenhagen, built in 1604. The palace is behind and to the right of the Arsenal, with the Church of Our Lady and other smaller churches situated in the background. Additionally, compared to the images in the “Civitates” and Kiechel’s comments, Copenhagen is now surrounded by fortifications.

To Helsingør

At noon on 8 February 1586, Samuel Kiechel left Copenhagen in the company of the two merchants he had met in the city. They travelled in the back of a cart north along the coast of the Øresund. The weather was freezing, and a strong northerly wind cut into their faces. Kiechel was worried that he might suffer frostbite on his nose or ears. This worry was based on stories our traveller had heard from his innkeeper in Copenhagen. The man had told him that he had once travelled from Bergen in Norway in the winter in the company of fourteen other people. Only six of the travellers brought their ears back home, while all the others suffered from frostbite due to the cold and wind.

Kiechel and his companions arrived in Helsingør in the evening. According to our traveller, it was a small and unfortified town by the sea. The sea was called the Sound (Øresund). Castle Kronborg had been built there by the current king, Frederick II. The castle was fortified with mounted guns and garrisoned by many soldiers.

Views of Helsingør and the Øresund

A view of Helsingør is found in volume five of the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum”. The town is depicted from the east with the Øresund in the foreground. Kronborg Castle appears on the right side of the image. Helsingør is positioned in the centre-left and is shown as a small town. Two churches are highlighted by their names. They are both called “Deutsche Kirch” (German Church), which is likely an error by the mapmakers. The largest church in Helsingør is St. Olaf’s Church. The other, smaller church, marked as “Deutsche Kirch” on the map, might have been built by German merchants who settled in Helsingør.

A bird’s-eye view of the entire Øresund from the west appears in volume four of the “Civitates”. At the centre of this image is Kronborg Castle, whose location dominates the Sound. Its significance in controlling traffic across the Sound is strongly highlighted. Around Kronborg, over forty large ships are visible; many are anchored on both sides of the castle, likely stopping to pay tolls. Some gunfire is also seen: two ships are firing their guns, along with a single shot from Kronborg. These shots could be gun salutes or might have been fired to emphasise Kronborg’s control over the traffic in the Øresund.

Below Kronborg is the town of Helsingør, and in the lower right corner of the map, a small part of Copenhagen (“Hafniae pars”). Across the Sound from Kronborg, the village and castle of Helsingborg are depicted. Towards the right side of Helsingborg (south), along the coast of the Sound, are the cities of Lund (Landeskron) and Malmö (Elbogen).

A view of Helsingborg is also included in the “Civitates”, but upon closer inspection, it is the same as its depiction in the view of the Øresund. Either the separate view of Helsingborg was made by copying part of the Øresund view, or the other way around.

Samuel Kiechel and his companions were fortunate as a boat left Helsingør to cross the Sound the following day. Kiechel mentions that during winter, travellers often have to wait three or four days for a vessel to Helsingborg because of the ice. He explains: The Øresund is very narrow at this point and filled with ice, but it does not freeze over completely. When the wind blows towards the sea, it pushes the ice out of the Sound, but when it blows towards the land, the ice is pushed back in. There is rarely a moment without wind, so crossing the Sound is always dangerous.

The travellers faced this difficulty navigating through the ice of the narrow Sound. If the wind had shifted and blown towards the land, they might have become stranded with no way to reach either side. Fortunately, the weather remained stable and the travellers safely reached Helsingborg.