Vaxholm Fortress
{{short description|1544 Swedish fortress}}
{{coord|59|24|11|N|18|21|35|E|region:SE_type:landmark|display=title}}
Vaxholm Fortress ({{langx|sv|Vaxholms fästning}}), also known as Vaxholm Castle, is a historic fortification on the island of Vaxholmen in the Stockholm archipelago just east of the Swedish town of Vaxholm. It is home to the {{ill|Vaxholm Fortress Museum|sv|Vaxholms fästnings museum}}. The fortress is accessed by the Kastellet ferry, an electrically powered cable ferry across the channel from Vaxholm town. File:Vaxholmsleden February 2013 02 (crop).jpg
File:Vaxholm Fortress (41819).jpg
File:Vaxholm 2017-09-08 13.19.27.jpg
In 1970, the fortress was used as a movie location for the pirate stronghold in Pippi in the South Seas. A scenic view of the fortress may be seen from the car ferry which plies the short distance between Vaxholm and the island of Rindö.
History
The fortress was originally constructed by Gustav Vasa in 1548{{cite needed|date=May 2023||reason=this is what the WP:SV article says, but without any cites. The official website cited here implies the original fort was by Svante Nilsson Sture, and the 1548 date relates to its replacement by Gustav I.}} to defend Stockholm against shipborne attacks from the east. The islet of Vaxholmen, which is entirely covered by the fortress, lies in the Kodjupet strait, which was one of two main routes into Stockholm from the open sea. At the same time, the alternative {{ill|Oxdjupet|sv|lt=Oxdjupet strait}}, on the far side of Rindö island, was artificially reduced in depth in order to prevent its use. Thus, the fortress was strategically situated to defend the city from naval attacks.{{cite web |url=http://www.vaxholmsfastning.se/english/ |title=Vaxholm Fortress Museum |publisher=Vaxholms Fästnings Museum |access-date=18 May 2023 |archive-date=18 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518115608/http://www.vaxholmsfastning.se/english/ |url-status=live}}
Gustav I's wooden blockhouse was replaced by a stone tower during Johan III's reign (1569 to 1592).{{cite needed|date=May 2023|reason=this is what the WP:SV article says, but without any cites. The official website cited here implies the replacement was by Gustav I in 1548.}} This fortress was attacked by the Danes in 1612, and by the Russian navy in 1719, with both attacks being repulsed. Most of the current structure dates from 1833–1863. Its design was inspired by the ideas on fortifications propounded by the French engineers Marc René Montalbert and Lazare Carnot.{{cite book| last = Lloyd | first = E. M. |authorlink=Ernest Marsh Lloyd | year = 1887 | url = https://archive.org/stream/vaubanmontalembe00lloyrich#page/184/mode/2up | title = Vauban, Montalembert, Carnot: Engineer Studies | publisher = Chapman and Hall | location = London | pages = 183–195}} Russian prisoners-of-war were used in part to build the fortress.{{cite needed|date=May 2023}}
By the latter half of the 19th century, the narrow and twisting Kodjupet strait was proving problematic for the period's larger ships, and in 1879 the main shipping route into Stockholm was diverted to use the Oxdjupet strait, which was dredged to remove its previous artificial obstructions. This reduced the military importance of Vaxholm Fortress. So weak did the fort become that it was said the great Prussian field marshal von Moltke was only ever seen to smile twice – once when they told him his mother-in-law was dead and again when he saw Vaxholm Fort.{{cite book| title = Fire and Stone: The Science of Fortress Warfare 1660–1860 | first= Christopher | last = Duffy| location = London | year = 1996 | isbn= 9780785821090 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=k_MiAAAACAAJ}}
The Vaxholm Fortress Museum moved to the fortress in 1964, having been created in 1947 at the {{ill|Oskar-Fredriksborg Fortress|sv|Oskar-Fredriksborg (befästning)}} on the Oxdjupet strait.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{commons category|Vaxholm Castle}}
- [http://www.vaxholmsfastning.se/english/ Vaxholm Fortress] – Official site {{in lang|en}}
- [http://www.nortfort.ru/vaxholm/index_e.html Vaxholm Fortress] at NortFort.ru {{in lang|en}}
Category:Castles in Stockholm County
Category:Islands of Vaxholm Municipality
Category:Islands of the Stockholm archipelago
Category:Listed buildings in Sweden
Category:Military and war museums in Sweden