Jarmers Tårn

Facts

Copenhagen's last bastion

By Thomas Roland, Forhistorisk arkæolog, cand. phil. (14 stories)

In the mid-1800s, the old Copenhagen ramparts were torn down. With them, the last remains of the Medieval fortifications also disappeared. Today, only Land Register title numbers and street layouts trace the city's old defences and borders. Examples include the streets of Nørre Voldgade and Vester Voldgade, in which the word 'vold' means rampart or bank. The ruin of Jarmers Tårn (Jaromar's Tower) is the only surviving structure. This tower with its patterned brickwork was built circa 1500 and formed part of the strong fortress wall around the capital. The story goes that this was where the Wends (Baltic Slavs) broke through the Copenhagen fortifications in 1259 led by Prince Jaromar II.

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Doubts about Bishop Absalon's walls

Story written by Thomas Roland

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The exact age of Copenhagen's oldest city wall remains a mystery. Traditionally, Bishop Absalon (1128-1201) is credited with having built the city's first defence walls. Comments by Saxo Grammaticus, who wrote the first full history of Denmark in the late 12th century and whose patron was Absalon himself, invite this interpretation. But more recent archaeological studies do not give credence to Absalon as the 'wall-builder'. There is every indication that it was actually built in the late 1200s, almost a century after Absalon's death. As such, Saxo's chronicles gave credit where it was not due. The bricks for the city's ramparts were probably burnt on site. When the ramparts on the modern square of Kongens Nytorv were excavated, a buried brick kiln was found. The kiln was from the same period as the early city wall.