Tøjhuset, Proviantgården

Facts

The royal arsenal

In the years 1598-1604 King Christian IV built Lange Tøjhus as the royal arsenal of war equipment. Proviantgården opposite was built as a food store. Other new buildings were a powder house for refining sulphur and Galejhuset, a store for provisioning ships. The addition of a royal cabinet of curiosities, Kunstkammerbygningen, in the 1660s put the finishing touch to the Royal Danish Arsenal complex. The area between the buildings was laid out as a naval port. The buildings caught fire several times. In around 1920, the former port was converted into a beautiful garden. Together with other buildings, the site now comprises the Royal Danish Arsenal Museum, the Royal Danish Library, the Danish National Archives, parliamentary offices and the Danish Jewish Museum.

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Royal monument went up in smoke

Story written by Ole Louis Frantzen

Time / Periode 1598 1647

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" In February 1647, a fire broke out in the Svovlhuset gunpowder and fireworks store. The fire spread to the royal arsenal and razed the armoury hall above the cannon hall. The roof and contents above the vaulted ceiling of the cannon hall were lost in the fire which also destroyed the King's alabaster sepulchral monument. This was to have assured his post-mortem glory. All that remains of the monument is the head of the King. But the King also lost his weaponry collection, his armour and colours; not only his own regalia but also those inherited from his father and grandfather. The 69-year-old King was so enraged by the tragedy, that he would have struck the officer responsible to the ground with his stick, had his attendants not intervened. "