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The Kastrup Fort |
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The old fortifications around Copenhagen dating from the 17th
century were demolished commencing in 1872, and the constructions of a
new defence line began from 1885.
The old naval and coastal forts were modernized, and a number of new
forts north of the capital were constructed together with a new defence
line "Vestvolden" (The Western Enceinte) about 12 km south west of
Copenhagen. The shore defences also received some new naval and coastal
forts and batte-ries.
At the time of its construction the defence line was a worthy opponent
for any aggressor with new and modern 15 cm artillery, mitrailleuses and
machine guns which were hidden behind concrete walls.
But military
developments went very fast at the time, and just 20 years after its
construction, the defen-ce line was out of date from a technological
point of view. Also it was too close to the capitol. The fortifi-cations
needed a lot of manpower to be effective. All the 50.000 men that were
enlisted to protect Danish neutrality in 1914, were deployed around
Copenhagen.
As a result of this knowledge, a political agreement from 1909 became
the basis for a new defence line 30 km west of the city - the Tune
stronghold between the Køge Bugt (Koge Bay) and Roskilde Fjord (the
Fjord of Roskilde). This line is the narrowest point on the island of
Sjælland. The construction work started just after the outbreak of World War I.
In 1920 the defence lInes of Copenhagen were abandoned.
The purpose of this site is to tell the story of a dramatic period of
Danish fortification history and the unique way this fortification line
was built.
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