We traveled across the Jutland peninsula to the town of Kolding in early March to visit Koldinghus Castle. Built in 1268 to protect Denmark’s border with the Duchy of Schleswig, it has seen many royals pass through its corridors, including Christian III, IV and Frederik IV. In the early 1800s, the castle burned, in the late 1890s locals took on the initiative to try to rebuild Koldinghus to make it a museum and it was in 1989 when Queen Margrethe II (current queen of Denmark) opened the structure after a major renovation.
Koldinghus courtyardYou can see the fire that consumed Koldinghus was quite devastating to the structure. The people of Kolding wanted to preserve the castle’s history. In restoration, they built around the rubble to showcase the structure’s history in Ruin Hall.Ruin Hall allows you to traverse the ruins from floor to floor with its catwalks.The castle hosts various exhibits and this one was my favorite. Modern knitting. There were complete gowns knitted by hand, but this coat was my absolute favorite. I’d wear this in a heartbeat! According to John, the castle displayed the normal castle fare of old oil paintings and then there was a humongous collection of silver. Somehow, I didn’t manage to get a picture of the silver.The ballroomFrom the tower stairway, you can access many rooms. Your eyes are not deceiving you, the center stair support is crooked.You can imagine seeing royalty of yesteryear passing through the courtyard below.Within Kolding city you find remnants of the past. These buildings house restaurants, shops and apartments.We capped off the afternoon with a late lunch at Den Blå Bistro (The Blue Bistro) where we enjoyed the classic Danish ambience – a candle lit at your table, surrounded by families and groups of friends kicking back for a leisurely afternoon.One of these things is not like the others. Until next time, hej, hej!
Matthews' Travels 