Glimmingehus: the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia

The stone walls of Glimmingehus, erected between 1499 and 1506, tell the story of Scandinavia's past. Commissioned by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand, the castle was built with many defensive arrangements designed to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. These include parapets, false doors, dead-end corridors, and 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, all crafted by stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral.

The lower part of the castle's stone walls measures a formidable 2.4 meters thick, with the upper part narrowing to 1.8 meters. Beneath its intimidating exterior, the knight's family enjoyed a life of luxury, evidenced by artifacts found during archaeological excavations such as painted glass from the Rhine district and ceramics. While it featured comforts like hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses, it has been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of 'Knighthood nostalgia' and was not considered opulent enough by later generations of the Scanian nobility. The fortress eventually served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

In 1676, an order from King Charles XI to demolish the castle during the Scanian War to keep it from the Danish king was never executed, as Swedish forces were forced to abandon the attempt when a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad. The castle was donated to the Swedish state in 1924, and today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board. Visitors can embark on guided tours, sample regional cuisine in its restaurant, or learn more about the castle's history in the museum. During the summer, the castle hosts events called 'Bizarre stories and terrifying tales', continuing the local folklore that the castle is haunted by multiple ghosts.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons