Christian IV's Arsenal

Christian IV's Arsenal
General information
Architectural style	renaissance
Town or city	Copenhagen
Country	Denmark
Construction started	1598
Completed	1604
Client	Christian IV

Christian IV's Arsenal (Danish: Christian IV's Tøjhus), is a historic building on Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built by Christian IV of Denmark in 1604 as part of a grand scheme for the construction of a new naval harbour. The arsenal, along with several other buildings, surrounded the harbour basin which was connected to the main harbour by a narrow canal. Later, when ships became too large to enter the harbour, the fleet moved to Bremerholm and the decommissioned naval harbour was later filled in.

Today Christian IV's Arsenal houses the Tøjhus Museum, a museum of weapons and military history, while the site of the former naval harbour has become the Royal Library Garden.

Shortly after King Christian IV was crowned, he decided to re-arm. The rivalry with Sweden for control over the Baltic Sea called for a strong fleet with a well protected base. He therefore decided to build a new naval harbour at Slotsholmen next to Copenhagen Castle which used to be located where Christiansborg Palace stands today.

There had been an arsenal on the site for half a century but it was a fairly small, half-timbered building, one of several such arsenals spread across the city, and it was now outdated. In 1598, the king charged Bernt Petersen who had just completed the large tower at Koldinghus, with the commission. Six years later a huge new arsenal was completed, 163 metres (535 ft) long and 24 metres (79 ft) wide with walls three metres (9.8 ft) thick at the base. Next to it, Proviantgården, a supply depot was built with the same length and design but a bit narrower.

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