- The Castle of Bohus -
Text and photos by
Legio XX
Introduction
The ruins of the Castle of Bohus, or rather the fortress, still stands tall after almost 700 years. It's walls of grey stone and brick still impress it's visitors, eventhough the castle is crippled. The fortress was built by Norwegian king Haakon V Magnusson in 1308. The region in what is now the Swedish west coast, was then the south east corner of the Kingdom of Norway and the location where Nordre Älv (älv=river) meets Göta Älv, which was the connection between Lake Vänern and the sea in what is now Gothenburg - a water way that is still an important shipping route. The fortress was one of the biggest and most massive strongholds in the Nordic countries.
The castle 18th of August, 2007 (Picture taken from the parking lot - P in layout map)
The medieval castle
The area around the inlets of Göta and Nordre rivers have always been of great importance for the three Nordic kingdoms. It was a border area with Denmark to the south, Norway to the west and Sweden to the east. Until 1658 was Göta Älv the national border between Sweden and Norway. A very narrow strip of land was from the 13th century Swedens only connection to the western sea.
Hostilities between the three neighbouring countries during the 13th and 14th centuries resulted in the construction of several fortified buildings in the surrounding area. At the center of this strategic area, construction of the Castle of Bohus started in 1308 to defend Norways southern border.
Bohus became a bridge head for Norwegian heavy cavallry, but also an administrative centre for the surrounding county. It's location dominated the country side upon a high cliff surrounded by natural moats. It became the strongest of all Nordic strongholds.
Image showing what the first castle probably looked like
The appearance of the medieval castle is only partly known. It had walls that were several meters thick and ten meters tall. It was irregular in shape and had square towers in its corners. The main gate and draw bridge was located on the western side.
During the Nordic Seven Years War (1563-1570) the fortress was attacked by Swedish troops six times without success. Denmark also used Bohus to launch attacks on Sweden.
Renaissance castle and fortress
After the Seven Years War Bohus underwent repairs and was extended. Within its walls a magnificent renaissance castle was built. By doing this the castle and the fortress became two separate functions though part of the same outer structure.
In the beginning of the 17th century the town of Kongahälla had been burnt to the ground by Swedish troops on several occasions - Last time under the command of Jesper Kruus in 1612. The Danish king (Norway was under Danish command) ordered the town to be moved closer to the fortress, but the new location wasn't much better than the old one and was soon burnt down again. After some fifty years Kongahälla was moved to the main land where modern Kungälv is located.
The castle before handed over to Sweden in 1658
By the peace treaty in Roskilde in 1658 Bohus and the surrounding counties was handed over to Sweden and the role as an important border outpost was over. The fortress was however used by Sweden to strenghten its positions in its newly won territories. The once magnificent renaissance castle lost its decorations and the structures more and more became a fortress and nothing but a fortress.
The last major battle involving the fortress took place in 1678 when Danish commander Ulrich Fredrik Gyldenlöwe together with 10-15.000 men tried to capture Bohus and Gothenburg. This became the 14th siege in the history of the fortress and by far the toughest. The garisson of the fortress consisted of 900 troops from Sweden and Finland (Finland was a Swedish province at this time). At the end of the siege was only 400 of the defenders still standing. During the summer of 1678 the survivors endured a shelling of apocalyptic proportions: 30.000 cannon balls, thousands of bombs and fire balls, grenades and boulders were thrown at the fortress. When all was considered over the Swedish army came to the rescue and the fortress held out. The structural damages took more than a hundred years to repair...
In the early 18th century the fortress started to decay rapidly. County officials moved their office from the damp offices of the fortress to Gothenburg. When Swedish king Charles XII waged war on Norway most guns were moved to Svinesund. In 1783 the last garisson left the fortress and six years later large parts of the fortress structues were torn down.
The ruin
The ruin of the fortress was during the 19th century used as a resource of building material for the inhabitants of Kungälv. The permission to retrieve materials was later revoked, but the structures were exposed to the elements. Around year 1900 some work to prevent further deterioration was launched, but not until 1926 real conservation was initialized. During the 1930's extensive excavations and restauration work was taking place. The ruin is now being protected as a historical landmark and constant conservation is ongoing.
Layout of the fortress
1. Main gate
2. "Alarm post" Bastion
3. Gate "Kattenburg"
4. Outer gate house
5. Inner gate house
6. The castle well (It took prisoners 13 years to reach water at 22m depth)
7. Fundament of old, now gone, memorial of the Gyldenlöwe siege
8. Castle church
9-11. The arsenal
9. Tower "Mors Mössa" (Mothers Cap)
10. Old warehouse
11. Tower "Sven Hall"
12. New warehouse
13. Guard passage way
14. "Red Tower"
The "Red Tower" played a key role in the defense before the bastions. During a siege in 1566, Swedish troops captured the tower but the tower was blown to pieces by one of the defenders, who ignited the gun powder stored in the basement.
15. Bell tower
16. New stone house
17. House of the commendant
18. Tower "Fars Hatt" (Fathers Hat) - The only remaining tower
19. "Kaponjären" placement for flanking fire
20. Bastion "Övre Platt" (High Flat)
21. Bastion "Nedre Platt" (Lower Flat)
22. Gun placement for flanking fire
23. Bastion "Skarpe Nord" (Sharp North)
24. The pond - 4m's deep fresh water reserve
25. Bastion "Lilla Våghals" (Little Daredevil)
26. Bastion "Stora Våghals" (Large Daredevil)
The castle today - some images
The court yard and well. Building in foreground is the inner gate house (5. in layout). Building behind the well is the new warehouse (12). Picture taken from the tower "Fars Hatt" (18).
The pond (24). Picture taken from whats left of the tower "Röde Torn" (14).
The walkway seen in the layout, leading through the wall to the left of the Bell Tower (15), towards Bastion "Övre Platt" (20).
A strategic position above Nordre Älv. In the background motorway E6. Picture taken from a walkway above the old warehouse (10).
Where Nordre Älv meets Göta Älv. Picture taken from Bastion "Skarpe Nord" (23).
Bastion "Stora Våghals" (26). Picture taken from Bastion "Lilla Våghals" (25).
Satellite image of the area. Red dot marks castle location.
Red square roughly marks area mentioned in this article.