WE BUILT VARBERG FORTRESS

4 June – 26 February 2023

The Danish King Christian IV built Varberg Fortress, which was completed in 1618. Meet stonemasons, duty people, bricklayers, builders, brick burners, farmers, skippers and many others who all contributed to the completion of the fortress after forty years of construction in 1618.

In the archives we find their names on receipts and payrolls in accounting books. We know, for example, that Anders’ brick burner was able to deliver 80,000 bricks for the construction during a year and that Börgi’s widow Bendte carried soil and gravel to work on the walls during a few construction seasons, but the information about the workers’ lives is otherwise scarce.

By piecing together the fragments, we try to give a picture and convey a sense of the work at the construction site. We allow you to meet some of the men and women behind the archive notes. More facts about the construction and the workers can be found in the expert films shown in the exhibition.