All language subtitles for [1955] Carl Theodor Dreyer - Et Slot i et slot (EN)

The Danish Film Museum presents:

A CASTLE WITHIN A CASTLE
Krogen and Kronborg

For over 350 years, Kronborg has
stood at the entrance to the Sound.

On the other side of the narrow sound
there used to be a fortress,

which controlled entry
together with Kronborg.

Passing ships
had to pay a sound toll.

Frederik II built the Eenaissance
castle at the end of the 16th century

with money raised by the sound toll.

In spite of sieges, wars, and fires,

the external castle has survived
unchanged for over three centuries.

But all these years, it has guarded
a secret known only by a few:

inside the walls of Kronborg
lies another, older castle.

It was called Krogen and was built
by Erik of Pommern in around 1420.

This ground plan shows Kronborg
as built by Frederik II

and as it looks today.

And here is a ground plan
of Erik of Pommern's castle, Krogen.

Both are square and
cover the exact same area.

During the great restoration
from 1926 to 1935,

a number of newer floor and room
divisions were removed.

During the last century,
Kronborg was an army garrison,

and the idea was to recreate
the castle built by Frederik II.

Here, the great hall has been
restored to its original form.

The whole castle has undergone
a thorough restoration.

Newer walls have been removed,
and many hidden details uncovered.

The work revealed much masonry to be
older than Frederik II's castle.

And so Erik of Pommern's castle
Krogen was discovered.

The wall remnants
were measured and registered,

and piece by piece,
Kronborg yielded its secret.

It became clear what Erik
of Pommern's castle had looked like.

The entrance was at exactly the same
place as the present gateway.

To the left of it
was the steward's house.

It was a small, half-timbered house
for the bailiff and the gunners.

To the right of the gateway
was a larger building.

In an old description it is referred
to as the "Eoyal Majesty's House".

This is where the king stayed
when visiting Krogen.

There were two rooms: a front room

and a long hall divided
by a row of wooden columns.

This hall has been taken back
to its original state.

The columns support a heavy
middle girder under the ceiling.

At the opposite end of the hall
there is an unusual, round window.

Viewed in cross-section, the window
is shaped like an hourglass.

At the time,
it overlooked the courtyard.

On the inside of the window,
frescoes have been uncovered.

In the middle are the arms of Christ
with the instruments of the Passion.

To the left are
Erik of Pommern's arms.

To the right are the arms
of his queen, Filippa.

Next to it are the remnants
of one of the old lancet windows

which let light
into the king's chamber.

Across from the king's house
was the armoury

with gunpowder and weapons.

The end wall has been uncovered

with the lancet window and
remnants of the staircase tower.

Here are remnants
of a winding staircase

and a doorway leading to one floor.

The window's upper and lower parts
are separated by a floor.

The walls of old Krogen
are built with heavy bricks

laid in what is called English bond.

That means alternating
a stretcher and a header,

or having the length of a brick,
and then a width facing outwards.

Opposite the end wall of the armoury
was the most important building:

the great hall of Krogen,
which was 37 metres long

and had six tall, lancet windows.

The arches have a characteristic,
four-layered profile.

Two of the 5 metre high windows
have been exposed.

They extend up through the first
and the second floors at Kronborg.

Originally they opened up onto
the building opposite, the armoury.

If we look from the outside into
the long hall inside the building,

we see one of the tall stellar
vaults, which has been restored.

The ribs rest on corbels
on the side wall.

From here, they spread out
in beautifully shaped lines.

The ribs meet in a rosette
in the middle of the stellar vault.

One of the old Gothic vaults
has been restored.

Originally there were
six stellar vaults

over the largest and finest hall.

At the end of the great hall
there is a fully preserved staircase.

It leads down to a mediaeval cellar

running the entire length
of the building.

The floor was dug up and 1.5 metres
down, the original floor was found.

There are seven double cross vaults
resting on six central columns.

At the time of Krogen,
there were large kitchens here.

In the innermost vault, there is
a brick well, still holding water.

The fortress is surrounded
by a ring wall,

which has been preserved
inside the walls of Kronborg.

A segment of the old ring wall
with a gun port has been exposed.

500 years ago, the guns
were directed at the seafarers

to prevent ships from getting past
without paying a toll to the king.

More than 350 years ago, Frederik II
moved the guns out onto the bastions.

He built Kronborg and preserved
the old castle inside the new one.

THE END