Holmen, Copenhagen

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Holmen is home of three different vessels from the Cold War era: The frigate Peder Skram, the fast attack boat Sehested, and the submarine Sælen - and all vessels are open for public.

HDMS Peder Skram (F352) was a class frigate in the Royal Danish Navy, named after Peder Skram who was a 16th century Danish admiral. The frigate was built in 1965 on Helsingør Shipyard and was decommissioned in 1990. There are no guided tours around Peder Skram, but you just follow a map (included in the ticket price) and the signs around the ship. Cannons, the engine room, the bridge, and much more...

In Denmark the ship is ‘world famous’ because Peder Skram on September 6, 1982 accidental launched a Harpoon Missile! The missile hit a summer residential area in the north western part of Zealand, fortunately without human damages. The missile launch is now called the “Hovsa-missilet” (The Ups Missile).

The much smaller P 547 Sehested is only accessible on a 30 minutes guided tour. Sehested is a fast attack boat from 1978, and I was told about the torpedo launching, and again visited the bridge and where the crew lived aboard the vessel.

The submarine Sælen is also only accessible on a 30 minutes guided tour. I was told about the history of Sælen, famed for its participation in the War on Iraq in 2003 and the protecting of Norwegian waters during the Cold War. It was my first ever visit on a submarine and for me this was the highlight of 'the historic ships' on Holmen. No way I was staying in a submarine for months...

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Toldboden is a nice area along the Harbour of Copenhagen where the two royal pavilions are located beside the waterfront. This is from where Queen Margrethe II and her husband, Prince Henrik and other Royal family members board the Royal yacht, "Dannebrog."
The Queen & Prince take an annual summer holiday around the country. The two pavilions are from 1907.

One of the major landmarks on Holmen is Mastekranen (the Masting Crane). It was intended for placing tall masts onto large sailing ships, and could lift up to 28 tons.

The old crane was designed by architect Philip de Lange and built between 1748 and 1751 as part of the Royal Naval Shipyard at Holmen. At that time, it was the state-of-the-art crane... In the 18th century most cranes only had a simple construction made of tree, but this crane had a brick wall around to protect it against the weather in the harbour.

There is no access to the crane.

Holmen church (Holmens Kirke) is a protestant church located near Christiansborg Palace. It was on our things to do list but every day we were checking something else so at the end we forgot to check it for proper sightseeing and we only left with this pic from distance!

It was built in early 17th century (completed in 1619) in renaissance style by Leonhard Blasius, what we see today is the renovation of 1872. I first saw the church on a documentary about queen Margrethe II of Denmark, it was the church where her wedding took place and the journalist was speaking about the beautiful artwork you can see inside, sculptures of Thorvaldsen, a Niels Juel’s ship that hangs from the ceiling, works by Karel van Mander etc.

There is an organ from 1956 but they have kept the façade of the original one that was installed in 1738.

By the way the name of the street (Holmens Kanal) made me curious to check where the canal is but I read later that it was a canal that was filled in 1860 and they gave the name on the street.

Holmen is the common name for a row of islands (Christiansholm, Arsenaløen, Frederiksholm, Dokøen, Nyholm, and Margretheholm) in the harbour of Copenhagen. Holmen was from 1690 to 1993 the main base for the Danish Navy, but was in 1996 opened to the public.

Today, Holmen is a completely changed area, where many of the old buildings have been converted into condos. For example is an old torpedo hall now a condo complex with the original water basin as their courtyard. I think this is a nice place to take a walk, and get away from the noise and stress in other parts of Copenhagen.

On Holmen you’ll also find the Opera House, the old mast crane, Peder Skram and more.

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Photos:
1. Boats behind Operaen
2. Looking across the harbor towards the Marble Church
3. Boats in Holmen
4. View of the harbor from the fourth balcony level
5. Cycling home after the opera

Holmen is the name of the Copenhagen district where Operaen is now located.

This district was used for centuries as a military base by the Royal Danish Navy, but has now been opened for civilian use except for one small section which is still a naval base.

The canal in the fifth photo was dug after the opera house was built, to give the impression that Operaen is on an island just slightly larger than the building itself.