A contemporary drawing of Fort Christiansborg.
Fredensborg and the Danish-Norwegian Slave Trade
The kingdom of Denmark-Norway was involved in trade on the Gold Coast for about two hundred years.
Fore more information visit UNESCO`s web site
Its first stronghold on the coast, Fort Fredriksborg, was built in 1660, close to Cape Coast Castle in Ghana. In 1661 another fort was constructed at Osu in Ghana, which became Christiansborg Castle. After 1685, when Fort Fredriksborg was taken over by the British, Fort Christiansborg became the Danish headquarters. The castle had a turbulent history during the seventeenth century. It was lost twice: First to the Portuguese who occupied it from 1679 to 1683, then in 1693, when the Akwamu seized it under the leadership of Asameni and held it for one year. In the eighteenth century Christiansborg expanded its influence on the eastern Gold Coast, aiming ultimately at controlling trade at the Volta delta and beyond, on the western Slave Coast (today Togo and Benin). A string of trade lodges was established, from Labadi, Teshie and Kpone, just east of Accra, to Aflahu on the present border between Ghana and Togo. Apart from Christiansborg, the important establishments belonging to Denmark-Norway were Fort Fredensborg, Old Ningo (1736 -42), Fort Kongensten (1783) and Fort Prinsensten (1784).
In 1803, when Denmark-Norway abolished its export trade in slaves, the Gold Coast establishments had to find an alternative economic base. Attemps were made to develop cotton and coffee plantations, and trade turned to "legitimate" exports products such as palm oil. Having lost Norway in 1814, Denmark lacked the strength to establish political control over the territory claimed to be under the Danish King. In 1850 Denmark finally dropped its colonial ambitions and sold all its establishments in West Africa to Britain.
Mouments and sites in St. Croix