COPENHAGEN. 63 



sea, and tlie land route between two peninsulas. All the passenger and goods 

 traffic between Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and the Baltic converges here, 

 so that Copenhagen has naturally become a great commercial centre. It stands on 

 the Sound, which, although not the only, is by far the safest and most convenient 

 channel communicating with the Baltic. Vessels can often pass from sea to sea 

 under one tack, and the prevailing west wind is almost as favourable to the egress 

 as it is to the ingress to the Baltic. 



The proper site for the capital of the state might seem to be Elsinore, at the 

 northern entrance to the Sound, where it narrows to the proportions of a river ; 

 and this place has accordingly been always of the greatest strategical importance, 

 especially since the introduction of artillery sweeping right across the channel. 

 Still the actual site of Copenhagen presented the great advantage of a safe road- 

 stead, a vast natural haven. The inlet between Sjalland and the islet of Amager 

 offered a tempting port to vessels navigating these waters, which they did not fail 

 to avail themselves of as the traffic between the two seas became more regular. 

 The first historical reference to the place in 1043 speaks of it as simply the 

 Hafn, or " Haven," as if it were such in a superlative sense. About 1200 the 

 Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus calls it Portas Mercatorum, a name it has 

 since retained. Even strategically its position is as important as that of Elsinore, 

 for the ship channel hugs its shores, continuing southwards through the Drogen 

 Strait between Amager and Saltholm, while the Swedish side is blocked by shoals 

 and rocks. Thus the Copenhagen forts, like those of Elsinore, command all the 

 na.vigable portion of the Sound, and when this place became a royal residence its 

 political supremacy was easily established. Its influence soon reached far beyond 

 the Danish lands proper, and the most populous city of Scandinavia aspired to the 

 position of common capital of the Norse world. But notwithstanding its admirable 

 commercial situation, the lands surrounding it were not sufficiently compact to 

 enable it to maintain its supremacy amongst the cities of the North. Compared 

 with the great powers hemming her in, Denmark herself is too insignificant to 

 rely any longer on her own resources, and her best hopes of preserving her 

 autonomy are placed in the rivalry of her neighbours. " St. Petersburg," said 

 its founder, " is a window opening on Europe." Might not Copenhagen become a 

 window opening on the world ? Happily two, and, including England, three 

 formidable rivals have their eyes equally turned in this direction. 



Copenhagen stands, so to say, on a strait between Sjalland and Amager. Shift- 

 ing sands have been reclaimed by means of embankments, and islets still preserving 

 their name of Jiohn have been united with the shore. But the numerous canals 

 about the naval and mercantile ports give the place quite a Dutch appearance. 

 Often ravaged by fire, it is largely a modern city, and the walls and ditches 

 formerly enclosing it landwards have been almost completely levelled to make 

 room for its expansion, especially towards the north and west, in the direction of 

 Fredcriksherg. But the city proper is separated from the coast by a citadel and 

 forts facing seawards, and fortifications have even been raised on artificial islets in 

 the midst of the waters. These frownina: batteries still recall the g-allant defence 



