Vlad the Impaler and the Copenhagen Sea fort
Søfort means "Sea Fortress." Trekroner Søfort means "Three Crowns Sea Fortress."
So what does this have to do with Vlad the Impaler??
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, the figure that inspired modern day Dracula stories, by some legends is thought to have survived an assassination attempt by the Turks in 1476 and escaped to the open sea with a chest full of gold. With a feast of 1000 Turks' blood, Vlad found that he was not aging, and flesh could not be torn. This is where he really sounds like modern day Dracula, mixed with a bit of pirates: His boat wandered for centuries, living off the blood of bandits who tried to steal the gold.
And where did his travels eventually lead him to?
So what does this have to do with Vlad the Impaler??
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, the figure that inspired modern day Dracula stories, by some legends is thought to have survived an assassination attempt by the Turks in 1476 and escaped to the open sea with a chest full of gold. With a feast of 1000 Turks' blood, Vlad found that he was not aging, and flesh could not be torn. This is where he really sounds like modern day Dracula, mixed with a bit of pirates: His boat wandered for centuries, living off the blood of bandits who tried to steal the gold.
And where did his travels eventually lead him to?
The Battle of Copenhagen and the Capture of Vlad the Impaler
By some accounts, the boat found its way to Denmark at the turn of the 19th Century, at the same time the British were attacking the Danish-Norwegian Fleet.
In the turmoil of the battle, Vlad III was somehow captured and kept locked on a Danish battleship. When they determined that he was not able to be killed, he was locked in a ship hull that was later sunk by the British in a second attack.
Some believe that Vlad III survived the sinking of the ship (how could water kill him if swords could not?), and this begins the stories of hauntings in the Trekroner Sea Fortress, which was built in the sea just off Copenhagen where the Battle of Copenhagen occurred.
From the start of construction on the fort in 1787, there were accounts of bloody deaths and mysterious disappearances of soldiers stationed there.
In the turmoil of the battle, Vlad III was somehow captured and kept locked on a Danish battleship. When they determined that he was not able to be killed, he was locked in a ship hull that was later sunk by the British in a second attack.
Some believe that Vlad III survived the sinking of the ship (how could water kill him if swords could not?), and this begins the stories of hauntings in the Trekroner Sea Fortress, which was built in the sea just off Copenhagen where the Battle of Copenhagen occurred.
From the start of construction on the fort in 1787, there were accounts of bloody deaths and mysterious disappearances of soldiers stationed there.
Does Vlad still live at Trekroner Søfort?
If you go to the official pages of Copenhagen tourist bureau and the Fort itself, there are few if any remarks about this possible history (I say possible because it is only one theory of many of what actually happened to Vlad III). But the Fort (now a museum and cafe) has been closed down repeatedly for renovations, and nearly each time a death of a worker has occurred-- many of them thought to be suicide.
Tourists still report coming down with illnesses upon leaving the Fort, strange markings on their bodies, and some have even captured hooded figures in their pictures that look eerily reminiscent of this Count.
Whether it's true or not, it's enough to keep me from going out to that fort. Is it worth the possibility of running into the guy who was described like this:
"He roasted children, whom he fed to their mothers. And cut off the breasts of women, and forced their husbands to eat them. After that, he had them all impaled."
Tourists still report coming down with illnesses upon leaving the Fort, strange markings on their bodies, and some have even captured hooded figures in their pictures that look eerily reminiscent of this Count.
Whether it's true or not, it's enough to keep me from going out to that fort. Is it worth the possibility of running into the guy who was described like this:
"He roasted children, whom he fed to their mothers. And cut off the breasts of women, and forced their husbands to eat them. After that, he had them all impaled."
