Fredericia

Fredericia (Friedericia), a seaport of Denmark, near the S.E. corner of Jutland, on the west shore of the Little Belt opposite the island of Fünen. Pop. (1901) 12,714. It has railway communication with both south and north, and a steam ferry connects with Middelfart, a seaside resort and railway station on Fünen. There is a considerable shipping trade, and the industries comprise the manufacture of tobacco, salt and chicory, and of cotton goods and hats. A small fort was erected on the site of Fredericia by Christian IV. of Denmark, and his successor, Frederick III., determined about 1650 to make it a powerful fortress. Free exercise of religion was offered to all who should settle in the new town, which at first bore the name of Frederiksodde, and only received its present designation in 1664\. In 1657 it was taken by storm by the Swedish general Wrangel, and in 1659, after the fortress had been dismantled, it was occupied by Frederick William of Brandenburg. It was not till 1709-1710 that the works were again put in a state of defence. In 1848 no attempt was made by the Danes to oppose the Prussians, who entered on the 2nd of May, and maintained their position against the Danish gunboats. During the armistice of 1848-1849 the fortress was strengthened, and soon afterwards it stood a siege of two months, which was brought to a glorious close by a successful sortie on the 6th of July 1849. In memory of the victory several monuments have been erected in the town and its vicinity, of which the most noticeable are the bronze statue of the Danish Land Soldier by Bissen (one of Thorvaldsen’s pupils), and the great barrow over 500 Danes in the cemetery of the Holy Trinity Church, with a bas-relief by the same sculptor. On the outbreak of the war of 1864, the fortress was again strengthened by new works and an entrenched camp; but the Danes suddenly evacuated it on the 28th of April after a siege of six weeks. The Austro-Prussian army partly destroyed the fortifications, and kept possession of the town till the conclusion of peace.

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