Geopark: Tranekær Slot
Tranekær Castle is situated on top of one of the many ‘hat-shaped hills’ of the island.
This way the terrain provided a considerable protection for the residents of the castle already from the onset. With the addition of moats and a curtain wall over time, the castle has become an almost impregnable stronghold.
Tranekær contributes to demonstrating the strategic importance of Langeland in the complicated South Fyn geography. The island has served as a strategic crossroads between the main sailing routes through Storebælt and a stepping stone between Sjælland and Fyn and has, as such, been repeatedly under attack and siege throughout history
Tranekær is the largest of a series of Medieval fortifications on Langeland and without compare the best preserved. The castle dates back to the 1100s and was expanded during the High Middle Ages. At that point the castle comprised two wings and a curtain wall. The north wing with walls reaching a thickness of 2.3 metres through additional constructions contains the remains of a High Medieval palatial residence, which is a rarely preserved feature in Danish castles and which also indicates the financial power behind the construction.
Canon fire and the shifting political geography of the Late Middle Ages caused the castle to lose its military importance in the middle of the 1500s. Consequently, the castle did not add strong earthworks, canon emplacements, etc. and so appears more or less in its original form.
Over time, a beautiful village has emerged around the castle that, like the castle, is very well preserved to this day. Many of the buildings in Tranekær Village are built by the employees of the castle.