Hidden Finds from the Past
In 2014, archaeologists Søren Sindbæk and Nanna Holm discovered the previously unknown Viking fortress Borgring in a field outside the village of Lellinge, near Køge. Prior to the discovery, the two had discussed the possibility that another ring fortress of the Trelleborg type might be hidden somewhere on Zealand. Using drone footage of the landscape, they spotted a perfect circle—over 100 meters in diameter—emerging from the terrain. A test excavation confirmed their theory: this was indeed a Viking fortress in the form of a ring.
In 2015, the Danish Castle Centre and Aarhus University, with support from the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation for General Purposes, Køge Municipality, and Aarhus University, launched a project not only to excavate key areas of Borgring but also to communicate the findings—and the Viking Age itself—to the public.
The fortress’s symmetrical shape (144 meters in diameter) is now marked by tall corten steel poles that outline the assumed cross-section of the original rampart.
How long did the excavation last?
From 2016 to 2018, with a total of 24 million DKK in funding from the A.P. Møller Foundation and Køge Municipality, the most extensive excavations of a Viking fortress ever conducted took place at Borgring and its surrounding area.
The results of these excavations played a key role in supporting the application that the Danish Minister of Culture submitted to UNESCO in January 2021—an application that led to the Viking ring fortresses being added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023.
The Viking Fortress Borgring
At Denmark’s new museum, the Viking Fortress Borgring, we tell the story of Harald Bluetooth’s ring fortresses. With Borgring as our starting point, we take visitors back to a time when one faith replaced another—when more than half a millennium of Norse god worship was overtaken by a new god from the south: Christ.
Why did Harald Bluetooth choose to be baptized? What might he have considered? What did it mean for royal power, for the country, and for the people when the king turned away from the Norse gods? And what role did the ring fortresses play in that transformation?
At the Viking Fortress Borgring, we aim—with thoroughness and accuracy, but also with curiosity—to challenge visitors to engage with history and reflect on the world we live in today.
With larger-than-life portrayals of Harald Bluetooth, the Norse gods, and historical artifacts; with conversations and discussions about this pivotal shift; and with a real Viking fortress built by the most influential Viking king of the North, visitors are invited back to the Viking Age—a time that transformed Denmark into the country we know today.
The 1,800-square-meter experience and research center has been designed in collaboration with LOOP Architects, while the exhibitions are being developed by the museum’s exhibition team.
The experience center opens June 2025.
Funding
The Viking Fortress Borgring has a total budget of DKK 52.6 million and is supported by:
The A.P. Møller Foundation, Køge Municipality, Knud Højgaard’s Foundation, Brand af 1848 Foundation, and the Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik Foundation.
Research
The Viking Fortress Borgring is also a center for Viking research. The Center for Viking Age Studies (CVS) is based at the museum and focuses on the Viking Age and related periods, with a foundation in archaeology and contributions from disciplines such as history, religious studies, toponymy, and relevant natural sciences.