Danish Gold Coast

Danish Gold Coast Danish Guinea
Danske Guldkyst Dansk Guinea
Denmark-Norway crown colony (1658–1814) Denmark territory (1814–1850)
1658–1850
Flag of Denmark Coat of arms of Denmark
Kingdom of Denmark Overseas Territories
Denmark Territorial Entity
Capital		Osu (Christiansborg) (1658–1850)
Languages		Danish, German (official) Ga, Ewe, Akan
Political structure		Denmark-Norway crown colony (1658–1814) Denmark territory (1814–1850)
King of Denmark
•	1658–1670	Frederick III of Denmark
•	1670–1699	Christian V of Denmark
•	1699–1730	Frederick IV of Denmark
•	1730–1746	Christian VI of Denmark
•	1746–1766	Frederick V of Denmark
•	1766–1808	Christian VII of Denmark
•	1808–1839	Frederick VI of Denmark
•	1839–1848	Christian VIII of Denmark
•	1848–1863	Frederick VII of Denmark
Governor-General
•	1658–1659	Hendrik Carloff
•	1847–1850	Rasmus Eric Schmidt
History
•	Denmark annexation from Sweden	1658
•	Treaty of Copenhagen	1660
•	Disestablished	March 30, 1850
Currency		Danish rigsdaler
Preceded by Succeeded by Swedish Gold Coast British Gold Coast
Today part of		Ghana

The Danish Gold Coast (Danish: Danske Guldkyst or Dansk Guinea) denotes the colonies that Denmark-Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the petroleum and natural gas rich Gulf of Guinea. It was colonized by the Dano-Norwegian fleet, first under indirect rule by the Danish West India Company (a chartered company), later as a crown colony of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway.

Following the Norwegian Declaration of Independence in 1814, and Denmark in 1850, Denmark's five Danish Gold Coast Territorial Settlements and forts of the Kingdom of Denmark were sold to the United Kingdom and were incorporated into the British Gold Coast.

History

A contemporary drawing of the Danish colonial fort, Fort Christiansborg, now Osu Castle. The outpost to the right is Fort Prøvestenen.

On April 20, 1663, the Danish seizure of Fort Christiansborg and Carlsborg (Cape Castle) completed the annexation of the Swedish Gold Coast settlements. From 1674 to 1755 the settlements were administered by the Danish West India-Guinea Company. From December 1680 to 29 August 1682, the Portuguese occupied Fort Christiansborg.

In 1750 it was made a Danish crown colony. From 1782 to 1785 it was under British occupation. On 30 March 1850 all of Denmark's Danish Gold Coast Territorial Settlements and forts of the Kingdom of Denmark were sold to Britain and incorporated into the British Gold Coast.

The title of its chief colonial administrator was Opperhoved (singular; sometimes rendered in English as Station Chief) since 1658, only in 1766 upgraded to Governor.

Forts and settlements

Main forts

The following forts were in the possession of Denmark until all forts were sold to the United Kingdom in 1850.

Place in Ghana	Fort name	Founded/ Occupied	Ceded	Comments
Accra	Fort Christiansborg	1658	1850	First captured from the Swedes in 1658. Occupied between 1680 and 1682 by the Portuguese. Sold to the United Kingdom in 1850.
Old Ningo	Fort Fredensborg	1734	1850	Sold to the United Kingdom in 1850.
Keta	Fort Prinsensten	1784	1850	Sold to the United Kingdom in 1850.
Ada	Fort Kongensten	1784	1850	Sold to the United Kingdom in 1850.
Teshie	Fort Augustaborg	1787	1850	Sold to the United Kingdom in 1850.

Temporarily held forts and trading posts

Apart from these main forts, several forts and trading posts were temporarily held by the Danes.

Place in Ghana	Fort name	Founded/ Occupied	Ceded	Comments
Cape Coast	Fort Carlsborg	1658	1664	Captured from the Swedes in 1658. Captured by the British in 1664.
Amanful	Fort Frederiksborg	1659	1685
Cong	Cong Heights	1659	1661

See also

• Colonial Heads of Danish Gold Coast the office-holders of the Danish Gold Coast

Sources and references

• WorldStatesmen- Ghana

Further reading

• Closing the Books: Governor Edward Carstensen on Danish Guinea, 1842-50. Translated from the Danish by Tove Storsveen. Accra, Ghana: Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2010.

External links

• Article about the Danish Gold Coast during the Napoleonic Wars (Danish)