Frederiksværk

Marina near Frederiksværk

Last edited 25.11.2025 at 16:17 by NV Charts Team

Latitude

55° 57.79' N

Longitude

11° 59.803' E

Frederiksværk - Marina near Frederiksværk

Description

Sport boat harbor north of the industrial harbor at the northeast tip of Roskildefjord.

NV Cruising Guide

Navigation

The approach is only recommended for those unfamiliar with the area during the day. From the buoyed fairway to the industrial port, steer a northerly course to the entrance of the marina.

Berths

Guests will find berths at Pier 5. The water depth is 2.3 - 2.8 m. However, noise and dust pollution from the steelworks and waste incineration plant are not insignificant. The industrial port and former marina are closed to pleasure craft.

Surroundings

Behind the façade of the steelworks is the large club harbor of the local sailing club with all the necessary service facilities, as well as a town worth seeing with good supply options.

NV Land Guide

The industrial backdrop of Frederiksværk is initially more of a reason to sail away than to sail in. Concrete, corrugated iron and steel form the "welcoming committee". The daunting shoreline silhouette is dominated by a huge steel rolling mill.

Large production facilities have a long tradition here, as Frederiksværk was Denmark's first industrial town. The town therefore mainly attracts tourists with its surroundings. But the notoriously slow-moving sports sailors don't have to walk that far, as the town is a pleasant surprise behind the ugly façade.

A canal, which was dug between Lake Arre and the Roskildefjord at the beginning of the 18th century, winds its way through Frederiksværk and brings a cosy atmosphere to the town. Numerous pedestrian bridges lead from one side of the canal to the other between green spaces, front gardens and closely spaced houses. However, King Frederik IV did not have idyllic surroundings in mind when he had the moat built. The aim was to drain Lake Arre because the largest Danish lake overflowed its banks after heavy downpours and flooded the land. In addition, the water energy could be used as the lake is higher than the fjord.

A museum on the canal commemorates a former branch of the town's economy, the (gunpowder) mill museum. Several old black powder mills with associated workshops and a watermill are part of the over one hundred year old complex, all still equipped with the old rollers and machines. Visitors are informed about the history of powder from around 1200 to the present day. The composition (saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal) and production of the powder are illustrated by schematic overviews and copies of old powder mill drawings. The pulverizing, blending and polishing rollers are still intact. Driven by a water wheel or electric motors from the 1920s, however, they run empty, as powder has not been produced in Frederiksværk since 1965.

It was dangerous to work in the powder mill. The straw shoes on display were to prevent pebbles caught in the tread of shoe soles from spraying sparks when walking.

A grounded metal ball discharged static electricity when touched. General J.F. Classen, the founder of the first powder mill (1756), did not even allow swearing. Nevertheless, there were serious explosions, the first in 1758 and the last in 1957.

The city not only supplied the Danish army with powder, but also with weapons. For many years, the cannons from the factory after which the town was named were stored in the "Arsenalet" museum building. A few meters from the Arsenal is the "Projektilmagasinet". A grocery store from around the turn of the century has been set up where powder was once stored.

The old cannon foundry in Gjethusgade now exhibits works of art. A restaurant and concert hall are also located here, as is the tourist office.

If you're on a bike, we recommend a trip to Maglehøj, two kilometers southeast of the city, where you can tower 70 meters above the action. Once you have caught your breath, enjoyed the view and recharged your batteries during the descent, the Birkely museum farm (another three kilometers to the southeast) is the next destination. Built in 1860, the farm depicts the development of Danish agriculture in words and pictures. If you still feel like cycling, you could head north of Frederiksværk to the seaside resorts of Liseleje and Tisvildeleje on the Kattegat beach. Between the two is a large wooded area, originally created to fortify the shifting sand dunes. It is worth taking a short detour on the tour and visiting the mill in MeIby, four kilometers northeast of the town. It was built in 1878 and renovated a few years ago. But what use is the area described in the brochure as the "most beautiful vacation paradise" if the smoke from the steel rolling mill wafts into your cabin in southerly winds? So: only sail into Frederiksværk when the winds are steady from the other three cardinal directions.