Danish Gold Coast

Danish Gold Coast
Danish Guinea
Danske Guldkyst
Dansk Guinea
1658–1850
Status Denmark-Norway crown colony (1658–1814)
Denmark territory (1814–1850)
Capital Osu (Christiansborg) (1658–1850)
Common languages

Danish, German (official)
Ga, Dangme,

Ewe, Akan
King of Denmark  
• 1658–1670
Frederick III of Denmark (first)
• 1848–1863
Frederick VII of Denmark (last)
Governor-General  
• 1658–1659
Hendrik Carloff
• 1847–1850
Rasmus Eric Schmidt
History  
• Denmark annexation from Sweden
1658
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, 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 in 1850.

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 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

Sources and references

    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.

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