Hermann Castle, Narva

Hermann Castle in Narva, Estonia, was founded by the Danes in the 13th century.

A wooden strongpoint stood at the Narva river crossing during the 13th century and a stone castle was built on that site in the early 14th century. The castle first appears in a written record in 1329. In the mid‑14th century the Danish king sold northern Estonia, including Narva, to the Livonian Order on 29 August 1346 (another record gives 1347). Under the Livonian Order the complex was reorganised into a convent house around an inner courtyard. Between 1341 and 1342 an extensive foreburg was raised beside the west wall and a larger western bailey was added by the middle of the 14th century. A roughly square initial building of about 40 metres on a side and a tower at the north‑west corner formed the nucleus that later became the Hermann tower.

In the late 15th century the Russian fortress on the opposite bank, Ivanogorod, was constructed in 1492, and the castle’s tower was heightened in stages. Work on the Hermann, later called Long Hermann, continued from the 14th century into the early to mid‑16th century; by the end of the 15th to the early 16th century the tower reached roughly 50 metres to permit observation of the opposite fortress. Russian forces captured the castle in 1558. Swedish rule began in 1581 and continued until 9 August 1704. During the Swedish period the western and northern approaches were reinforced in campaigns from 1676 to 1680 and again from 1684 to 1704, following plans by the engineer Erik Dahlberg. By 1704 six bastions and the Spes work had been constructed while the Wrangel and Pax bastions remained unfinished. The river‑facing wall was not altered during these works.

The castle and the town saw combat in 1700 and were taken by Russian troops under Peter I in 1704. In the 19th century the West Gate between the bastions Triumph and Fortuna was completed in 1822. The site lost its fortress‑city status and restoration work began under engineer Modest Rezvoy in 1863; the Dark Gate was removed in 1875. German forces controlled the castle from 3 March to 11 November 1918 and during transitional events in November 1918. Heavy damage was inflicted in the Second World War, with major destruction in 1944; after the fighting only walls remained and the main tower suffered severe damage. Restoration began in 1950, a first phase concluded in 1986, and an exhibition covering the period from the 13th century to the early 18th century opened in 1989. Over its history the castle has belonged to Denmark, the Livonian Order, Russia, Sweden, Germany and Estonia. The Narva river forms the border with Russia and the Ivanogorod fortress lies on the opposite Russian bank.