UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE
In 2023, the Viking castle Borgring, together with the other ring castles in Denmark, was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The five Danish ringforts - Borgring, Aggersborg, Fyrkat, Nonnebakken and Trelleborg - were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List on September 17, 2023. The inscription took place at the annual World Heritage Committee Congress, which was held in 2023 in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh.
The background for the inclusion is that together they represent a unique period in world history, when Scandinavia went from being pagan to being an integrated part of Europe's Christian culture.
Here, the ringforts are the physical manifestation of the turbulence of the period and an engineering unique feature that marks Denmark as a new unified kingdom.
All five castles were built in the period 970-980 AD during the reign of King Harald Bluetooth. Harald Bluetooth united the kingdom and converted the Danes to Christianity, but not without sword blows. To secure his position, he built military bases that could manifest his power both at home and abroad. The ring castles are thus part of the story of Harald Bluetooth's ambitions to unite the kingdom and arm himself against pressure from the German-Roman Empire.
BACKGROUND FOR APPROACH TO UNESCO'S WORLD HERITAGE
The five Danish Viking castles Borgring, Aggersborg, Fyrkat, Nonnebakken and Trelleborg, with their history and rigorous symmetrical and geometric construction, were nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in a so-called series nomination in 2021.
Originally, the decision on admission was to be made in 2022 at the annual World Committee Congress in Kazan, Russia. However, the decision here was postponed due to the wars in Ukraine.