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The first lodge at Ursu, or Osu nowadays, was built by the Swedish African company in the 17th century. In 1657 the Swedish headquarter in Cape Coast was taken by the Danish, to what resulted in all the Swedish establishments, including the Osu lodge. In 1659 the Danish commandant was tricked with a story about Denmark being conquered and he sold the Swedish establishments, including the lodge to the Dutch.
The Ga paramount chief Ohaihoi didn’t like this trick and asked the Dutch to leave.
In 1666 Jast Cramer, Danish governor of Fredericksburg near Cape Coast
bought the land from chief Ohaihoi for 3.200 gold florins. The Danish
replaced the eastern lodge with a stone fort and named it
Christiansburg after the former king of Denmark Christian IV.
In 1679 a deputy commandant, murder the Danish commandant and sold the
ford to the Portuguese, who renamed it in St Francis Xavier and
constructed a Roman chapel. The Portuguese however where not very
popular in Ga- land and couldn’t compete in trade with the English and
Danish and resold the castle to the Danish in 1683, where it became the
Danish head center alter they sold fort Fredericksburg two years later.
In 1693 the region was under control of the work Akwamu and a notable
trader, Asameni tricked and over powered the Danish. Asameni invited
captains of privately owned English and Danish to trade with him.
In June 1694, two Danish ships reclaimed the castle for 50 marks,
Asameni left the castle taking the keys with him, which became a part
of the Ahwamu stool property, and it still is till nowadays.
From that time onward the Danish used the castle for trade in Gold and
slaves. In 1788, disgusted with the slavetrade, the Danish development
plantations in the Akuapem escarpment, but this proved to be
unsuccessful. With Denmark’s abolition of the slavetrade in 1803,
general trade decline set in at Christiansburg. In 1850 all Danish
property on the Gold coast was to sold to Britain and the Danish left.
The British renovated the castle by rebuilding the north- and southeast
bastions, building new storerooms and garrison quarters and renovating
the internal buildings.
Before the castle received his current occupation it was abandoned
between 1890-1901. In 1902 after a comprehensive rehabilitation, new
upper story’s where built, the government took seat in the building.
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