Naval Station Holmen () is one of several naval stations of the Royal Danish Navy, supplementing the two Danish naval bases in Frederikshavn and Korsør. Founded in the late 17th century, it is also a visitor attraction with many historical buildings that has played a vital role in the history of Denmark as well as Copenhagen. The naval base used to occupy the entire area of Holmen, which was in fact created by a series of landfills to house it, but is now confined to its northernmost island of Nyholm. Holmen was for many years the base of command for the Danish Naval Flag and has through the times been called Nyholm (which is the name of one of the islands), the Navy's Base and Naval Station or Naval Base, Copenhagen. It was never actually named Naval Station Holmen (Flådestation Holmen), even though many people not in the Navy have used this name. For over 300 years, the facility at Holmen was Denmark's largest employer. Today the Navy only has a single institution left on Holmen. Since the 1990s, the area has been opened to the public. History Erik Menved was the first Danish King to establish a naval port in Copenhagen. Later, under the command of Valdemar Atterdag, the fleet was moved to Vordingborg, but Erik of Pommern moved it back to Copenhagen and King Hans built a shipyard in Copenhagen. Christian IV built a "war port" on Slotsholmen, but the harbour's basin has been filled since and is the site of the Royal Library today. The buildings around the harbour housed supplies for the Navy. As ships started to grow in size, the war port became too small, and the fleet moved to Bremerholm. Under Christian VI, a dock was established in 1739 at Christianshavn, close to where Strandgade (Beach Street) is today. This dock existed up to 1871 when it was taken over by Copenhagen's Harbor Control, and the docks were filled. The name Gammel Dok (Old Docks) still show where part of the Navy's shipyard was. Nyholm Since the city was growing, it was not practical to have the Navy Fleet stationed in the centre of the city. The ships were, of course, built out of wood and were fire hazards. The seamen on the ships simply threw their waste and trash directly into the harbor, which had a negative impact on the city's health. In