The Group.
We are a small group of enthusiastic people from Funen (one of the islands in Denmark), who for years have been interested in the southern part of India. Here we have visited a school for young people from low cast families. The school is a copy of the Danish continuation school, but Indian managed.
In connection to these visits, it was obvious also to visit the old Danish colony and trading station, the fort of Tranquebar at the Coromandel coast.
In Tranquebar, which belonged to Denmark from year 1620 to year 1845, there are many buildings worth preserving that shows the days of glory of Danish trade.
One of the buildings - Fort Dansborg - is particularly interesting to us, as the fort is a building complex, which we might be allowed to restore and renovate. This is possible as the other buildings, such as the gate tower (the Land Gate) and the governor's residence, are being restored by others.
The gate tower has recently been restored and renovated by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and The Governor's Residence will maybe, in its restored form, end as a part of a hotel chain, but still owned by ASI just like Fort Dansborg is. However, it is a major economic project for ASI to preserve, restore and renovate all these buildings, as thousands of buildings of this kind are scattered all over India.

For the purpose of restoring and renovating Fort Dansborg an association has been formed, called "The Tranquebar Association".
Originators of the project are:
Poul Petersen, Continuation school headmaster/project leader. Mail
Viggo Knudsen, Former headmaster/interested in history. Mail
Bent Christensen, Chairman of 'The Tranquebar Association"/ Engineer and head of building operations. Mail
Karin Knudsen, Former school teacher and negotiator. Mail

There are many other participants in the project:
Karl Henk, Architect and retired DANIDA expert. Very familiar with Tranquebar. Mail
Santhirika Santhirasegaram,  Interpreter. Mail
Trine Jensen, Journalist and photographer. Mail
Louise Kjærgaard, Journalist and photographer. Mail
Minister of Cultural Affairs Brian Mikkelsen. Mail
Ministry of Cultural Affairs,
The Office of Cultural Inheritance.		 Mail
Steen Hvass, Keeper of National Antiquities and Director of The Office of Cultural Inheritance. Mail
Otto Käszner, Retired City Architect. 

Mail
Bjørn Nørgaard, Professor, artist and Chairman of The Building Survey. Mail
The Royal Court of H.M. Queen Margrethe II. (Amalienborg) Mail
Karen Stigsen, Travel agent, Grace Tours. Mail
Kåre Lauring, Assistant curator, The Museum of Trade and Maritime, Kronborg. Mail

In India the following have been involved in the project:
 (IAS means Indian Administration System)

I.
Dr. R. Kannan, IAS, Commissioner of Archaeology and Museums, Gov. Museum. (Chennai)
(Dr. Kannan has now resigned: - November 2002,  but in duty from July 2003 - August 2003).
II.
Mr. Ashok Vardhan Shetty, IAS, Commissioner of Archaeology. (Chennai)
(Mr. Shetty is now transferred: November 2002 - July 2003).
III.
Mr. Sitharam Gurumurthi, IAS, Commissioner of Archaeology. (Chennai)
 (Mr. Gurumurthi is now transferred: August 2003 - June 2004)
IV.
 Mr. T.S. Sridhar, IAS, Commissioner of Archaeology. (Chennai)
 (Mr. Sridhar is now the transferred: June 2004 - August 2006)
V.
Mr. Sitharam Gurumurthi, IAS, Commissioner of Archaeology. (Chennai)
Mr. Gurumurthi is now the new commissioner: August 2006 -
Mr. K.T.Narasimhan, Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey Of India, Chennai Circle
Dr. M. S. Mathews, Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering. (Chennai)
I.
Mr. Sudeep Jain, IAS, District Collector, Nagapattinam.
(Mr. Sudeep Jain is now transferred: June 2001 - May 2003).
II.
Mr. S. Ramachandran, IAS, District Collector, Nagapattinam.
(Mr. Ramachandran is now transferred: May 2003 - July 2003)
III.
Mr. M Veera Shanmughamoni, IAS, District Collector, Nagapattinam.
(Mr. Shanmughamoni is now now transferred: July 2003 -January 2005)
IV.
Dr. J. Radha Krishnan, IAS, District Collector, Nagapattinam.
(Dr. Radha Krishnan is now transferred: January 2005 - May 2006).
V.
Mr. T. S. Jawahar, IAS, District Collector, Nagapattinam.
(Mr. Jawahar is now the new collector: May 2006 - ).
Mr. Mathivanan, Conservation Assistant of Archaeological Survey of India. (Chennai)
M. Chandra Moorthy, Reg. Officer, Dept. of Archaeology, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. (Chennai)
N. Krishnamurthy, Ass. Executive Engineer, Dept. of Archaeology. (Chennai)
R. Snaminathan, Archaeological Conservation Junior Engineer, Dept. of Archaeology. (Thanjavur)
I.
K. Nedunchezhian, Curator, Dept. of Archaeology, Danish Fort Museum. (Tarangambadi)
(Mr. Nedunchezhian is now transferred: - March 2003)
II.
G. Muthusamy, Curator, Dept. of Archaeology, Danish Fort Museum. (Tarangambadi)
(Mr.  G. Muthusamy is now the new curator: March 2003 -)
A. Thangarai, Danish Fort Museum. (Tarangambadi)
Ajit Koujalgi, Architect. (Pondicherry)

Royal Danish Embassy. (New Delhi)
M. G. Chella Pillai, Archaeological Engineer of the ASI/project advisor. (Chennai)
G. Aadsarathy, Conservation Ass., ASI. (Pondicherry)

Designer: BC / AH