Rydboholm Castle (''Rydboholms slott'') is a castle located near the village of Rydbo in

Österåker Municipality Österåker Municipality ( sv, Österåkers kommun, ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Åkersberga, with a population of 26,727 (2005). From 1974 to 1982 Österåker was part of Vax ...

, Stockholm County,

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

, Sweden.

Building

The castle dates back to the medieval period. The castle, with the three interconnected wings around an open courtyard, dates from the 16th century. The main building was built in 1548. The castle was reconstructed during the 18th century. Southwest of the castle is a large park in English style from the early 19th century, built by

Magnus Fredrik Brahe Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wi ...

History

From the 15th century, Rydboholm was the property of members of the

Sture Sture () was a name borne by three distinct but interrelated noble families in Sweden in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. It was originally a nickname, meaning 'haughty, proud' (compare the Swedish word ''stursk'' and the Old Norse ...

family, followed by the Vasa dynasty. According to some sources

Gustav I of Sweden Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...

, (1496–1560), who was

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...

from 1523 until his death, was born at Rydboholm Castle. From 1520, it belonged to his sister,

Margareta Eriksdotter Vasa Margareta Eriksdotter Vasa (1497 – 31 December 1536), also called ''Margareta Vasa'' and ''Margareta of Hoya'', was a Swedish noblewoman, sister of king Gustav I of Sweden. Between 1525 and 1534, she commanded Vyborg Castle on several occasio ...

. Later it was owned by the Brahe family. The last count Brahe left it to his nephew, baron

von Essen Essen or von Essen is the surname of a Baltic German and Swedish noble family. History The first known ancestor was Thomas von Essen (d. 1615–1627) who was from Lääne län in Estonia. His son Alexander von Essen received Swedish nobility, ...

. Through marriage it came to its present owners, as of 2014, count

Gustaf Douglas Gustaf Archibald Siegwart Douglas (born 3 March 1938) is a Swedish aristocrat, billionaire businessman, and politician. As of August 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$7.2 billion. He has been a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engin ...

and his wife Elisabeth von Essen, who live in the castle.

References

Sources

*Eriksson, Ake (1981) ''Nordost, illustrerad förortshistoria'' (Marieberg) Swedish

External links

Rydboholm
{{coord, 59, 26, N, 18, 11, E, region:SE_type:city, display=title Uppland Castles in Stockholm County