Benzonsdal is a manor house located at Torslunde, south of

Taastrup Taastrup (or Tåstrup) () is a Denmark, Danish railway town and suburb of Copenhagen – 18 km west of Copenhagen's city centre. The town forms a twin urban area with neighbouring suburb Høje Taastrup, Taastrup rising since 1859 and Høje Ta ...

, in the northern part of

Ishøj Municipality Ishøj Municipality () is a municipality (Danish language, Danish: ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'') in the Capital Region of Denmark, Capital Region on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The muni ...

, some 20 kilometres west of central

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. It has been owned by members of the noble Lerche family since 1853. The main building is from 1856.

History

Benzon family

Benzonsdal was established by

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

justice

Peder Benzon Peder Benzon (26 July 1684 – after 13 May 1735) was a Denmark, Danish landowner and Supreme Court justice. He was the owner of seven manors on Zealand at the time of his death in 1735. Early life Bentzon was born in Copenhagen, the son of Danis ...

in 1730 from land that had until then belonged to Gjeddesdal. The aim was to secure a more simple and efficient management of the land. Benzon was a major landowner who also established the manors of Benzonseje (now Risbyholm), Dønnerup and

Gislingegård Gislingegård is a manor house and estate located close to Gislinge, Holbæk Municipality, some 60 kilometres west of Copenhagen, Denmark. History 18th century Gislingegaard was founded by Peder Benzon on 30 April 1730 from two farms in the vill ...

. He had previously also been the owner of

Hagestedgaard Hagestedgaard is a manor house and estate located at the village of Hagested, near Holbæk, Holbæk Municipality, some 60 kilometres west of Copenhagen, Denmark. The estate traces its history back to the 13th century but the current asymmetrical ...

and Alslevgård. The new manor comprised 50 tenant farms, 100 smallholdings, a brickyard and four watermills. One of Peder Benzon's brothers,

Lars Benzon Lars Benzon (July 21, 1687 – October 5, 1741) was a landowner and a Deputy Director (''deputeret'') in the General Affairs Commission of the Danish Royal Navy. Biography Lars Benzon was born at Sæbygård Manor on the island of Zealand, Denma ...

, bought Benzonsdal from the heirs after Peder Benzon's death in 1735. In 1740, he sold the estate to a third brother, Jacob Benzon.

Changing owners, 1744-1853

In 1757, Benzonsdal was acquired by the Copenhagen-based wine merchant Frederik Barfred. He owned the property at Rådhusstræde 1 in Copenhagen and leased the tavern in the basement of Copenhagen City Hall. He served both as one of the directors of

Kjøbenhavns Brandforsikring Kjøbenhavns Brandforsikring, founded in 1731, was the first Danish provider of fire insurance in Denmark. It existed as an independent enterprise until 1976 and is now part of Tryg. The company's last headquarters was the Gustmeyer House at Ve ...

and as one of Copenhagen's

32 Men The Assembly of 32 Men ( Danish: De 32 Mænds Forsamling), also known as the City's 32 Men () or simply as the 32 Men (Danish:De 32 Mænd), was an assembly of respected citizens of Copenhagen, who had the right to demand an audience before the k ...

. Barfred wanted to ensure that the estate would stay in the family and therefore created a so-called ''stamhus'' in 1765 with the effect that it could neither be sold, margaged or divided between heirs. Stamhuset Benzonsdal was, however, already dissolved in 1786 and the estate was then sold to his son Jens Laurits Barfred. In 1797, he also purchased Gjeddesdal. In the 1780s, Barfred sold the tenant farms off to the farmers in accordance with the agricultural reforms of the time. In 1800, he sold the rest of the estate to Niels de Bang and Christian Ulrich Detlev von Eggers. Niels de Bang, who after a while had become the sole owner of Benzonsdal, made a big effort to assist the sick and poor farmers on his estate during an outbreak of dysentery.

1853-present: The Lerche family

Count Carl Christian Cornelius Lerche bought Benzonsdal in 1853 and constructed a new main building in 1856.

Architecture

The main building is from 1856. It consists of two storeys over a high cellar. It is built in yellow brick and has a slate roof..

Estate

The house is located in the middle of a scenic garden. A tree-lined avenue leads up to the house. The estate covers 447 hectares of which 38 hectares have been leased. 409 hectares are farmland.

Cultural references

In the late 1960s, Benzonsdal has been used as a location in two Danish adaptions of ''The Famous Five'' novels, ''De fem og spionerne'' (1969) and ''De fem i fedtefadet'' (1970). It was also used as a location in

Thomas Vinterberg Thomas Vinterberg (; born 19 May 1969) is a Danish film director who, along with Lars von Trier, co-founded the Dogme 95 movement in filmmaking, which established rules for simplifying movie production. He is best known for the films '' The Cele ...

's 2013 drama film '' The Hunt''.

List of owners

* (1730-1735)

* (1735-1740) Lars Benzon * (1740-1744) Jacob Benzon * (1744-1757) Jens Andresen * (1757-1786) Frederik Barfred * (1786-1800) Jens Lauritz Barfred * (1800- ) Chr. Ulrich Detlev von Eggers * (1800-1806) Niels de Bang * (1806-1807) Peder Bech * (1807-1853) Frederik Mathias Barfred * (1853-1881) Carl Chr. Cornelius Lerche * (1881-1890) Sophie Frederikke Steensen, gift Lerche * (1890-1918) Carl Chr. Baron Lerche * (1918-1944) Carl Chr. Cornelius Lerche * (1918- 1966) Vincens Chr. Lerche * (1966-1998) Carl Chr. Frederik Lerche * (1991-2012) Vincens Carl Chr. Lerche * (2012-present) Chr. Cornelius Lerche

References

External links

Official website

Source

Source
{{Copenhagen historic houses Buildings and structures in Ishøj Municipality Buildings and structures of the Lerche family Buildings and structures of the Benzon family Houses completed in 1856