Corselitze, or Korselitse, is a manor house on the island of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

in the south-east of

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 ...

. The Neoclassical house was built in 1777 by

Johan Frederik Classen Johan Frederik Classen, frequently also J. F. Classen, (11 February 1725 – 24 March 1792) was a Danish people, Danish-Norwegian people, Norwegian business magnate, industrialist, major general, landowner and founder of Det Classenske Fideic ...

, who at the time of his death founded Det Classenske Fideicommis, which owns the estate today.

History

Early history

''Corselitze'' derives from Wendish and means 'settlement of Chotel's heirs'. The estate shares much of its early history with the island of Falster. Like most of the island, it belonged to the Crown in the 13th century and is mentioned in King

Valdemar II Valdemar II Valdemarsen (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious () and Valdemar the Conqueror, was King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. In 1207, Valdemar invaded and conquered Lybeck and Hol ...

Danish Census Book The Danish Census Book or the Danish book of land taxation (, ) dates from the 13th century and consists of a number of separate manuscripts. The original manuscripts are now housed in the Danish National Archives (''Rigsarkivet'') in Copenhage ...

which dates from about 1231. In 1354 Corselitze was acquired by Jens Falster, a member of the local nobility, and it remained in the possession of his family until 1600 when it was sold to . A few years later, in 1603, it was reacquired by the Crown in exchange for Eskebjerg on

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

. Between 1560 and 1650 the entire island of Falster once again came under the Crown through such transactions. Initially it was used as , a Danish term for land put at the disposal of the dowager queen for her support (a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

estate), but in 1718 it was converted into a cavalry district.

Classen and his trust

The cavalry district was dissolved in 1766 and split up into ten manors which were sold by auction.

Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel (, German and ; 19 December 1744 – 17 August 1836) was a cadet member of the house of Hesse-Kassel and a Danish general field marshal. Brought up with relatives at the Danish court, he spent most of his life in ...

bought Corselitze and nearby Carlsfelt, probably acting as a

straw man A straw man fallacy (sometimes written as strawman) is the informal fallacy of refuting an argument different from the one actually under discussion, while not recognizing or acknowledging the distinction. One who engages in this fallacy is said ...

for his friend and colleague Major General

who took over the properties two years later. Classen was a wealthy industrialist with close ties to the king and the political elite. He had just reacquired

Frederiksværk Frederiksværk is a town with a population of 12,837 (1 January 2025) in Halsnæs Municipality on Zealand in Region Hovedstaden in Denmark. History A French cannon founder, Peyrembert, received permission to build a cannon factory here. Having ...

, a foundry in the north of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

, which he had co-founded and then sold to the king in 1761. After Classen's death in 1792 the property, along with the rest of his estate, was passed on to Det Classenske Fideicommis, a philanthropic trust which he created and still owns today. In 1947 the trust also acquired Fuglsang and Priorskov on the neighbouring island of

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the List of islands of Denmark#List of 100 largest Danish islands, fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sund area, it is part of Re ...

Architecture

The Corselitze seen today was built by Classen from 1775 to 1777 to the design of the architect Andreas Kirkerup. It is an adaption of the old house which dated from the 17th century. Built in the Neoclassical style, it consists of two floors under a black tile roof. The front is nine bays long and decorated with pilasters. The fine interiors with decorations by the sculptor

Johannes Wiedewelt Johannes Wiedewelt (1 July 1731 – 17 December 1802), Danish neoclassical sculptor. He became a court sculptor, introducing neoclassical ideals to Denmark in the form of palace decorations, garden sculptures and artifacts and, especially, m ...

have partly been preserved.

Surroundings

Classen also founded an English-style

landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "Landscape architecture, landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, r ...

with orchards, a nursery and tree-lined avenues which has partly been preserved. At the edge of

Corselitze Forest Corselitze Forest (alternate, Corselitz; ) is located on the Denmark, Danish island of Falster. Situated in the northeast of the island, it contains white pine plantations, although beech is the most common tree species. History The forest, a man ...

towards the sea, Classen also built the ''General's summerhouse'' (Danish: '' Generalens Lysthus''), a thatched cottage which is a miniature version of

Liselund Liselund is an 18th-century aesthetics, aesthetically landscaped park, complete with several exotic buildings and monuments. Situated near Møns Klint on the north-eastern corner of the Denmark, Danish island of Møn, it is deemed to be one of the ...

on the island of

Møn Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg Municipality, Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langeb ...

. The site also includes a farm which was designed by Vilhelm Tvede and built in 1866. Near the mansion lies the small fishing village of

Hesnæs Hesnæs is a little fishing village located southeast of Stubbekøbing on the Danish island of Falster. Its distance from Copenhagen is 125.4 km. It is best known for its thatched, straw-clad houses, not found elsewhere in Denmark. History The ...

. It is notable for its characteristic

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * Re ...

-clad houses which were built after the

1872 Baltic Sea flood The 1872 Baltic Sea flood (), often referred to as a storm flood, ravaged the Baltic Sea coast from Denmark to Pomerania, also affecting Sweden, during the night between 12 and 13 November 1872 and was, until then, the worst storm surge in the Ba ...

. The harbour is home to a small fleet of fishing vessels and is popular with leisure boats throughout the summer.

Corselitze today

The estate covers 2,792 hectares with Næsgård, Bjerregård, Bellinge and Herslebslund. Of these, 645 hectares are farm land. With Fuglsang and Priorskov on Lolland, its holdings in the area amount to 2,600 hectares of forest and 1,700 hectares of farmland. Since 1999, the farmland has been managed directly by Det Classenske Fideicommis after previously having been leased.

Owners

*(1231–1354) The Crown *(1354–1421) Jens Falster *(1421–1460) Laurids Falster *(1460–1500) Peder Falster *(1500–1529) Oluf Falster *(1529–1556) Peder Falster *(1556–1600) Jens Falster *(1600–1603) Axel Brahe *(1603–1766) The Crown *(1766–1792)

*(1792–) Det Classenske Fideicommis

References

External links

Official website
{{Andreas Kirkerup Manor houses in Guldborgsund Municipality Neoclassical architecture in Denmark Houses completed in 1777 Buildings and structures in Falster Listed buildings and structures in Guldborgsund Municipality Buildings and structures of the Classen family Andreas Kirkerup buildings 1770s architecture in Denmark