Dønnerup, formerly known as Benzonslund, is a manor house and estate located approximately five kilometres south of

Jyderup Jyderup is an old town, with a population of 4,300 (1 January 2025), in Holbæk Municipality, northwestern Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in Denmark. It is situated roughly halfway between the larger cities of Kalundborg and Holbæk on the west and ea ...

, in

Holbæk Municipality Holbæk Municipality () is a '' kommune'' in northwestern Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand in Denmark. The municipality includes the island of Orø, and covers an area of 583 km², and has a total population of 74,490 (2025). Its may ...

, some 80 kilometres west of

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 ...

. The estate covers approximately 1,700 hectares and comprises Rangle Mølle and Holmstrup. The current main building was built in

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

in 1933 after the old one had been destroyed in a fire.

History

1730–1820: Early history

TDønnerup was originally the name of a village. The name is first recorded as Dindethorp in 1199. In 1730, Supreme Court 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 ...

was granted royal permission to close the village and convert the land into a new manor under the name Benzonslund. Benzon died in 1735. In 1737, Benzonslund was sold to just 22-year-old army officer Henrik von Eickstedt. He would later play a key role in the revolt against

Johann Friedrich Struensee Count, Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish gov ...

. After just two years, he sold Benzonslund to lieutenant-colonel Reimer Henrik von Barner. In 1745, Benzonslund was acquired by Peder Willumsen for 12,300

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were of ...

. After 12 years, it was sold to Køber var Christian Henrich Selchau (died 1788). In 1783, he ceded it to his son Christian Andreas Selchau. In 1791, Schou Jr. sold the estate for 30m000 rigsdaler to Supreme Court justice Poul Christian von Stemann. In 1827, he was appointed as president of

Danske Kancelli The Danish Chancellery () was an administrative and partially governmental body in Denmark from the 12th century to 1848. History Before the Reformation From the 12th century to the Reformation in 1536 its name was simply the Chancellery (). The ...

. In 1800, he sold Benzonslund tp

Johannes Meldahl Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...

. In 1806, Meldahl sold the estate to Cecilius Andreas Ulrik Rosenørn.

1820–1925: Zytphen-Adeler family

In 1829, Benzonslund was acquired by Berta Moltke, widow of Frederik, Baron Adeler. In 1843, it was included in the Barony of Adelersborg. Georg Frederik Otto von Zytphen, who was married to Bertha Adeler's grand daughter, was ennobled under the name Zytphen-Adeler in 1838. He managed the Benzonszlund estate from 1839 and became its owner in 1843. Zytphen-Adeler introduced many improvements in the management of the estate. In 1867. he was granted royal permission to rename it Dønnerup after the former village.

1925–present: Later history

The barony was dissolved in 1925, following the adoption of ''lensafløsningsloven''. At the same time, Dønnerup was sold to Aage Hastrup. The main building was destroyed in a fire. In 1932–33, it was replaced by a new one. Members of the Hastrup family owned the estate until 1994.

Architecture

Dønnerup is built in

. It consists of a main wing with crow-stepped gables flanked by two detached side wings. All three buildings are white-washed with red tile roofs and have crow-stepped gables.

Today

Dønnerup is owned and operated by Dønnerup A/. The estate covers 1276 hectares of land (2011) of which 173 hectares are farmland, 219 are hectares are pastures and 809 hectares are woodland.

List of owners

* (1730–1735)

* (1735–1737) The estate after Peder Benzon * (1737–1739) Hans Henrik von Eickstedt * (1739–1745) Reimer Henrich von Barner * (1745–1757) Peder Willumsen * (1757–1783) Christian Henrich Selchau * (1783–1791) Christian Andreas Selchau * (1791–1800) Poul Christian von Stemann * (1800–1806) Johannes Meldahl * (1806–1820) Cecilius Andreas Ulrik Rosenørn * (1820–1843) Bertha Adeler, née Moltke * (1843–1878) Georg Frederik Otto von Zytphen-Adeler * (1878–1908) Frederik Herman Christian von Zytphen-Adeler * (1908–1925) Georg Frederik de Falsen von Zytphen-Adeler * (1925–1968) Aage Hastrup * (1968–1988) Allan Hastrup * (1988–1994) Andreas Hastrup * (1994–2000) Dønnerup A/

References

External links

Official website
{{Holbæk Municipality Manor houses in Holbæk Municipality Houses completed in 1833 1730 establishments in Denmark Buildings and structures of the Benzon family Buildings and structures of the Adeler family