Frihedslund is a manor house and estate located on the east side of
Tissø
Tissø is the 4th largest freshwater lake in Denmark, at 12.3 km2. It is located on the western part of Zealand, in the municipality of Kalundborg municipality, Kalundborg.
There are several small towns and villages near the lake, of which ...
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 is now owned by the Jarl Foundation and operated as an educational centre for agriculture students under the name Frihedslund Lærergård.
History
18th century
Arnoldus von Falkenskiold, a former army officer with the rank of colonel, bought the manor of Sæbygaard in 1779. He turned the farm Falkenhøj into a separate manor in 1787, and in 1790, he also detached another manor, which was given the name Frihedslund ( lit. "Liberty Grove"). Falkenskiold had a profound interest in the management of his estates and was a keen supporter of the great agricultural reforms of the time. He was the first farmer in Denmark to import British pigs. He contributed to a number of agricultural journals of his day. When he sold Sæbygaard and acquired Sophienberg at
Hørsholm
Hørsholm () is an urban area on the Øresund coast approximately north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers most of Hørsholm Municipality and straddles the borders neighbouring Fredensborg Municipality and Rudersdal Municipality.
Hørsholm proper ...
, in 1797, Frihedslund was not included in the sale.
19th century
In around 1800, Falkenskiold sold Frihedslund to Christian, Count Rantzau-Ascheberg, who had recently also acquired Sæbygaard, thus reuniting the two estates. Both estates were shortly thereafter sold for 240,000
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 ...
to general war commissioner Haagen Christian Astrup.
In 1806, Astrup sold Sæbygård, Frihedslund and Løvenborg to Frederik Hoppe, who had recently sold Rosenfeldt at
Vordingborg
Vordingborg () is a market town and old ferry town on the south coast of the island of Zealand in Denmark. Because of three large estates surrounding the town, a coherent urban development has not been possible, which is the reason why three sat ...
. In 1809, Hoppe sold Frihedslund to A.H. Bachmann. It is not clear when Bachmann parted with the estate. One source states that he stayed on the estate until his death, in 1721, but that he had already sold it in 1711 to Agnethe Marie, Countess Rosencrone (née Hielmstierne). Another source states that she bought the estate from his heirs in 1833.
In 1824, Rosencrone sold the estate to army major Harald Rothe. He was already the owner of
Aggersvold
Aggersvold is a manor house and estate located just north of Jyderup, Holbæk Municipality, some 80 kilometres west of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Aggersvold traces its history back to the Middle Ages when it was referred to as Markegaard, taking its nam ...
at
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 ...
i(since1806) and
Egholm
Egholm is a Danish island in the Limfjord close to Aalborg. The island covers an area of and had 55 inhabitants in 2013. Egholm can be reached by a five-minute ferry
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally veh ...
at
Roskilde
Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...
(1809=. In the same year, he was ennobled by
letters patent
Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...
. He was the son of Casper Peter Rothe and Edle Cathrine Severine Soelberg of Urup Manior at
Horsens
Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...
. His wife, Wilhelmine Antoinette Fix, was a daughter of the merchant
Johan Leonhard Fix
Johan Leonhard Fix (28 December 1735 - 2 February 1807) was a German-Danish merchant who served as Governor of Frederiknagore in Danish India. He moved to Copenhagen in 1787 where he served as director of the Danish Asiatic Company from 1791 to 1 ...
.
Harald Rothe's heirs sold the estate to
first lieutenant
First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.
The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...
Jacob Vilhelm Saxtorph in 1850. His son, Sylvester Saxtorph, a prominent medical doctor, was born on the estate in 1851.
In 1859, Frihedslund was sold to Valdemar Hvist. He was a son of
Lauritz Nicolai Hvidt
Lauritz Nicolai Hvidt (27 October 1777 – 16 March 1856) was a Denmark, Danish merchant and politician. His trading house mainly traded on the Danish West Indies. He was also part of the management of the marine insurance company De private Assur ...
, one of the most influential Danish politicians of his time. He had prevuiusly leased the estate Fuglebjerg. His widow kept the estate after his death. In 1895, it was passed to their son Daniel Hvidt (18531937). He was the brother of Supreme Court justice Edward Hvidt and engineer Valdemar Hvidt (father of painter Daniel Hvidt).
20th century
In 1938, Hvidt's heirs sold Frihedslund to by Børge Strand. He later purchased 55 hectares of land from the owner of Falkenhøj. The estate was in 1965 purchased by Jarlfonden.
Estate
The main building is a single-storey, Neoclassical building with a two-storey, gabled
avant-corps
An ''avant-corps'' ( or , plural , , ), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than other parts of the building.Curl, James Stev ...
on both sides. The half hipped roof is clad in grey tiles. The garden features a small lake. The land is protected.
Today
The Jarl Foundation (Jarlfonden) operates the estate as an educational centre for agricultural apprentices under the name Frihedslund Lærergård. The foundation, which was founded by the landowner and artist Axel Harl in 1949, is also the owner of Marienhøj at
Ruds Vedby
Ruds Vedby, in Sorø Municipality, is a small town located on the railway between Tølløse and Høng in West Zealand, eastern Denmark. Ruds Vedby is located 18 km north of Slagelse, 8 km west of Dianalund and 20 km north-west of Sorø. As of 1 ...
. The foundation is also leasing the farmland of the neighbouring estates Selchausdal and Hallebygården with a combined area of 273 hectares and another 75 hectares of farmland at four other sites. The two estates have a combined area of approximately 360 hectares. It is also the owner of the Strødam Nature Reserve at
Hillerød
Hillerød () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 36,604 (1 January 2025)Arnoldus von Falkenskiold
* (1800-1801) Christian Rantzau-Ascheberg
* (1800-1806) Haagen Christian Astrup
* (1806-1809) Frederik Hoppe
* (1809-1823) A.H. Bachmann
* (1823-1824) Agnethe Marie Hielmstierne, gift Rosencrone
* (1824- ) Harald Rothe
* ( -1850) Harald Rothe
* (1850-1860) J.V. Saxtorph
* (1860-1878) Valdemar Hvidt
* (1878-1895) Enke efter Valdemar Hvidt
* (1895-1937) Daniel Hvidt
* (1938- ) Børge Strand
* (1965–present) Jarlfonden