manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
at
Holbæk
Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the County seat, seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 30,903 (1 January 2025).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 is now home to Kunsthøjskolen, a
folk high school
Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...
specializing in art programmes. Holbæk Ladegård was for centuries a home farm under Holbæk Castle, which was built to protect Holbæk and was held in fee by royal
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
s.
History
Holbæk is first mentioned in a document from 1199 in which Bishop Absalon presents in to Sorø Abbey. Most of the land was later ceded to the crown in exchange for property elsewhere. Holbæk Castle was most likely constructed by Valdemar II to protect the emerging market town of
Holbæk
Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the County seat, seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 30,903 (1 January 2025).lensmand'' in 1563. He constructed a new home farm at the Castle but it later fell into neglect. A new home farm was finally built after a report in 1627 described the old one as "dilapidated".
Holbæk Castle was destroyed by Swedish troops in 1659. The castle was not rebuilt after the war. Holbæk Ladegård with its tenant farms was instead sold to Henrik Thott, the owner of Boltinggaard. Ub 1667 he sold the estate to professor Bertel Bartholin, a professor at the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University.
...
, but he soon sold it again. The estate then changed hands many times.
In 1706, Holbæk Ladegård was bought by Gregers Juel. His son, Peder Juel, sold it to Hans Hansen Seidelin in 1752. He was already the owner of nearby Hagestedgård. He had no male heirs and the two estates were therefore entailed to his nephew, Hans Diderich de Brinck-Seidelin. In 1769, Brinck-Seidelin established a ''stamhus'' (family trust) from the estates Holbæk Ladegård, Hagestedgård and
Eriksholm
Eriksholm Castle is a manor house located at the foot of the Isefjord inlet, 6 km south-east of Holbæk, in east Denmark. The history of the estate dates back to 1400 but today's house was built in 1788 to a Neoclassical design by Caspar F ...
(bought 1758). The effects of a ''stamhus was that the land could neither be sold, pawned or divided between heirs. Brinck-Seidelin's son, Hans de Brinck-Seidelin, inherited the estates in 1772. He demolished the old buildings of the three estates and replaced them with a single one at a new site in 1798. The ''stamhus'' was dissolved with royal approbation in 1809.
Holbæk Ladegård was then sold to Hans Peder Kofoed, a merchant and shipowner from
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 ...
. His city home was the Kofoed House in Christianshavn. His widow took over the estate after his death in 1812. She managed it with great skill during the agricultural crisis of the 1820s. After her death in 1839, it was acquired by F. V. Rottbøll. He sold most of the tenant farms to the tenant farmers. The remaining part of the estate was sold at auction after his death. The buyer was Baron Herman Frederik Løvenskiold. The estate then changed hands several times before it was purchased by Paul Dahl in 1913. He commissioned the architect Thorvald Jørgensen to refurbish the main building. He also expanded the farm buildings.
Paul Dahl's son sold the estate to Holbæk Municipality in 1962. The land was then sold off in lots for new housing while the buildings and park were turned into a
folk high school
Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...
.
List of owners
* ( -1661) The Crown
* (1661-1667) Henrik Thott
* (1667-1676) Bertel Bartholin
* (1676-1684) Mouritz Podebusk
* (1684-1691) Frederik Vittinghof Scheel
* (1691-1706) Schack Brockdorff
* (1706-1731) Gregers Juel
* (1731-1752) Peder Juel
* (1752) Hans Seidelin
* (1752-1772) Hans Diderich de Brinck-Seidelin
* (1772-1809) Hans de Brinck-Seidelin
* (1809-1812) Hans Peder Kofoed
* (1812-1839) Marie Kofoed
* (1839-1866) F. Rottbøll
* (1866-1877) Herman Frederik Løvenskiold
* (1877-1882) J. Sønnichsen
* (1882-1912) G. Ree
* (1912-1913) Johannes Lawaetz
* (1913-1914) M. Alstrup
* (1914-1939) Paul Dahl
* (1939-1955) Else Wørishøffer, married 1) Dahl, 2) Kastberg
* (1955-1963) Torben Dahl-Kastberg
* (1963- ) Kunsthøjskolen at Holbæk