Holsteinborg Castle is a
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 ...
located southeast of
Skælskør
Skælskør () is a town in Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. It is located in Slagelse Municipality. Until 2007 Skælskør was the seat of Skælskør Municipality. The town is located 17 km southwest of Slagelse and 12 km southeast o ...
,
Slagelse Municipality,
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 was built in the first half of the 17th century by members of the
Trolle
The House of Trolle is the name of a noble family, originally from Sweden. The family has produced prominent people in the histories of Sweden and Denmark (where it is sometimes spelled ) since the Middle Ages and is associated with several esta ...
family, who gave it the name Trolholm, but has been owned by the Holstein family since 1707.
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales.
Andersen's fai ...
was a frequent visitor to the estate in the middle of the 19th century. The main building is situated close to the coast, overlooking Holsteinborg Nor, a shallow watered cove which is almost closed off from the
Småland Sea and
Great Belt
The Great Belt (, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits.
Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries fr ...
by
Glænø
Glænø is a small Denmark, Danish island off the west coast of Zealand between Basnæs Nor and Karrebæksminde Bugt. With an area of , as of 1 January 2010 it has a population of 57. Now part of Slagelse Municipality, it is connected to Stubberup ...
, Glænø Stenfed and Glænø Østerfed.
History
Origins
A fortification was built in about 1200, approximately at the site of the current castle to guard Bisserup Harbour, then a naval support point. The estate was referred to as Bråde in 1357 when it was owned by the Roskilde bishopric. The property was confiscated by the Crown 1536 in connection with the
Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
.
Trolholm
In 1562, King
Frederick II ceded the estate to Niels Trolle, a younger brother of
Herluf Trolle
Herluf Trolle (14 January 1516 – 25 June 1565) was a Danish naval officer, Admiral of the Fleet and co-founder of Herlufsholm School (''Herlufsholm Skole og Gods''), a private boarding school at Næstved on the island of Zealand in Denmark. ...
, in exchange for his holdings in northern Zealand.
Niels Trolle was killed in the
action of 7 July 1565
This battle in the Northern Seven Years' War took place on 7 July 1565 and was a decisive victory for a Swedish fleet of 49 ships, under Klas Horn, over a combined Danish and Lübecker fleet of 36 ships, under Otte Rud.
Battle
The Danish ''Da ...
on
Bornholm
Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland.
Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...
in 1565. His son, Børge Nielsen Trolle, changed its name to Trolholm in 1682. Børge Trolle commanded a flotilla attending Christian IV on his Arctic exploration in 1599. The voyage is described by the author
Thorkild Hansen
Thorkild Hansen (9 January 1927 – 4 February 1989) was a Danish novelist most noted for his historical fiction.
He is popularly known for his trilogy of novels about the Danish slave trade which is composed of '' Coast of Slaves'' (1967), '' S ...
in ''Jens Munk''. Børge Trolle's son,
Niels Trolle
Niels Trolle til Trollesholm og Gavnø (20 December 1599 – 20 September 1667) was a Danish nobleman who served as vice admiral under Christian IV and later as Steward of Norway from 1656 to 1661. He played a central administrative rol ...
, who owned Trolborg from 1615–1667, served as
Steward of Norway from 1657 until 1661. The estate was owned by members of the
Trolle family until 1707.
The Holstein family
Ulrik Adolf Holstein acquired the Barony of Fuirendal in 1700. In 1707, he also acquired Trolholm and Snedinge. Holstein was created Count of Holsteinborg in 1708. He built ten village churches on his estate and expanded Holsteinborg Church in 1728. He served as
Grand Chancellor during the last ten years of
Frederick IV's reign.
[
Frederik Adolph Holstein, 6th Count of Holsteinborg, belonged to Reventlow and Bernstorff's social circle. He also brought the Christmas tree tradition to Denmark when the first Danish Christmas tree was lit on Christmas Eve 1808 at Holsteinborg.
]Ludvig Holstein-Holsteinborg
Ludvig Henrik Carl Herman Holstein, Greve til Holsteinborg (18 July 1815 – 28 April 1892), was a Danish politician, landowner and noble. He was Council President of Denmark from 28 May 1870 to 14 July 1874 (4 years, 1 month, 16 days).
Ea ...
, 7th Count of Holstein, who served as Council President in the early 1870s, owned Holsteinborg from 1836 to 1892. Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales.
Andersen's fai ...
was a frequent visitor to his homes, both in Copenhagen and at Holsteinborg. Andersen made his first visit to the estate in May 1856, noting in his diary that "The food was sumptuous, I was placed in a very elegant bedroom and a cabinet facing the great courtyard, which is rather similar to that of Kronborg".
The building was restored in 1949–1950 under the supervision of H. H. Engqvist.
Architecture
The oldest part of the four-winged manor house is the west wing which was built by Børge Trolle in 1598. The three other wings were built between 1538 and 1546. The building was adapted in 1777–1781 by G.E. Rosenberg and again in 1848–1850 by Gustav Friedrich Hetsch
Gustav Friedrich (von) Hetsch (28 September 1788 – 7 September 1864) was a Danish architect.
Early life and education
Hetsch was born on 28 September 1788 in Stuttgart to history painter Philipp Friedrich von Hetsch (1758–1838) and Louise Fr ...
. The original Renaissance castle now combines Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical elements. The main gate is located in the north wing which is flanked by corner towers with spires from 1642 and 1649. The two headless shieldbearers that flank the gate represent the headless troll in the Trolle family's coat of arms. The moat is only preserved on the north side and around the farm buildings, some of which date from the middle of the 17th century.
Chapel
A chapel was installed on 9 August 1728 in the west wing. The style is mainly Baroque. One of only two privately owned parish churches, it serves as church for the Parish of Holsteinborg. The ceiling is decorated with the coat of arms and monogram of the founder. The altarpiece was painted by Hendrick Krock in 1725 and depicts '' Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane''.
Surroundings
The estate comprises Fuirendal and Snedinge and has a total area of of which are forest.
The southern part of the park is an English style landscape garden from 1865 and 1892. The northern part of the park retains elements of an earlier Baroque garden from 1725, including a long lime tree avenue.
Cultural references
Holsteinborg has been used as a location in the 1978 film '' Slægten'' and the 1993 film ''Sort høst
''Black Harvest'' () is a 1993 Danish drama film directed by Anders Refn. The film was selected as the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Acade ...
''.
List of owners
* (1357–1536) Bishops of Roskilde
* (1536–1562) The Crown
* (1562–1570) Niels Trolle
* (1570–1582) Jakob Nielsen Trolle/Børge Nielsen Trolle/Anne Nielsdatter Trolle
* (1582–1610) Børge Nielsen Trolle
* (1610–1615) Anna Povlsdatter Trolle née Munk
* (1615–1667) Niels Børgesen Trolle
* (1667–1676) Børge Nielsen Trolle
* (1676–1707) Anders Nielsen Trolle
* (1707–1737) Ulrich Adolph, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1737–1749) Frederik Conrad, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1749–1759) Christoph Conrad, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1759–1760) Cay Joachim Detlev, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1760–1796) Heinrich, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1796–1836) Frederik Adolph, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1836–1892) Ludvig Henrik Carl Herman, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1892–1924) Frederik Conrad Christian Christopher, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1924–1945) Bent, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1945–1965) Erik Frederik Adolf Joachim, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1965–1977) Ib, Count of Holstein-Holsteinborg
* (1977–) Ulrich Holstein-Holsteinborg
References
External links
Official website
{{Slagelse Municipality
Castles in Region Zealand
Listed buildings and structures in Slagelse Municipality
Manor houses in Slagelse Municipality
Buildings and structures of the Trolle family
Buildings and structures of the Holstein family