Jarlsberg Hovedgård Jarlsberg Manor (Norwegian: Jarlsberg Hovedgård) is a manor located about northwest of the centre of the town of

Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...

Tønsberg Municipality Tønsberg () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tønsberg, ...

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

county, Norway. It has traditionally been the residence of members of the Wedel-Jarlsberg family and the Count and Countess of Jarlsberg who led the County of Jarlsberg.

History

In September 1683, Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenløve, the illegitimate son of the King, sold the manor to Danish officer Gustav Wilhelm Wedel Jarlsberg (1641–1717), who was made Commanding General in Norway in 1681. Field Marshal von Wedel received the name Wedel af Jarlsberg in 1684, at which time he was created a feudal count 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 ...

. After a fire in 1699, the manor house was rebuilt. In 1812, Feudal Count Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg again rebuilt the manor, in the

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...

. Around the manor house, large but simple garden and park areas were arranged. The manor house is mainly from 1812, but with various improvements. The first floor of the main building is the column hall that has been used for concerts. Knight's hall, on the second floor, is used for private companies. There are other public trails over the property along the shoreline and through woodland, which is also a private cemetery. Jarlsberg Estate is today one of Norway's largest farms, with about cultivated land.

Archaeology

In June 2024, archaeologists announced the discovery of the remains a

Viking ship Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as being slender and flexi ...

with numerous

rivets A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the deformed end is called the ''sh ...

and two horse

crampons A crampon is a traction device attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and icefields, as ...

using a penetrating radar.

References

{{Coord, 59.2907, 10.3868, region:NO-38, format=dms, display=title Palaces in Norway Buildings and structures in Vestfold Tønsberg Manor houses in Norway Wedel-Jarlsberg family