Mothsgården is a former country retreat in

Søllerød Søllerød is a suburban district of Rudersdal Municipality in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. The original village, one of the oldest in the area, is perched on Søllerød Hill on the south side of Søllerød Lake. It merged with ...

in the northern suburbs 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. It now houses the main branch of Rudersdal Museum, a local history museum for

Rudersdal Municipality Rudersdal Municipality () is a part suburban, part rural municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') located on the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers an area of 73 km² and has a population of 57,342 (1. January 2025). The distance ...

. The museum also comprises the Vedbæk Finds, a collection of archeological finds from

Vedbæk Vedbæk is a wealthy suburban neighbourhood on the coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It belongs to Rudersdal Municipality and has merged with the town of Hørsholm to the north. The area has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years, as evidenced ...

, now on display in Gammel Holtegård, and the Rudersdal Local Historic Archives in Rudersdal Library.

History

Mothsgård was built by Mathias Moth. He owned the property until 1719. Up through the 18th and 19th century, the house was owned by different families.

Architecture

The property is a three-winged complex surrounding a central yard. It was listed in 1970.

Edvard Grieg Memorial Plaque

A memorial plaque on the side of the building facing the village pond commemorates the Norwegian composer

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

's composition of his Piano Concerto in A minor during a visit to Mothsgården in the summer of 1868 (''Her i Mothsgaarden / komponerede / Edvard Grieg / i sommeren 1868 / koncerten for klaver / og orkester / Søllerød Kommune satte dette minde 1868''). Grieg often visited Denmark, where he had lived from 1863 to 1866 and where his mother had family (Hagerup). In 1867, he married his Danish cousin Nina Hagerup in Copenhagen. In 1868, the couple returned to Denmark to present their newborn daughter, Alexandra. Grieg stayed at Mothsgården while his wife and daughter stayed with relatives in Copenhagen.

References

Local museums in Metropolitan Copenhagen Listed buildings and structures in Rudersdal Municipality Houses in Rudersdal Municipality {{Denmark-struct-stub