Sæbygaard is a manor house and estate situated east 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 ...

, between Sæby and

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 ...

, in Kalundborg Municipality, some 90 km west 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. From 1772 to 1793, it was administrated as its own county (Danish: Amt).

History

Early history

Sæbygaard traces its history back to at least the 13th century. The first known owner of the estate was Esbern Snare, Bishop Absalon's brother. Allegedly, Snare died when he fell down a staircase in the building. Not much else is known about the early history of the estate.

Crown land, 13791664

In 1379. Sæbygaard was acquired by

Margrethe I Margaret I (; March 1353 – 28 October 1412) was Queen regnant of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included Finland) from the late 1380s until her death, and the founder of the Kalmar Union that joined the Scandinavian kingdoms together for ...

. For the next almost 300 years, Sæbygaard was operated as a royal fief, either independently or as part of Kalundborg Fief (Kalundborg Len). The identity of 23 fiefholders are known.

Sæbygaard County, 16621793

When fiefs were replaced by counties (Danish: Amter), in 1662, Sæbygaard was incorporated as its own county (Sæbbygaard Amt), which consisted only of a single

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

, Løve Herred, whose

thingstead A thing, also known as a folkmoot, assembly, tribal council, and by other names, was a governing assembly in early Germanic society, made up of the free people of the community presided over by a lawspeaker. Things took place regularly, usual ...

was located in the small town of

Løve Løve (Danish, 'Lion') is a surname derived from "Lion". See also * * Löve (disambiguation) * Love (disambiguation) * Norske Løve (disambiguation) * ''Den Røde Løve'' (Danish ship) *Mia Hansen-Løve Mia Hansen-Løve (born 5 February 1981) ...

. In 1681, Løve Herred's thingstead relocated to Sæbygaard. In 1751, it was moved back to Løve.

Changing owners, 16441797

In the early 1660s,

Henrik Müller Henrik is a male given name of Germanic origin, primarily used in Scandinavia, Finland, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. In Poland, the name is spelt Henryk but pronounced similarly. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Heiki (Estonia ...

, who had just been appointed as

royal treasurer Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

, was given all crown land in Dragsholm and Sæbygaard counties by

Frederik III Frederick III (; 18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the name Frederick II as diocesan administrator (colloquially referred to as prince-bishop) of the ...

as partial repayment for his extensive loans to the crown during the

Second Northern War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

. At the peak of his career, Müller was one of the largest landowners on Zealand. In 16601771, he served as county governor of Sæbygaard and Dragsholm counties. In the 1670s, when he was hit by economic difficulties, partly due to an agricultural crisis, he had to pawn Sæbygaard to the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

-based Jewish merchant Manuel Texeira. In 1782, Texeira became theowner of the property. After a few years, Sæbygaard was acquired by Johannes Fincke (1635-1707), who was married to Müller's daughter Sophie (1646-1718). Fincke's brother,

Thomas Fincke Thomas Fincke (6 January 1561 – 24 April 1656) was a Danish mathematician and physicist, and a professor at the University of Copenhagen for more than 60 years. Biography Thomas Jacobsen Fincke was born in Flensburg in Schleswig. Fincke was ...

, who was married to one of Müller's other daughters, Drude Müller (1644-1704), owned Lejregård 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 ...

. After Fincke's death, Sæbygaard was sold by his two daughters to Frederik Christian Adeler. Adeler was the son of Admiral

Cort Adeler Cort Sivertsen Adeler (16 December 16225 November 1675), known in Denmark as Coort Sifvertsen Adelaer, in the Netherlands as Koert Sievertsen Adelaer and in Italy as Curzio Suffrido Adelborst, was the name of honour given to Kurt Sivertsen, a No ...

and the father of

Frederik Adeler Frederik Adeler (1700–1766) was a Danish government official and landowner. He served as a County Governor and County Governor of several counties in Denmark and Norway ( Denmark-Norway) from 1727 until his death in 1766. Early life and edu ...

. After just one year, Adeler sold Sæbygaard to

Lars Benzon Lars Benzon (July 21, 1687 – October 5, 1741) was a landowner and a Deputy Director (''deputeret'') in the General Affairs Commission of the Danish Royal Navy. Biography Lars Benzon was born at Sæbygård Manor on the island of Zealand, Denma ...

. After his death, some 20 years later, Sæbygaard was passed to his son Niels Benzon. Arnoldus von Falkenskiold

In 1761, Sæbygaard was acquired by Sophie Hedevig Rantzau. Her second husband, Christian Frederik von Levetzau. who had constructed one of the four

Amalienborg Amalienborg () is the official residence for the Danish royal family and is located in Copenhagen. Frederick VIII's palace complex has four identical Classical façades, effectively four palaces, with Rococo interiors, laid around an octagona ...

mansions, had died in 1756. In 1770, she constructed a new main building on the Sæbygaard estate. Neither of her two marriages produced any children. After her death the estate was therefore passed down to her relative Frederik Sophus Rantzau. The next owner of the estate was

Arnoldus von Falkenskiold Arnoldus von Falkenskiold (11 June 1743–15 May 1819) was a Danish Noble courtier, colonel and major landowner who is renowned for his agricultural reforms in Denmark. He was the son of nobleman Martin Dyssel von Falkenskiold and brother of ...

, a former army officer with the rank of colonel. 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 Frihedslund is a manor house and estate located on the east side of Tissø, Kalundborg Municipality some west of Copenhagen, Denmark. The estate is now owned by the Jarl Foundation and operated as an educational centre for agriculture students u ...

( 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. In 1797, 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 ...

?19th century

In the 19th century, Sæbygaard changed hands many times. The owners included Christian Ditlev Carl Rantzau, Haagen Christian Astrup and Frederik Hoppe.

20th century

In 1908, Sæbygaard was acquired by Thor Gustav Emil Grüner. It was later passed down to his son Thor Gustav Emil Grüner Jr. and nephew Mogens Thomas Ludvig Gustav Grüner. In 1961, it was acquired by Torben H.W. Dahl. The main building was destroyed by fire in 1972. A new main building was subsequently constructed. In 1996, Else W. Lehmann bought Sæbygaard.

Cultural references

Part of the action is set at Sæbygaard in

Bernhard Severin Ingemann Bernhard Severin Ingemann (28 May 1789 – 24 February 1862) was a Danish novelist and poet. Biography Ingemann was born in Torkilstrup, on the island of Falster, Denmark. The son of a vicar, he was left fatherless in his youth. He atten ...

's 1838 historic novel ''Valdemar Sejr''.

List of owners

*(?-1204)

Esbern Snare Esbern Snare (1127–1204), also known as Esbern the Resolute, was a '' høvding'', or chieftain, royal chancellor and crusader. His family were members of the powerful Hvide clan. In 1192, during the Crusades and after the fall of Jerusalem, h ...

*(1370-1379) Albert Pedersen Brok *(1379-1664) The Crown *(1664-1682)

*(1682-1688) Manuel Texeira *(1688-1708) Johannes Fincke *(1708-1719) rude Johansdatter Fincke / Sophie Johansdatter Fincke *(1719-1720) Frederik Christian von Adeler *(1720-1741)

*(1741-1761) Niels Benzon *(1761-1772) Sophie Hedevig Rantzau">Niels Benzon (norn 1724)">Niels Benzon *(1761-1772) Sophie Hedevig Rantzau gift (1) Skeel (2) Levetzau *(1772-1779) Frederik Sophus Rantzau *(1779-1785)

*(1785-1786) Henrik Bolten *(1786-1797) Arnoldus von Falkenskiold *(1797-1799) Joachim Barner Paasche *(1799-1799) Christian Ditlev Carl Rantzau *(1799-1806) Haagen Christian Astrup *(1806-1821) Frederik Hoppe *(1821-1836) Christian A. Lerche *(1836-1877) Julius Busch *(1877-1881) Enke Fru Busch *(1881-1908) A.E.V. Nygaard *(1908-1911) Gustav Elias Grüner *(1911-1913) hor Gustav Emil Grüner *(1913-1961) Mogens Thomas Ludvig Gustav Grüner *(1961-1996) Torben H.W. Dahl *(1996-) Else W. Lehmann

References

{{reflist Manor houses in Kalundborg Municipality 1970s disasters in Denmark