Benzonsdal is a manor house located at Torslunde, south of

Taastrup Taastrup () is a Danish railway town or/and suburb of Copenhagen - 15 km west of the capital's city centre, and formerly the administrative seat of Høje-Taastrup Municipality, Region Hovedstaden. It takes its name from the village of Taastru ...

, in the northern part of

Ishøj Municipality Ishøj Municipality (Danish: ''Ishøj Kommune'') is a municipality (Danish: '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers 26 km², with a total population of 21,675 ...

, some 20 kilometres west of central

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Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. It has been owned by members of the noble Lerche family since 1853. The main building is from 1856.

History

Benzon family

Benzonsdal was established by

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

justice Peder Benzon in 1730 from land that had until then belonged to Gjeddesdal. The aim was to secure a more simple and efficient management of the land. Benzon was a major landowner who also established the manors of Benzonseje (now Risbyholm), Dønnerup and Gislingegård. He had previously been the owner of Hagestedgaard and Alslevgård. The new manor comprised 50 tenant farms, 100 smallholdings, a brickyard and four watermills. One of Peder Benzon's brother, Lars Benzon, bought Benzonsdal from the heirs after Peder Benzon's death in 1735. In 1740, he sold the estate to a third brother,

Jacob Benzon Jacob Benzon (31 October 1688 – 25 November 1775) was a Danish nobleman, civil servant and Governor-general of Norway. Benzon's career began as a court junker at the Royal Danish Cavalry Academy in Copenhagen 1704–06. He held various state ...

Changing owners, 1744-1853

In 1757, Benzonsdal was acquired Frederik Barfred. He wanted to ensure that the estate would stay in the family and therefore created a so-called ''stamhus'' in 1765 with the effect that it could neither be sold, margaged or divided between heirs. Stamhuset Benzonsdal was, however, already dissolved in 1786 and the estate was then sold to his son Jens Laurits Barfred. In 1797, he also purchased Gjeddesdal. In the 1780s, Barfred implemented the tenant farms off to the farmers in accordance with the agricultural reforms of the time. In 1800, he sold the rest of the estate to Niels de Bang and Christian Ulrich Detlev von Eggers. Niels de Bang, who after a while had become the sole owner of Benzonsdal, made a big effort to assist the sick and poor farmers on his estate during an outbreak of dysentery.

1853-present: The Lerche family

Count Carl Christian Cornelius Lerche bought Benzonsdal in 1853 and constructed a new main building in 1856.

Architecture

The main building is from 1856. It consists of two storeys over a high cellar. It is built in yellow brick and has a slate roof..

Estate

The house is located in the middle of a scenic garden. A tree-lined avenue leads up to the house. The estate covers 447 hectares of which 38 hectares have been leased. 409 hectares are farmland.

Cultural references

In the late 1960s, Benzonsdal has been used as a location in two Danish adaptions of ''The Famous Five'' novels, ''De fem og spionerne'' (1969) and ''De fem i fedtefadet'' (1970). It was also used as a location in

Thomas Vinterberg Thomas Vinterberg (; born 19 May 1969) is a Danish film director who, along with Lars von Trier, co-founded the Dogme 95 movement in filmmaking, which established rules for simplifying movie production. He is best known for the films ''The Celeb ...

's 2013 drama film '' The Hunt''.

List of owners

* (1730-1735) Peder Benzon * (1735-1740) Lars Benzon * (1740-1744)

* (1744-1757) Jens Andresen * (1757-1786) Frederik Barfred * (1786-1800) Jens Lauritz Barfred * (1800- ) Chr. Ulrich Detlev von Eggers * (1800-1806) Niels de Bang * (1806-1807) Peder Bech * (1807-1853) Frederik Mathias Barfred * (1853-1881) Carl Chr. Cornelius Lerche * (1881-1890) Sophie Frederikke Steensen, gift Lerche * (1890-1918) Carl Chr. Baron Lerche * (1918-1944) Carl Chr. Cornelius Lerche * (1918- 1966) Vincens Chr. Lerche * (1966-1998) Carl Chr. Frederik Lerche * (1991-2012) Vincens Carl Chr. Lerche * (2012-present) Chr. Cornelius Lerche

References

External links

{{Commons
Official website

Source

Source
Buildings and structures in Ishøj Municipality Buildings and structures associated with the Lerche family Buildings and structures associated with the Benzon family Houses completed in 1856