Bygholm Castle is a former royal castle and

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 held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

located just south of

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

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. It traces its history back to 1313 but the current Baroque buildings date from 1775. Owned by

Horsens Municipality Horsens municipality is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Midtjylland on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality includes the island of Endelave, and covers an area of 524.21 km2. It has ...

, the main building is now run as a hotel while the associated land is a public park and used as fair grounds.

History

Bygholm Castle was founded in 1313 upon orders from King

Eric VI Menved Eric VI Menved (1274 – 13 November 1319) was King of Denmark (1286–1319). A son of King Eric V and Agnes of Brandenburg, he became king in 1286 at age 12, when his father was murdered on 22 November by unknown assailants. On account of his age ...

following a revolt among peasants in Jutland. The castle was run by a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

('' lensmand''). The most famous of these to reside at Bygholm was Erik Lange, who belonged to Tycho Brahe's social circle but experienced economic ruin, experimented with

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

and left Bygholm in a state of neglect. As a result, and possibly after a fire in the beginning of the 17th century, later vassals preferred to reside at nearby Stjernholm and the name of the fee was changed accordingly. In 1661, Frederick III ceded the estate to Peder von Ufelen from

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. In 1670 he sold it to Joachim Werner Bülow, who rebuilt Bygholm and returned it to its former state of a manor. Horsens Municipality acquired the estate in 1918.

Architecture

The current main building was built in 1775 to a symmetrical Baroque design by Andreas Møller. It consists of a one-storey main wing with a three-bay central projection, flanked by two lower L-shaped lateral wings. It was listed by the

Danish Heritage Agency The Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces ( da, Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen) is an agency under the aegis of the Danish Ministry of Culture. The agency carries out the cultural policies of the Danish government within the visual and performing arts, ...

in 1984. The farm buildings are of somewhat younger origins and are not listed.

Bygholm today

The main building is now run as a hotel (Scandic Bygholm Park). The park is open to the public and used for fairs and other events. The farm buildings contain the Bygholm Research Centre, Department of Agricultural Technologies, part of Aarhus University.

Owners

*(1313–1661) The Crown *(1661) Peder von Ufelen/Dominicus von Ufelen/Johan von Ufelen *(1661–1670) Peder von Ufelen *(1670–1697) Joachim Werner von Bülow *(1697–1705) Jørgen Rantzau *(1705–1719) Theodosius von Levetzow *(1719–1763) Anna Margrethe Brockenhuus née von Levetzow *(1763) Hans Frederik von Levetzau *(1763–1766) Sophie von Levetzau née von Eyndten *(1766–1809) Lars de Thygeson *(1809–1830) Niels Emanuel de Thygeson *(1830–1835) The Crown *(1835–1889) August Theodor Schütte *(1889–1915) Ludvig Theodor Schütte *(1915–1918) Ludvig Theodor Schüttes' estate *(1918–)

References

External links

{{Denmark castles and manor houses Manor houses in Denmark Baroque architecture in Denmark Listed buildings and structures in Horsens Municipality Houses completed in 1775 Horsens