Corselitze, or Korselitse, is a manor house on the island of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

in the south-east of

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 ...

. The Neoclassical house was built in 1777 by

Johan Frederik Classen Johan Frederik Classen, frequently also J. F. Classen, (11 February 1725 – 24 March 1792) was a Danish-Norwegian industrialist, major general, landowner and founder of Det Classenske Fideicommis. He served as chancellery adviser to King ...

, who at the time of his death founded

Det Classenske Fideicommis Det Classenske Fideicommis (literally "The Classen Fideicommiss") is a Danish charitable foundation. By testament in 1789 and his codicil of March 23, 1792, the industrialist Major General Johan Frederik Classen left behind his wealth and possessi ...

, which owns the estate today.

History

Early history

''Corselitze'' derives from Wendish and means 'settlement of Chotel's heirs'. The estate shares much of its early history with the island of Falster. Like most of the island, it belonged to the Crown in the 13th century and is mentioned in King

Valdemar II Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...

Danish Census Book The Danish Census Book or the Danish book of land taxation ( la, Liber Census Daniæ), ( da, Kong Valdemars Jordebog) dates from the 13th century and consists of a number of separate manuscripts. The original manuscripts are now housed in the Da ...

which dates from about 1231. In 1354 Corselitze was acquired by Jens Falster, a member of the local nobility, and it remained in the possession of his family until 1600 when it was sold to . A few years later, in 1603, it was reacquired by the Crown in exchange for Eskebjerg on

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

. Between 1560 and 1650 the entire island of Falster once again came under the Crown through such transactions. Initially it was used as , a Danish term for land put at the disposal of the dowager queen for her support (a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

estate), but in 1718 it was converted into a cavalry district.

Classen and his trust

The cavalry district was dissolved in 1766 and split up into ten manors which were sold by auction. Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel bought Corselitze and nearby Carlsfelt, probably acting as a straw man for his friend and colleague

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

who took over the properties two years later. Classen was a wealthy industrialist with close ties to the king and the political elite. He had just reacquired Frederiksværk, a foundry in the north of Zealand, which he had co-founded and then sold to the king in 1761. After Classen's death in 1792 the property, along with the rest of his estate, was passed on to

, a philanthropic trust which he created and still owns today. In 1947 the trust also acquired Fuglsang and Priorskov on the neighbouring island of

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitant ...

Architecture

The Corselitze seen today was built by Classen from 1775 to 1777 to the design of the architect Andreas Kirkerup. It is an adaption of the old house which dated from the 17th century. Built in the Neoclassical style, it consists of two floors under a black tile roof. The front is nine bays long and decorated with pilasters. The fine interiors with decorations by the sculptor

Johannes Wiedewelt Johannes Wiedewelt (1 July 1731 – 17 December 1802), Danish neoclassical sculptor. He became a court sculptor, introducing neoclassical ideals to Denmark in the form of palace decorations, garden sculptures and artifacts and, especially, mem ...

have partly been preserved.

Surroundings

Classen also founded an English-style

landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

with orchards, a nursery and tree-lined avenues which has partly been preserved. At the edge of Corselitze Forest towards the sea, Classen also built the ''General's summerhouse'' (Danish: '' Generalens Lysthus''), a thatched cottage which is a miniature version of Liselund on the island of

Møn Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langebæk, Præstø, and Vordingbo ...

. The site also includes a farm which was designed by Vilhelm Tvede and built in 1866. Near the mansion lies the small fishing village of Hesnæs. It is notable for its characteristic reed-clad houses which were built after the

1872 Baltic Sea flood The 1872 Baltic Sea flood (german: Ostseesturmhochwasser 1872), often referred to as a storm flood, ravaged the Baltic Sea coast from Denmark to Pomerania, also affecting Sweden, during the night between 12 and 13 November 1872 and was, until the ...

. The harbour is home to a small fleet of fishing vessels and is popular with leisure boats throughout the summer.

Corselitze today

The estate covers 2,792 hectares with Næsgård, Bjerregård, Bellinge and Herslebslund. Of these, 645 hectares are farm land. With Fuglsang and Priorskov on Lolland, its holdings in the area amount to 2,600 hectares of forest and 1,700 hectares of farmland. Since 1999, the farmland has been managed directly by Det Classenske Fideicommis after previously having been leased.

Owners

*(1231–1354) The Crown *(1354–1421) Jens Falster *(1421–1460) Laurids Falster *(1460–1500) Peder Falster *(1500–1529) Oluf Falster *(1529–1556) Peder Falster *(1556–1600) Jens Falster *(1600–1603) Axel Brahe *(1603–1766) The Crown *(1766–1792)

*(1792–)

References

External links

Official website
{{Andreas Kirkerup Manor houses in Guldborgsund Municipality Neoclassical architecture in Denmark Houses completed in 1777 Falster Listed buildings and structures in Guldborgsund Municipality Buildings and structures associated with the Classen family