Giesegaard is a manor house and estate located in

Ringsted Municipality Ringsted Municipality is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in east Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 295 km2, and has a total population of 32,092 (2008). Its mayor ...

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 estate is owned by

Michael Brockenhuus-Schack Michael Brockenhuus-Schack (born 20 April 1960) is a Danish count, landowner, chamberlain and board member. He owns Giesegaard and Juellund at Ringsted. Early life and education Michael Brockenhuus-Schack is the son of count Niels Brockenhuus-S ...

and has been owned by members of the Schack/Brockenhuus-Schack family since 1736. The oldest part of the main building was built in 1751 for countess

Anna Sophie Schack Anna Sophie Schack (4 September 1689 - September 28, 1760), was a Danish noble and landlord. Biography Anna Sophie von Rantzau was born in Hamburg. She was the daughter of secretary and land minister Christian von Rantzau (1649-1704) and Margr ...

but it was later expanded by an extra storey in 1847 and adapted in 1873 and again in 1904. It now appears as a two-storey, white-plastered building with two octagonal towers and black-glazed tile roofs. The estate covers 3,115 hectares of land.

History

1668–1719: the Giesegaard family

A village named Skivede was located where Giesegaard stands today until the 1670s. It belonged to the Crown until 1668 when Frederick IV ceded it to Frederik Giese in exchange for land elsewhere. Giese was originally from Husum. He also acquired other land in the area before establishing the manor of Giesegaard in 1683. After his death in 1693, Giesegaard was taken over by his widow Margrethe Elisabeth Schönbach and son Christoffer Joachim Giese.

1719–1736: Scavenius and Gabel

Christoffer Joachim Giese died in 1719 and his mother had to cede the estate to her debitor Christian Scavenius. In 1720, he sold it to Christian Carl Gabel. He had been appointed to Chief Secretary of War (). He expanded the estate considerably through the acquisition of more land. In 1823, he fell out of favour at the court and was dismissed. He ran into economic difficulties and was forced to obtain a loan from countess

in 1726, the same year that he was appointed to prefect of Ribe County.

1736–present: the Schack family

In 1736, Anna Sophie Schack took over Giesegaard when Gabel was unable to pay his debts. She founded in her will with the effect that the land could not be sold or divided between heirs. The land was heavily mortgaged and Stamhuset Giesegaard could therefore not be established until 1766. Christian Frederik Schack, the son of Otto Didrik Schack and Anna Ernestine Frederikke née Gabel, inherited the estate in 1760. Knud Bille Schack inherited Stamhuset Giesegaard in 1790. He died on a journey to

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

in 1821 and Giesegaard was then passed on to his nephew, Henrik Adolph Brockenhuus-Schack, who was made a count the following year. Brockenhuus-Schack's son, Knud Bille Brockenhuus-Schack, inherited Giesegaard in 1847. His son, Adolph Ludvig Brockenhuus-Schack, became the owner of Giesegaard in 1892. Stamhuset Giesegaard was dissolved in 1922 as a result of of 1919. Large areas of land were also ceded to the state and divided into small holdings. Frederik Knud Bille Brockenhuus-Schack inherited the remaining part of the estate in 1924.

Architecture

A one-storey main building was built for countess Anna Sophie Schack in 1750–1751. It was heightened with an extra storey in 1843. Both sides of the building feature a triangular pediment. The building was in 1873 adapted to the

Renaissance Revival style Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

by Theodor Zeltner. He constructed two copper-clad towers, changed the roof and added sandstone decorations. The building was restored under supervision of the architect G. Tvede in 1904. Most of the decorations were removed and the walls were dressed. Most of the associated farm buildings are from 1902.

Today

Giesegaard covers 3115 hectares of which 1,013 hectares is farmland and 1,499 is woodland. In April 2017, DR estimated the value of the estate to DKK 330 million.

Cultural references

Giesegaard has been used as a location in the feature films ''

Komtessen ''Komtessen'' is a 1961 Danish family film directed by Erik Overbye and starring Malene Schwartz. Cast * Malene Schwartz - Betina Mortensen * Mimi Heinrich - Komtesse Maria Hardenborg * Birgitte Federspiel - Gevinde Sonja Hardenborg * Ebbe La ...

'' (1961), (''

Bedroom Mazurka ''Bedroom Mazurka'' () also known as ''Bedside Mazurka'', is a 1970 Danish sex comedy film, directed by John Hildard. It is about a virginal school master who is initiated into the world of sex. It was the first of the eight Bedside-films, an er ...

'', 1970), ' (1972) and ''

Pigen og drømmeslottet Pigen og drømmeslottet (The Girl and the Dream Castle) is a Danish film from 1974, written and directed by Finn Henriksen. The film was Lisbet Dahl's debut as a film actress. Plot Tine is in love with the young owner of a beautiful castle, Kars ...

'' (1974).

List of owners

* (1668–1693) Frederik Giese * (1693–1719) Margretha Elisabeth Giese née Schönbach * (1693–1719) Christopher Joachim Frederiksen Giese * (1719–1720) Christian Scavenius * (1720–1736) Christian Carl Gabel * (1736–1760)

née Rantzau * (1760–1790) Frederik Christian Schack * (1790–1821) Knud Bille Schack * (1821–1847) Henrik Adolph Brockenhuus-Schack * (1847–1892) Knud Bille Brockenhuus-Schack * (1892–1924) Adolph Ludvig Brockenhuus-Schack * (1924–unknown) Frederik Knud Brockenhuus-Schack * (unknown) Niels Brockenhuus-Schack * (1999–present)

References

External links

{{Commons
External links
Manor houses in Ringsted Municipality Buildings and structures of the Brockenhuus family