Gjedsergård 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 southeastern

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 Tesdorpf family since 1847. The main building and the parallel building Kavalerfløjen are from 1768 and were listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places 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, ...

on 1 December 1959

History

Early history

Gjedsergaard was created in 1766 when Christian VII sold most of the royal holdings on the island of Falster in auction to make payments on Denmark's sovereign debt. The estate was acquired by Gustav Frederik Holck-Winterfeldt. He was the son of count Christian Christopher Holck and Ermegaard Sophie von Winterfeldt and the brother of

Conrad Holck Frederik Vilhelm Conrad Holck (1745–1800) was a Danish nobleman and courtier. Biography Holck was the son of Major General Christian Christopher Holck til Orebygård (1698–1774) and Ermegaard Sophie Winterfeldt (1702–56). He was raised ...

, the favorite of king Christian VII of Denmark,

Margrethe Holck Margret(h)e is an alternate spelling of the feminine given name Margaret. People so named include: * Margrete or Margaret I of Denmark (1353–1412), Queen of Denmark and Queen of Norway and Sweden by marriage * Margrethe II of Denmark (born 19 ...

and Flemming Holck. He unsuccessfully trying to expand the estate through the acquisition of more land. In 1772, when Holck's elder brother Flemming died with issue, he inherited the Barony of Vintersborg on

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 ...

. This prompted him to sell Gedsergård in 1773 the following year. The new owner was Niels Frederiksen Amager who was the local pastor of the parish of Skelby.

Friis family

Amager died in 1781 and his heirs sold Gedsergård to Jakob Melsing and Johan Christian Friis in 1784 while some of the tenant farms were sold to the individual tenant farmers. Friis became the sole owner of Gjedsergård after Melsing's death in 1789. Friis constructed the property Friisenfeldt on the land and acquired the farm Nøjsomhed. The remaining tenant farms were gradually merged into larger farms. Johan Christian Friis sold Gjedsergaard and the associated farms to his son Christian Frederik Friis in 1811.

Tesdorpf family

Christian Frederik Friis died in 1845 and his widow sold Gedsergaard to Edward Tesdorpf from Orupgård in 1847. He improved the dairy on the estate and instigated the draining of Bøtø Nor. After Tesdorpf's death in 1889, Gedsergaard and Pandebjerg were passed on to his son Adolph Valdemar Tesdorpf. He had been the managing director of the sugar refinery in

Nykøbing Falster Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a southern Danish city, seat of the Guldborgsund ''kommune''. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The city lies on Falster, connected by the Frederick IX Bridge over the Guldborgsund (''Guldb ...

since 1884. He inherited an estate in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

and was for a while also the owner of Rudbjerggård on

. He acquired Bonderup in 1900, Ny Kirstinebjerg in 1908

Gjorslev Gjorslev is a cruciform medieval castle located 17 km south-east of Køge, on the Stevns Peninsula, Stevns Municipality, some forty kilometres south of Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally owned by the Bishop of Roskilde, it is considered one of ...

in 1925. Gjedsergaard with Friisenfeldt and Ludvigsgave was sold to his son Axel Tesdorpf by his widow following his death in 1929. His daughter Ida Merete Emmy Tesdorpf took over the estate after his death in 1964.

Architecture

The main building was built by Gustav Frederik Holck-Winterfeldt in 1767. The relatively modest building consists of one storey and a cellar. A two-storey, canted projection with the main entrance was added in the late 18th century and a gabled dormer overlooking the garden has been added on the rear side of the building. These alterations accentuate the asymmetry of the building which also follows from the placement of the windows. The main building was refurbished and partly adapted in 1872 and saw another refurbishment under supervision of the architect C. F. Dam in 1944. A parallel building known as Kavalerfløjen is located on the other side of a courtyard. The main wing may originally have been intended as a side wing of a larger three-winged complex whose main wing was never realized. The layout with two parallel buildings is on the other hand also known from other main houses from the same period. It is therefore also possible that Holck-Winterfeldt had no intention of using the house as a residence but merely saw it as a source of income and therefore chose a modest design. Tesdorpf constructed a new complex of farm buildings to the northwest of kavalerfløjen between 1872 and 1883. Two buildings flank the beginning of the avenue that leads up to the main building. They was built as residences for staff in the late 19th century.

Today

The current owner of Gjedsergaard is Iver Alex Tesdorpf Unsgaard. The estate covers 888 hectares of which 404 hectares belong to Gjedsergaard. 764 hectares are covered by farmland and 124 hectares are covered by forest.

List of owners

* (1766-1773) Gustav Frederik greve Holck-Winterfeldt * (1773-1781) Niels Frederiksen Amager * (1781-1784) The estate of Niels Frederiksen Amagers * (1784-1789) Jakob Melsing and Johan Christian Friis * (1789-1811) Johan Christian Friis * (1811-1845) Christian Frederik Friis * (1845-1847) The widow of Christian Frederik Friis * (1847-1889)

Edward Tesdorpf Edward Tesdorpf (7 September 1817 – 2 May 1889), was a German-Danish landowner, agricultural pioneer and sugar manufacturer. He became the owner of ten estates many of which were located in the Lolland-Falster area where he resided at Orupgaard n ...

* (1889-1929) Adolph Valdemar Tesdorpf * (1929-1940) Agnete Brun née Tesdorpf * (1940-1964) Axel Valdemar Tesdorpf * (1964-2006) Ida Merete Emmy Tesdorpf Unsgaard * * (2002–present) Iver Alex Tesdorpf Unsgaard

References

External links

Gjedsergård
{{Falster Listed buildings and structures in Guldborgsund Municipality Listed castles and manor houses in Denmark Manor houses in Guldborgsund Municipality Falster 1766 establishments in Denmark Buildings and structures associated with the Tesdorpf family