Gjorslev is a cruciform medieval

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

located 17 km south-east of Køge, on the Stevns Peninsula,

Stevns Municipality Stevns is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Sjælland on the southeast coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in south Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 22,782 (1 January 2019). The munic ...

, some forty kilometres south of Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally owned by the

Bishop of Roskilde The former Diocese of Roskilde () was a diocese within the Roman-Catholic Church which was established in Denmark some time before 1022. The diocese was dissolved with the Reformation of Denmark and replaced by the Protestant Diocese of Zealand ...

, it is considered one of the most well-preserved examples of

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

secular architecture in Denmark.

History

Early history

Gjorslev was built in about 1400 by

Peder Jensen Lodehat Peder Jensen Lodehat (died 21 October 1416) was the bishop of the Diocese of Aarhus and a significant political figure in Denmark during the reign of queen Margrete I. Lodehat was originally from a minor noble family in Zealand but made a career ...

. It remained in the possession of the Roskilde bishops until the Reformation which led to its confiscation in 1537. It was sold in 1540 and was then in the possession of changing owners until 1678 when it came under the Crown once again.

Lindencrone

Om 1843,

Christen Lindencrone Christen Lindencrone (24 December 1703 - 17 August 1772) was a Danish landowner and supercargo of the Danish Asia Company. He owned Gjorslev Manor on Stevns and constructed the Lindencrone Mansion (''Lindencrones Palæ'') on Bredgade in Copenhag ...

purchased the estate. He had made a fortune as a supercargo on ships owned by the

Danish Asiatic Company Danish Asiatic Company ( Danish: Asiatisk Kompagni) was a Danish trading company established in 1730 to revive Danish trade on the Danish East Indies and China following the closure of the Danish East India Company. It was granted a 40-year mon ...

. In 1756, he was raised to the peerage under the name Lindencrone. He also constructed the

Lindencrone Mansion The Lindencrone Mansion (Danish language, Danish: Lindencrones Palæ) is a historic building located on the corner of Bredgade and Sankt Annæ Plads in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Completed in 1753, it is one of many town mansions which were built ...

at the corner of

Sankt Annæ Plads Sankt Annæ Plads (English: St. Ann's Square) is a public square which marks the border between the Nyhavn area and Frederiksstaden neighborhoods of central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is a long narrow rectangle which extends inland from the waterfron ...

and

Bredgade Bredgade ( lit. "Broad Street") is one of the most prominent streets in Copenhagen, Denmark. Running in a straight line from Kongens Nytorv for just under one kilometre to the intersection of Esplanaden and Grønningen, it is one of the major stre ...

in Copenhagen. Limestone from his estate on Stevns was used in the construction of his town mansion. The Gjorslev estate was after Lindencrone's death passed to his son Johan Frederik Lindencrone.

Scavenius family

In 1793,

Jacob Brønnum Scavenius Jacob Brønnum Scavenius (2 April 1749 – 20 June 1820) was a Danish landowner. Early life and career Scavenius was born in Skagen in 1749 as the 9th of 11 children of merchant Peder Christensen Brønnum (or Brøndum) and Anne Ibsdatter. He gra ...

purchased the estate. His widow kept the estate for five years after her husband's death. In 1825, it passed to their son

Peder Brønnum Scavenius Peder Brønnum Scavenius (6 January 1795 - 4 December 1868) was a Denmark, Danish landowner and politician. He was the owner of Gjorslev on the Stevns Peninsula, Klintholm Manor, Klintholm on Møn and Petersgaard at Vordingborg. He was an also inv ...

. It was after his death owned by his son Jacob Frederik Brønnum Scavenius until 1915 and then by his grandson (1915–1923) Frederik Scavenius until 1922.

Tesdorpf family

In 1925, Adolph Tesdorpf purchased the estate. It has remained in the possession of the

Tesdorpf family The Tesdorpf family is a political and merchant Hanseaten family from Lübeck and Hamburg Germany. The Tesdorpfs were an old Patrician family in Lübeck before became the mayor of Lübeck in 1715. Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf founded , the first win ...

since then. In 2018, (2018- ) Jens Edward Tesdorpf pyrchased the estate from his father. In 202021, he gave up milk production on the estate.

Architecture

Gjorslev is surrounded by moats and built to a cruciform design in the

style. The building materials are a combination of local limestone from the Cliffs of Stevns and large bricks (Danish "monk stones"). The central tower is just under 30 m tall and has seven storeys. The south arm of the cross is slightly longer than the other three. A lower north wing was added in 1638. Access to the main building was originally through the cellar from an entrance below the bishop's chapel which was located on the east side of the southern cross arm. From the vaulted cellar below the tower, a flight of stairs led to the domed hall in its ground floor. This arrangement was altered by Ewert Janssen between 1665 and 1676. The chapel was demolished and the entrance moved to the eastern cross arm which was also given a new facade and an internal staircase in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style. The design of the roof was adapted in 1748 when the original crow-stepped gable with blank arches were replaced by hipped roofs and a pyramidal roof on the tower. The last time the building was altered was in 1843 when a long south wing was added. The castle stands at the end of a street known as "Broad Street" which is lined by red timbered farm buildings from 1713.

Estate

Gjorslev Beech Forest (''Gjorslev Bøgeskov'') belongs to the estate. The forest contains a small lake, Møllesøen ("The Mill Lake"), which has a rich bird life. An observation tower has been built at the site. The forest also contains 55 burial mounds of which the longest, Fruehøj, is 51 metre long. Access to the forest is from Traktørstedet Gjorslev Bøgeskov, a restaurant.

List of owners

* (?–1294)

Rane Jonsen Rane Jonsen (died 1294) was a Danish esquire and ''camerarius'', known for his role in the murder of Eric V of Denmark. He is mentioned in a traditional Medieval ballad as the traitor "warding his master with deceit". He owned Gjorslev Manor on the ...

* (?–1536) Roskilde Bispestol * (1536–1540) Kronen * (1540–1552) Peder Svave * (1552–?) Else Mouritzdatter Svave * (?–1606) Elsebe Pedersdatter Svave, gift Juel * (1606–1612) Peder Vincentsen Juel * (1612–1619) Ellen Vincentsdatter Juel, gift Bille * (1619–1630) Vincents Jensen Bille * (1630–1646) Just Høg * (1646–1664) Stygge Høg * (1664–1675)

Joachim Irgens von Westervick Joachim Irgens von Westervick (Danish: ''Joachim Irgens von Westervick''; spelled also ''af Westervig'' and ''af Vestervig'') (19 May 1611 - 29 August 1675), born as ''Jochum Jürgens'', was a Dano-Norwegian nobleman, a Danish official and an esta ...

* (1675–1678) Cornelia Bichers, gift Irgens * (1678) Handelshuset Schardinell * (1678–1743) Kronen * (1743–1772)

* (1772–1793) Johan Frederik de Lindencrone * (1793–1820)

* (1820–1825) Karine Lucie Debes, gift Scavenius * (1825–1868)

* (1868–1915) Jacob Frederik Brønnum Scavenius * (1915–1923) Frederik Scavenius * (1923–1925) Else Haxthausen, gift Scavenius * (1925–1929) Adolph Tesdorpf * (1929–1940) Agnete Tesdorpf née Brun * (1940–1970) Edward Tesdorpf * (1970–2018) Peter Henrik Tesdorpf * (2018- ) Jens Edward Tesdorpf

References

External links

Official website
(in Danish)

{{Castles in Denmark Houses completed in 1588 Castles in Denmark Listed buildings and structures in Stevns Municipality Manor houses in Stevns Municipality Gothic architecture in Denmark Castles in Region Zealand Limestone buildings in Denmark Buildings and structures associated with the Scavenius family Buildings and structures associated with the Tesdorpf family