Hesselagergård (or Hesselager Manor), located near

Gudme Gudme is a town in central Denmark with a population of 925 (1 January 2024),BY3: popul ...

in the southeast of the Danish island

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

, is the oldest

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

building in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. It was built by Johan Friis, one of the most powerful men in Denmark during the reigns of Christian III and Frederick II.

History

It is first documented in the 13th century when it was mentioned in

Valdemar II Valdemar II Valdemarsen (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious () and Valdemar the Conqueror, was King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. In 1207, Valdemar invaded and conquered Lybeck and Hol ...

's '' Liber Census Daniæ'' as

Crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

. In 1419, it belonged to the Bild family. From 1538–1550 it was rebuilt in Renaissance style by Johan Friis. Construction of the main building began in 1538, probably under the direction of Martin Bussert. It was a late-Gothic stone house in two stories with a tower in the northeastern corner. In 1548 an extra story and two more towers were added, probably by Jacob Binck. In 1550 the building was given its original roof. The estate remained in the Friis family until 1682. In June 1850

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

visited the Hesselagergård Estate. In his diary, he described how he felt ill at ease when he saw the portraits of the Duke of Augustenborg and the Prince of Nør "plastered on the walls of the lavatory" (the diary, 22 June). From 1904 the estate has been owned by the von Blixen-Finecke family.

Architecture

The construction started as a late gothic defensive castle, built of large red brick on a granite plinth and surrounded by a moat, but by the end it had introduced many renaissance features. Especially noteworthy are the highly decorated hipped, round gables inspired by Venetian renaissance church architecture. They are among the earliest known examples of this kind in Northern Europe. Not until the following decades are they seen in townhouses of Northern France and Austrian castles, such as

Schwerin castle Schwerin Castle (, also known as ''Schwerin Palace'', ( or ) is a 19th-century ''Schloss'' built in the historicist style located in the city of Schwerin, the capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, Germany. It is situated on an island in the ...

and Gadebusch (1580–1583). Also typical of the time are the blank arches below the projecting masonry and the watchman's passage at the top with

machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...

for missiles and boiling a liquid (as, for example, on Johan Friis' manor house Borreby on Sjælland). Other notable features are the decorative tops to the towers and depressed round-arched windows. Internally, Hesselagergård is famous for its frieze in the Deer Room. It depicted large deer, landscapes, towns, and people and was probably executed by Jacob Brinck around 1550.

List of owners

* (1183–) Kronen * (1419) Jakob Ottesen Bild * (1446–1468) Henrik Friis * (1495–1503) Otto Friis * (1503–1522) Jesper Friis * (1522–1570) Johan Friis * (1570–1610) Niels Friis * (1610–1642) Tønne Friis * (1642–1658) Niels Friis * (1658–1679) Ingeborg Parsberg, gift Friis * (1679–1682) Boet efter Ingeborg Parsberg, gift Friis * (1682–1702) Poul Zachariassen Grønneval * (1702–1725) Niels Rasmussen Buchholtz * (1725–1726) Gråbrødre hospital * (1726–1750) Lorens Baggesen * (1750–1764) Øllegaard Nielsdatter Buchholtz, gift Baggesen * (1764–1766) Boet efter Øllegaard Nielsdatter Buchholtz, gift Baggesen * (1766–1798) Niels Baggesen * (1798–1802) Johan Frederik Friis * (1802–1819) Simon Andersen Dons * (1819–1868) Andreas Simonsen Dons * (1868–1886) Simon Andreasen Dons * (1886–1888) Laura Christine Petrine Schaumann, gift 1) Dons, 2) Møller * (1888–) H.H. Møller * (–1904) Andreas Laurits Schaumann Dons * (1904) Carl Vilhelm Behagen Castenskiold * (1904–1944) Bertha Henriette Marie Castenskiold, gift von Blixen-Finecke * (1944–1954) Carl August von Blixen-Finecke * (1954–1955) Enkefru von Blixen-Finecke * (1955–1963) Anna Elisabeth von Blixen-Finecke, gift Møller * (1955–1985) Gustav Frederik von Blixen-Finecke * (1985–) Henrik von Blixen-Finecke

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hesselagergard Manor Castles and manor houses on Funen Listed buildings and structures in Svendborg Municipality Listed castles and manor houses in Denmark Renaissance architecture in Denmark Buildings and structures of the Friis family Buildings in Denmark associated with Hans Christian Andersen Tourist attractions in Svendborg Municipality