Holbæk Ladegård is a former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

Holbæk Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 29,608 (1 January 2022).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 is now home to Kunsthøjskolen, a

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;'' ...

specializing in art programmes. Holbæk Ladegård was for centuries a home farm under Holbæk Castle, which was built to protect Holbæk and was held in fee by royal

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

History

The estate is first mentioned in 1199 in a letter of gift from Bishop Absalon in which he grants it to

Sorø Abbey Sorø Abbey was the preeminent and wealthiest monastic house in all of Denmark during the Middle Ages. It was located in the town of Sorø in central Zealand. After Denmark became Lutheran in 1536, the abbey was confiscated by the Crown. The ab ...

. Holbæk later developed into a small market town, which Holbæk Castle was built to defend during troubled times. The castle was held in fee by royal vassals and Holbæk Ladegård served as the administrative center of the land. The estate was pawned several times and for a while referred to as the Duchy of Holbæk. Christoffer Festenberg Pax was granted the land in 1563 and farmed it until his death in 1608. He constructed a new home farm at the Castle but it later fell into neglect. A new home farm was finally built after a report in 1627 described the old one as "dilapidated". Holbæk Castle was destroyed by Swedish troops in 1659. The castle was not rebuilt but Holbæk Ladegård with its tenant farms was instead sold to Henrik Thott, the owner of Boltinggaard. He ran into economic difficulty and had to sell the estate in 1667. The new owner was Bertel Bartholin, a professor at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

, but he soon sold it again. The estate then changed hands many times. The estate was purchased by Gregers Juel in 1706. His son, Peder Juel, sold it to Hans Hansen Seidelin in 1752. He was already the owner of nearby

Hagestedgård Hagestedgaard is a manor house and estate located at the village of Hagested, near Holbæk, Holbæk Municipality, some 60 kilometres west of Copenhagen, Denmark. The estate traces its history back to the 13th century but the current asymmetrical c ...

. He had no male heirs and the two estates were therefore entailed to his nephew, Hans Diderich de Brinck-Seidelin. It was the intention that he should create a ''stamhus'' for future generations of the Brinck-Seidelin family. The legal effect of a ''stamhus'' was that the estate could neither be sold nor divided between several heirs. Brinck-Seidelin purchased Eriksholm in 1753 and the ''stamhus'' was finally established from the three estates in 1769. Brinck-Seidelin's son, Hans de Brinck-Seidelin, inherited the estates in 1772. He demolished the old buildings of the three estates and replaced them with a single one at a new site in 1798. The ''stamhus'' was dissolved with royal approbation in 1809. Holbæk Ladegård was then sold to

Hans Peder Kofoed Hans Peder Kofoed (c. 1 October 1743 – 3 January 1812) was a Danish brewer, merchant and shipowner who became wealthy from trade on the Danish West Indies.. He constructed the townhouse on Christianshavn in Copenhagen that is now known as th ...

, a merchant and shipowner from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. His widow took over the estate after his death in 1812. She managed it with great skill during the agricultural crisis of the 1820s. After her death in 1839, it was acquired by F. V. Rottbøll. He sold most of the tenant farms to the tenant farmers. The remaining part of the estate was sold at auction after his death. The buyer was Baron Herman Frederik Løvenskiold. The estate then changed hands several times before it was purchased by Paul Dahl in 1913. He commissioned the architect

Thorvald Jørgensen Thorvald Jørgensen (27 June 1867 - 15 May 1946) was a Danish architect, most known for his design of Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament, after it had been destroyed in a fire. He has also designed a number of churches in ...

to refurbish the main building and also expanded the farm buildings. Paul Dahl's son sold the estate to Holbæk Municipality in 1962. The land was then sold off in lots for new housing while the buildings and park were turned into a

List of owners

* ( -1661) The Crown * (1661-1667) Henrik Thott * (1667-1676) Bertel Bartholin * (1676-1684) Mouritz Podebusk * (1684-1691) Frederik Vittinghof Scheel * (1691-1706) Schack Brockdorff * (1706-1731) Gregers Juel * (1731-1752) Peder Juel * (1752) Hans Seidelin * (1752-1772) Hans Diderich de Brinck-Seidelin * (1772-1809) Hans de Brinck-Seidelin * (1809-1812)

* (1812-1839)

Marie Kofoed Marie Kofoed, née ''Bohn'' (19 January 1760 - 20 April 1838), was a Danish businessperson, landowner and philanthropist. She was a local patriot and played an important part in the history of Bornholm. Life She was born to the businessman Morten ...

* (1839-1866) F. Rottbøll * (1866-1877) Herman Frederik Løvenskiold * (1877-1882) J. Sønnichsen * (1882-1912) G. Ree * (1912-1913) Johannes Lawaetz * (1913-1914) M. Alstrup * (1914-1939) Paul Dahl * (1939-1955) Else Wørishøffer, married 1) Dahl, 2) Kastberg * (1955-1963) Torben Dahl-Kastberg * (1963- ) Kunsthøjskolen at Holbæk

References

External links

{{Holbæk Municipality Manor houses in Holbæk Municipality Holbæk