Moesgård is a former manor house and a
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
in
Aarhus Municipality
Aarhus Municipality (), known as Ã…rhus Municipality () until 2011, is a ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'' in the Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark.
The municipality covers an area of , and ...
. The current buildings were completed in 1778 and was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places by the
Danish Heritage Agency on 17 July 1918.
The manor and estate is situated in the district of
Højbjerg
Højbjerg is a postal district of Aarhus, Denmark.
Højbjerg originated as a coastal suburb to the south of Aarhus, but has now completely merged with the city. Højbjerg is located 5 km from the city centre and had a population of 22,000 i ...
, 10 kilometers south of the city centre of
Aarhus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Ã…rhus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
. Administratively it belongs to the
MÃ¥rslet Parish and is today owned by
Moesgård Museum. The museum cooperates with the ''School of Culture and Society'' from
Aarhus University
Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...
on the subjects of history, archaeology, anthropology and oriental studies with most teaching and lectures being held in the manor buildings. In 2013 the university took over the buildings when a new museum building was completed and most activities related to the museum moved there.
History
The original Moesgård and its owners can be traced back to the late 14th century but the area was likely farmed much earlier. The site of the current manor is believed to be different from the original farm which was likely moved and rebuilt after it burned down during wars with Sweden in the mid-17th century. In the mid 19th century traces of a courtyard was found about a kilometer south-west from the current manor and it is believed this is the location of the original farm. The name "Moesgård" can be literally translated to "bog farm" which hints at a bog in the area which is consistent with
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
evidence showing signs of wetlands in that area.
In 1660 Mogens Friis owned Moesgård along with the manors
Østergaard and
Skrumstrup in his large land holdings south of Aarhus. In 1662 he was granted new lands north of the city as compensation for losses incurred during the
Dano-Swedish War of 1658–1660 and he established the
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
of
Frijsenborg. Mogens Friis sold his manors south of the city to
Gabriel Marselis who had been granted land holdings in the area by the crown in payment for war debts.
Gabriel Marselis rebuilt the newly burnt Moesgård where it stands today. Upon his death in 1673 his land holdings were split between his four sons and his son Vilhelm Marselis inherited the manors Skrumstrup and Moesgaard. Vilhelm Marselis had a new
barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
established at Skrumstrup Manor which was renamed
Vilhelmsborg
Vilhelmsborg is the National Equestrian Centre of Denmark and a Listed buildings in Aarhus Municipality, listed building in Aarhus Municipality. The main manor building was completed in 1842 and was listed by the Danish Heritage Agency on 3 March ...
while he assumed the new family-name Gyldenkrone (). Moesgård became an
allodial title
Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defense ...
to the new barony but remained in the Marselis family until the early 19th century.
The current main building was constructed in 1780–84 by Christian Frederik Gyldenkrone but the manor was suffering economically and his son Frederik Christian Gyldenkrone became the last owner as the state assumed ownership of the manor in 1822. In 1838 Torkild Dahl bought the manor and it remained in the Dahl family until the mid-20th century. Thorkild Dahl was politically active as a member of the
Folketing
The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...
and was interested in history and classical studies. He compiled a large library of books and worked to establish a museum of history in Aarhus.
In 1960
Ã…rhus County bought the manor from the estate of Torkild Dahl's daughter with the intention to redevelop the lands for public use. The lands were turned into recreational areas of forests and beaches while some of the agricultural buildings were turned into a museum from designs by
C.F. Møller. In 2013 the anthropological and archaeological department of Aarhus University took over the buildings as a new museum building north-west of the manor was completed in 2014.
Architecture
The manor is designed around a large courtyard, the
historicist main building facing west with two curved wings extending to the sides to form the east boundary of the courtyard. On each side of the court yard stands the agricultural buildings from the 1800s symmetrically enclosing the court yard.
East of the main building lies a large garden laid out in romantic style with watercourses, bridges and stone
levee
A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...
s. Moesgård is accessed by a long road lined with
poplars which was established in the 1800s when the road from Aarhus to
Odder
Odder is a town in Jutland, Denmark. The town is the seat of Odder municipality, and is the biggest town in the municipality. It is located 20 km south of Aarhus and 16 km south-east of Skanderborg.
Odder is part of Business Region Aar ...
was created.
Owners
* 1396–1410 – Erik Nielsen Gyldenstierne
* 1410–1425 – Niels Eriksen Gyldenstierne
* 1425–1455 – Erik Nielsen Gyldenstierne
* 1455–1463 – Erik Nielsen Gyldenstierne's estate
* 1463–1473 – Peder Eriksen Gyldenstierne
* 1473–1504 – Oluf Pedersen Gyldenstierne
* 1504–1550 – Oluf Pedersen Gyldenstierne's estate
* 1550–1560 – Lene Olufsdatter Gyldenstierne
* 1560–1563 – Jost Andersen Ulfeldt
* 1563–1565 – Anne Nielsdatter Kaas
* 1565–1591 – Anne Nielsdatter Kaas's estate
* 1591–1623 – Edel Jostsdatter Ulfeldt / Helvig Jostsdatter Ulfeldt / Kirsten Jostsdatter Ulfeldt
* 1623–1638 – Helvig Jostsdatter Ulfeldt
* 1638–1648 – Johan Kjeldsen Brockenhuus
* 1648–1651 – Niels Friis
* 1651–1662 – Mogens Nielsen Friis
* 1662–1673 –
Gabriel Marselis
* 1673–1683 – Vilhelm
baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
Güldencrone no. 1
* 1683–1692 – Regitze Sophie Vind
* 1692–1701 – Christian baron Güldencrone / Jørgen baron Güldencrone / Vilhelm baron Güldencrone no. 2
* 1701–1746 – Christian baron Güldencrone
* 1746–1747 – Vilhelm baron Güldencrone no. 3
* 1747–1753 – Matthias baron Güldencrone
* 1753–1788 – Christian Frederik baron Güldencrone
* 1788–1822 – Frederik Julius Christian baron Gyldenkrone
* 1822–1838 – Danish state
* 1838–1844 – Torkild Christian Dahl / Peder Jacob Møller
* 1844–1872 – Torkild Christian Dahl
* 1872–1911 – Emilie Andersen Dahl
* 1911–1952 – Bothilde Torkilsdatter Dahl
* 1952–1960 – Bothilde Torkilsdatter Dahl's estate
* 1960–1964 –
Ã…rhus County
* 1964–present – Forhistorisk Museum, now known as
Moesgård Museum
Gallery
File:Mosgd 4w.jpg, One wing of the manor
File:Mosgd w3.jpg
File:Mosgd w2.jpg, View from the garden
File:Moesgård 5.jpg
File:Moesgård Manor elm avenue.jpg, The poplar avenue in the Manor garden
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
Moesgård MuseumAarhus University School of Culture and Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moesgard
Listed buildings in Aarhus
Houses completed in 1778
Neoclassical architecture in Aarhus
Manor houses in Denmark
Listed castles and manor houses in Denmark
Buildings and structures of the Gyldenstierne family
1770s architecture in Denmark