Rolighed is a former country house in
Skodsborg
Skodsborg is a small town/suburb approx. 20 km. north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The town has a population of 1,269 (1 January 2022) ,
Rudersdal Municipality, approximately 16 km north of
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 ...
,
Denmark
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, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
. The history of the property dates back to 1780 but the current house is from 1927. Formerly associated with the
Conservative People's Party, it now houses
Mærsk
(), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line ...
's Center of Leadership.
History
The land was acquired by the Norwegian civil servant
Carsten Anker
Carsten Tank Anker (17 November 1747 – 13 March 1824) was a Norwegian businessman, civil servant, politician and one of the Fathers of the Constitution of Norway. He was the owner of the manor house in Akershus at which the original National As ...
in 1780. In 1794, he built a large wooden house on his estate. On 15-16 August, 1807, when the British Army landed their troops at
Vedbæk
Vedbæk is a wealthy suburban neighbourhood on the coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It belongs to Rudersdal Municipality and has merged with the town of Hørsholm to the north. The area has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years, as evidenced ...
, leading up to the
Battle of Copenhagen, they confiscated many of the large country houses along the coast. The Anker family was, however, on a good foot with the British commander, general
Arthur Wellesley, with whom Carsten Anker's brother
Peter Anker, had previously collaborated, and Rolighed therefore escaped confiscation.
In 1813 when Denmark lost Norway, Carsten Anker returned home to Norway, selling Rolighed to
John Christmas, an English-born merchant from Copenhagen. After his death in 1822, Rolighed was taken over by his son-in-law, William Frederik Duntzfelt, a merchant and politician. He commissioned
Jørgen Hansen Koch
Jørgen Hansen Koch (4 September 1787 – 30 January 1860) was a Neoclassical Danish architect. He was chief of the national Danish building administration from 1835 and director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1844 to 1849.
K ...
to design a new house that was completed in 1825. In 1841, Duntzfelt sold the property to the British diplomat Peter Browne.
When Browne returned to Britain in 1862, he sold Rolighed to Ludvig Jens Grøn, the founder of Grøns Varehus, Copenhagen's first department store. A new guesthouse designed by Henrik Steffens Sibbern was built on the estate in 1866–67. Grøn and his wife lived in the house for many years until it was taken over by their son R. Howard Grøn. He had been
amtmann
__NOTOC__
The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most seni ...
of the
Diocese of Viborg
The Diocese of Viborg is a diocese within the Church of Denmark, covering the western part of central Jutland. Viborg Cathedral in the city of Viborg serves as the seat of the diocese's bishop. The diocese has the highest ratio of church member ...
and commissioned the
Viborg-based architect Søren Vig-Nielsen to design a new an considerably bigger house which was built between 1927 and 1930. The building represents the style known as Bedre Byggeskik (Better Building Practices), the Danish equivalent of the
Arts & Crafts movement.
The property was in 1959 sold to The Foundation of 28 May 1948 which placed it at disposition of the Conservative People´s Party. It was subsequently converted into a meeting venue by
Ole Hagen.
Today
In 2010, the foundation sold Rolighed to
Maersk
(), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...
. It subsequently went through a thorough restoration and expansion carried out by Erik Møller Arkitekter. It now houses Mærsk's Center of Leadership
See also
*
Enrum
Enrum is a listed mansion on Strandvejen in Vedbæk, Rudersdal Municipality, some 20 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The history of the property dates back to 1731 but the current main building was built in the 1860s to a design by Joha ...
References
External links
Article
{{coord, 55.8402, N, 12.5699, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:DK, display=title
Houses in Rudersdal Municipality
Houses completed in 1940