Rosenholm Castle ( da, Rosenholm Slot) is

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 = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

's oldest family-owned castle. It is located on

Djursland Djursland () is a 44 km × 33 km hilly lowland peninsula in Denmark at the entrance to the Baltic Sea, between Denmark and Sweden in Northern Europe. Djursland protrudes into the Kattegat sea, as part of the larger peninsula of Jutland, ...

, north of

Hornslet Hornslet is a town located in East Jutland, on the southwestern part of the Djursland peninsula, Denmark. It is a commuter town of the city of Aarhus, which lies approximately 28 kilometers to the southwest, and a railway town at Grenaabanen, t ...

and northeast of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwe ...

. It is one of the best-preserved complexes from the golden age of the manor house – from 1550 to 1630.

History

The manor Holm is known from the 14th century. It was owned by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, but at the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in 1536 it came in possession of

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...

. King Frederick II exchanged it for some other estates owned by Danish nobleman and diplomat Jørgen Ottesen Rosenkrantz (1523-1596). The Rosenkrantz family is among the oldest and most famous in Danish history.

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

chose to use the surname in the play ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

. Jørgen Rosenkrantz had two sons: Otto Rosenkrantz (1560-1582) and Holger Rosenkrantz (1574-1642). He built a manor for both of them: Skaføgård for Otto and Rosenholm for Holger. Unfortunately Otto died early, after which Skaføgård became a dower house for Jørgen's wife, Dorthe Lange (1541-1613) and after her death passed to their surviving son Holger. Rosenholm Castle was founded in 1559. Jørgen Rosenkrantz build three wings, while the fourth and last was first added by his son Holger Ottesen Rosenkrantz (1517-1575). Its

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

was very much different from other

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 ...

s in Denmark. It was mostly inspired from Italy. On the main facade there was an open

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

. It was later extended, standing complete in 1607 with four wings, clearly influenced by the Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

style. The castle interior was modernised in the 1740s in the

Baroque style 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 ...

, at which time a large baroque garden was laid out, covering an area of 5 ha., with avenues of limetrees and hedgerows of beech.

Sights & attractions

*Manor house milieu over 450 years * Anthroposophic paintings by the painter

Arild Rosenkrantz Arild Rosenkrantz (9 April 1870 – 28 September 1964) was a Danish nobleman painter, sculptor, stained glass artist and illustrator.Charles Holme; Guy Eglinton; Peyton Boswell. (1907). The International studio'. Offices of the International Studi ...

. *Baroque park with symmetrical avenues. *Pirkentavl gazebo from around 1560.

References

External links

Rosenholm Slot website
Castles in Denmark Listed buildings and structures in Syddjurs Municipality Houses completed in 1607 Castles in the Central Denmark Region Hornslet Tourist attractions in Denmark Tourist attractions in the Central Denmark Region Buildings and structures in Denmark associated with the Rosenkrantz family {{Denmark-struct-stub

History

Sights & attractions

See also

References

External links