Rudbjerggaard, situated 7 km south of

Nakskov Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is situated in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 12,495 (1 January 2022). To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the La ...

, is the only

half-timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

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 ...

on the island of

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitant ...

in south-eastern

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 ...

History

Early history

The first known reference to Rudbjerggaard is from 1231 when it is mentioned as crown land in the

Danish Census Book The Danish Census Book or the Danish book of land taxation ( la, Liber Census Daniæ), ( da, Kong Valdemars Jordebog) dates from the 13th century and consists of a number of separate manuscripts. The original manuscripts are now housed in the Da ...

. The first more widely known owner of the estate was Mogens Ebbesøn, for many years the king's vassal first at Aalholm Castle and later

Koldinghus Koldinghus is a Danish royal castle in the town of Kolding on the south central part of the Jutland peninsula. The castle was founded in the 13th century and was expanded since with many functions ranging from fortress, royal residency, ruin, mus ...

. His family owned Rudbjerggaard for more than a century. Mogens Grubbe acquired Rudbjerggaard in 1555 but already the following year sold it to Erik Rud from the manors of Fuglsang and Møgelkær. The first part of ''Rudbjerggaard'', ''rud-'', originally derives from the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

for ''

rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

'' but is later associated with his family name.

Knud Rud's new house

Around the turn of the century, Erik Rud's son,Knud Eriksen Rud, who had taken over the house in 1502, constructed a new seat on the estate, probably completed in 1606 since that date features on the

staircase tower A staircase tower or stair tower (german: Treppenturm, also ''Stiegenturm'' or ''Wendelstein'') is a tower-like wing of a building with a circular or polygonal plan that contains a stairwell, usually a helical staircase. History Only a few e ...

of the main wing. Knud Rud married

Ellen Marsvin Ellen Marsvin (1 February 1572 – 11 November 1649) was a Danish noble, landowner and county administrator. She was the mother-in-law of King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway, the mother of Kirsten Munk (1598–1658) and grandmother of Leonora Chr ...

on 1 January 1607 but died a few years later, in 1611, making her twice a widow at the age of 39. Before his death, Rud granted Rudbjerggaard to Marsvin's daughter by her first husband,

Kirsten Munk Kirsten Munk (sometimes "Christina Munk"; 6 July 1598 19 April 1658) was a Danish noble, the second spouse of King Christian IV of Denmark, and mother to twelve of his children. Early life and morganatic marriage Kirsten Munk was the daughter o ...

, who would become

morganatically Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...

married to the widowed King

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

in 1615. However, due to her young age, her mother, who was an accomplished business on the way to becoming one of the richest landowners in Denmark, managed the estate on her behalf, until selling it with the king's permission in 1616, probably due to its remote location. Up through the century, Rudbjerggaard grew considerably, although hit hard by the

Swedish Wars This is a list of wars involving the Kingdom of Sweden. There are legendary accounts of Swedish kings well into prehistory and they are mentioned by Tacitus in his '' Germania'', but St. Olof Skötkonung (995–1022) was the first ruler docume ...

. Most of the complex was demolished in the 18th and 19th century but the east wing was spared and later extended in both directions to form the present building. The large staircase tower is in masonry while the rest of the building is timber-framed.

Reventlow era

In 1891, the estate was acquired by Ludvig Eduard Alexander, Count of Reventlow, born at nearby Pederstrup Manor. He died in 1916 and is interred at nearby

Tillitse Church Tillitse Church is a Romanesque architecture, Romanesque building west of the village of Dannemare, some south of Nakskov on the Danish island of Lolland. Built of red brick in the first half of the 13th century, it has an intricately carved auri ...

. His widow kept the estate until her death in 1938. It then passed to their son Einar Ludvig August Reventlow.

Architecture

The current house is the main wing of Rud's originally three- or four-winged complex from 1606. It is built in

timber framing Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

, except for the

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

staircase tower, which is in dressed masonry. The house is still surrounded by the original moats.

Rudbjerggaard today

Rudbjerggaard covers 459 hectares of farmland and 392 hectares of forest. Fredsholm covers 914 hectares of farmland and 129 hectares of forest.

List of owners

* (1200-tallet) Kronen * ( -1466) Christiern Rud * (1466-1481) Mogens Ebbesen Galt * (1481-1496) Dorothea Eriksdatter Rosenkrantz, gift Galt * (1480- ) Eline Lauritzdatter Vasspyd * (1496-1500) Erik Galt og Ebbe Galt * (1500-1529) Anders Ebbesen Galt * (1500-1531) Sophie Galt * (1500-1548) Peder Andersen Galt * (1529-1554) Ebbe Andersen Galt * ( -1535) Laurids Madsen Vaspyd * (1548- ) Erik Grubbe * ( -1577) Erik Rud * (1577- ) Jacob Rud Ø (1577-1592) Peder Rud * (1577-1606) Corfitz Rud * (1577-1611) Knud Rud * (1611-1616) Kirsten Munk * (1616-1622) Pernille Gyldenstierne gift Rosenkrantz * (1622-1623) Eiler Urne * (1623-1626) Joachim von Barnewitz * (1626-1640) Øllegaard Hartvigsdatter Pentz, married 1.) von Barnewitz og 2.) von Passow * (1640-1653) Frederik von Barnewitz * (1653-1674) Ide Jørgensdatter Grubbe gift von Barnewitz * (1653-1677) Joachim von Barnewitz * (1677-1679) Jens Rodsteen * (1679-1692) Christian Bülow * (1679-1719) Frederik Rodsteen * (1679-1715) Else Magdalene Sybille Rodsteen, gift Lehsten * (1692-1728) Frederik Barnewitz Bülow * (1719-1723) Jens Christopher von Lehsten * (1728-1755) Caspar Friderich von Bülow * (1755-1757) Ida Margrethe Reventlow, gift Knuth * (1757-1805) Conrad Ditlev Knuth * (1805-1815) Carl Conrad Gustav Knuth * (1815-1819) Boet efter Carl Conrad Gustav Knuth * (1819) Simon Andersen Dons og Johan Ferdinand de Neergaard * (1819-1823) Simon Andersen Dons * (1823- ) Carl Conrad Gustav Knuth * ( -1855) Carl Vilhelm Emil Knuth * (1855-1865) Julius Gustav Berger Klemp * (1865-1889) Michael Frederik Gustav Smith * (1889-1891) Adolph Tesdorpf * (1891-1916) Ludvig Eduard Alexander Reventlow * (1916-1938) Benedicte Ulfsparre Bech, gift Reventlow * (1938-1940) Boet efter Benedicte Ulfsparre Bech, gift Reventlow * (1940-1978) Einar Ludvig August Reventlow * (1978- ) Gustav Erik Reventlow von Rosen

References

External links

Official website
{{Denmark castles and manor houses Manor houses in Lolland Municipality Timber framed buildings in Lolland Municipality Listed castles and manor houses in Denmark Listed buildings and structures in Lolland Municipality Buildings and structures associated with the Reventlow family