Sturefors Castle is situated outside

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

, by lake Ärlången, the province of

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. It is owned by Count

Bielke Bielke is the name of an ancient and powerful Swedish noble family, originally from Småland. History The family was wirst mentioned in the 13th century. It is the second-oldest such family still in existence after Natt och Dag. The comital f ...

and is not open to the public. The first castle was constructed by

riksråd Riksrådet (in Norwegian and Swedish), Rigsrådet (in Danish) or (English: the Council of the Realm and the Council of the State – sometimes translated as the "Privy Council") is the name of the councils of the Scandinavian countries that rule ...

nobleman Ture Bielke (1548–1600) in the 16th century. Only the north wing remains of this building. The present castle was constructed in 1704 by

Carl Piper Count Carl Piper (July 29, 1647, Stockholm – May 29, 1716, Schlüsselburg) was a Swedish statesman. He entered the foreign office after completing his academical course at Uppsala, accompanied Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna on his embassage ...

as a dower for his spouse

Christina Piper Christina Piper, née ''Törne'' (1673 in Stockholm – 1752 in Krageholm Castle, Scania), was a Swedish countess, landowner and entrepreneur, married to the statesman and military count Carl Piper. During the tenure of her spouse in office, ...

.Norrhem, Svante, Christina och Carl Piper: en biografi hristina and Carl Piper: a biography Historiska media, Lund, 2010 (Swedish) It was designed by

Nicodemus Tessin the Younger Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (May 23, 1654 – April 10, 1728) was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator. The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle ...

. After the death of Christina Piper in 1752, it was inherited by her grandson Nils Adam Bielke, and has since then belonged to the Bielke family.

References

Castles in Östergötland County {{Sweden-castle-stub