Vesterbygaard is a manor house and estate situated north of

Tissø Tissø is the 4th largest freshwater lake in Denmark, at 12.3 km2. It is located on the western part of Zealand, in the municipality of Kalundborg. There are several small towns and villages near the lake, of which Sæby is the biggest at 34 ...

Kalundborg Municipality Kalundborg Municipality ( da, Kalundborg Kommune) is a municipality in Region Sjælland on the west coast of the island of Zealand in Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 48,368 (1. January 2022). Its mayor i ...

, some 70 km west 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. The three-winged main building was constructed for

Christen Andreas Fonnesbech Christen Andreas Fonnesbech (7 July 1817 – 17 May 1880) was a Danish lawyer, landowner and politician. He was Council President of Denmark from 1874 to 1875. Biography Fonnesbech was born in Copenhagen, where his father was a dressmaker. H ...

in the 1840s. The estate is still owned by his descendents. The estate covers 327 hectares of farmland.

History

Early history

Vesterbygaard was most likely originally part of the village of the village Jorløse. In the Middle Ages, it belonged to members of the Munk family. Little is known about the history of the estate. It was for a while owned by the Bishops of Roskilde but had by the late 15th century passed into the ownership of Hans Navl. He was buried in Sorø Abbey Church, where his and his wife's

ledgerstone A ledger stone or ledgerstone is an inscribed stone slab usually laid into the floor of a church to commemorate or mark the place of the burial of an important deceased person. The term "ledger" derives from the Middle English words ''lygger'', '' ...

can still be seen. Vesterbygaard was only a small manorm that rarely served as the seat of its owner, and it may on and off only have had status of a tenant farm. In the 1560,

Johan Friis Johan Friis (20 February 1494 – 5 December 1570) was a Danish statesman. He served as Chancellor under King Christian III of Denmark. Biography He was born at Lundbygård manor as the son of Jesper Friis til Lundbygård and Anne Johansdat ...

acquired Vesterbygaard as part of his accumulation of land. Shortly thereafter, he ceded it to the Crown in exchange for other land. The estate was subsequently placed under Kalundborg Fief and thus administrated by the king's '' lensmand''. Henrik hielmstjerne

Denmark's many wars with Sweeden throughout the 16th and early 18th century left the Crown heavily in debt. jea In 1664,

Gabriel Marselis Gabriel Marselis (1609 – buried 5 April 1673) was a Danish tradesman and land owner. He was born in Hamburg, the son of the immigrated Dutch merchant Gabriel Marselis Sr. (c. 1575–1643), and was a brother of Selius Marselis. He settle ...

Jr., a Durch merchant, received Vesterbygaard and a number of other estates as repayment of the large loans he had made to the king. I 1729, Vesterbygaard was sold to the Icelandic merchant Niels Henrichsen. He became a councilman and vice mayor and was granted the title of '' justitsråd''. In 1745, the estate passed to his son Henrich Henrichsen. He had studied theology at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

but ended up with an administrative career.In 1747, he was ennobled under the name Hjemstierne. In 1777, he was promoted to ''gehejmeråd''. He had a large collection of books, which was later ceded to the

Royal Danish Library The Royal Library ( da, Det Kongelige Bibliotek) in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the university library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries ...

where it is still referred to as the Hjelmstierne-Rosencroneske Bogsamling.

Lerche family, 17501843

In 1750, Vesterbygaard was bought was byChristian Lerche. In 1818, together with a number of other estates in the area, it formed the County of

Lerchenborg Lerchenborg is a manor house located 4 km south of Kalundborg on the west coast of Zealand, Denmark. History Origins The estate was established by Carl von Ahlefeldt when he closed down the village of Østrup to establish Østrupgård in 1704 ...

Fonesbech family

In 1843, Vesterbygaard was acquired by

- He had just inherited a substantial sum of money from his father, a successful silk and textile merchant in Copenhagen. Fonnesbech constructed a new main building on his estate. In 1858, he was elected for the

Danish parliament The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), 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 a ...

. He would later serve both as minister of finances and interior affars before briefly serving as Council President in 1874–1875. Fonnesbech's widow Karen Sophie Gonnesbech (née Hauberg) kept the estate until her death in 1906. Thie two sons had died both died as infants. On her death Besterbygaard was therefore passed to her nephew Orla Wulff. He subsequently assumed the name Fonnesbech-Wulff. Orla Fonnesbech-Wulff did not have any children. On his death Vesterbrugaard was therefore passed to his nephew Henry Emil Fonnesbech-Wulff. He served as minister for the electorial congregation at Vallekilde. In 1923, he was apponted as Bishop of the

Diocese of Roskilde The Diocese of Roskilde ( da, Roskildes Stift) is a diocese within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. The seat of the Bishop is Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde. History The Diocese of Roskilde was formed in 1922 when the Diocese of Zealan ...

. He left Vesterbygaard to his son Orla Honnesbech-Wulff.

Architecture

The main building from 184446 is a three winged building. The central part of the main wing is tipped by a triangular pediment on both sides of the building (couardyard and garden). The three-winged home farm (''avlsgården'') is situated immediately to the north of the main building. The oldest of the three wings is a thatched, half-timbered building from 1818. The two other farm wings are cconstructed in brick and roofed with tile. Together, the three-winged main building and the three-winged home farm form a large rectangular complex surrounding a central courtyard.

Today

SThe current owners of Vesterbugaard are Dorte Fonnesbech-Wulff Estrup and her husband Adam Estrup.The estate covers 327 hectares of land of which 284 hectares is farmland, 23 hectares is5 hectares is parkland/garden.

List of owners

* (1300-t.) Munk family * (1354-1480) Bishops of Roskilde * (1480-1489) Hans Navl * (1489-1506) Jørgen Navl * (1506-1562) Jørgen Navl Jørgensen * (1562-1564)

* (1564-1664) The Crown * (1664-1700)

* (1700-1719) The Crown * (1719-1729) Niels Hansen Fuglede * (1729-1745) Niels Henrichsen * (1745-1750) Henrich Henrichsen Hjelmstierne * (1750-1757) Christian Lerche * (1757-1766) Amalie M. C. Leiningen-Westerburg, gift Lerche * (1766-1804) Georg Flemming Lerche * (1804-1850) Christian Cornelius Lerche * (1843-1880) Christen Andreas Fonnesbech * (1880-1907) Karen Sophie Hauberg, gift Fonnesbech * (1907-1913) Orla Fonnesbech-Wulff * (1913-1934) Henry Emil Fonnesbech-Wulff * (1934-1936) Laura Elisabeth Hastrup, gift Fonnesbech-Wulff * (1936-1970) Orla Fonnesbech-Wulff * (1970-1997) Niels Fonnesbech-Wulff * (1997-2002) Estate of Niels Fonnesbech-Wulff * (2002- ) Dorte Fonnesbech-Wulff, gift Estrup * (2004- ) Adam Estrup

References

External links

Source
{{Kalundborg Municipality Manor houses in Kalundborg Municipality Houses completed in 1846