Vilhelmsborg is the National Equestrian Centre of

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 ...

and a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality ( da, Aarhus Kommune), known as Århus Municipality ( da, Århus Kommune) until 2011, is a municipality in Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area ...

. The main manor building was completed in 1842 and was listed by the

Danish Heritage Agency The Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces ( da, Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen) is an agency under the aegis of the Danish Ministry of Culture. The agency carries out the cultural policies of the Danish government within the visual and performing arts, ...

on 3 March 1945. The manor lies 10 km. south of Aarhus, by Beder-Malling in Mårslet Parish, and is today owned by Aarhus Municipality along with 288 hectares of adjoining land. In the 19th century H. C. Andersen lived on the Vilhelmsborg estate on several occasions and some of his fairy tales are said to have been inspired by the view of

Mols Mols is a small Danish gathering of hilly peninsulas in the southern part of the larger peninsula of Djursland on the east coast of Jutland. The largest peninsulas of Mols comprise Skødshoved to the west, and Helgenæs to the east. Mols' l ...

from his window.

Johan Skjoldborg Johan Skjoldborg (27 April 1861 – 22 February 1936) was a Danish educator, novelist, playwright and memoirist. Biography Johan Martinus Nielsen Skjoldborg was born in the parish of Øsløs in Thisted in north Jutland, Denmark. He was educated ...

also frequented the estate and his novel ''Gyldholm'' depicts the hardships of farm hands by the end of the 19th century.

History

The Vilhelmsborg estate lies on the site of the former farm ''Skumstrupgård'' and the small village of ''Skumstrup''. The farm was elevated to the status of manor at the end of the 15th century and over time it gradually absorbed the lands and farms surrounding it until the village of Skumstrup ceased to exist. In 1660

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 ...

was given the farms

Moesgård Moesgård is a former manor house and a listed building in Aarhus Municipality. The current buildings were completed in 1778 and was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places by the Danish Heritage Agency on 17 July 1918. ...

, Havreballegård, Stadsgård and Skumstrupgård as payment for debts incurred by the crown during the Second Northern War. In 1673 Marselis' son, Vilhelm Güldencrone, inherited Skumstrupgård and had it elevated to a

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

. The name Vilhelmsborg means "Vilhelm's Castle" in reference to Vilhelm Güldencrone and the manor stayed in the Güldencrone family for generations, into the 20th century. In 1919 political reforms altered many of the inherited titles and their privileged positions resulting in the Güldencrone family leaving the estate and selling it in 1923. In 1973 the estate was bought by

. The city council elected to turn the estate into the National Equestrian Centre. Several riding halls were erected and much of the arable land was sold off while the forest and park was opened for public use.

Architecture

The main building was built in the 1840s as a two storey neoclassical building on a tall granite foundation. The adjoining barns, tenant housing and other farm buildings formed a square to create a courtyard, as was typical for farms at the time. In 1855 the adjoining buildings burned down leaving only the main building and it was decided to rebuild with structures separately. The estate contains the remains of a former

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 ...

castle. Today only the foundation of the caste remains but from descriptions from the 1670s it is known roughly what it looked like. It was a single building in two stories with oriel and a tower in the middle, facing a courtyard ringed by farm buildings.

National Equestrian Centre

The National Equestrian Centre was established in 1989 in renovated buildings and newly built riding halls, exhibition halls, outdoor tracks and a restaurant. The centre is managed non-profit by Aarhus Municipality, Aarhus Riding Club and Dansk Varmblod and

Prince Henrik Prince Henrik of Denmark (; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 unt ...

is the official protector. The centre offers large venues for international competitions,

hippology {{Cleanup, date=December 2021, reason=unorganized and notability issues with exam Hippology (from Greek: ἵππος, ''hippos'', "horse"; and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is the study of the horse. Today, hippology is the title of an equine v ...

studies and conferences.

Owners

References

External links