Valbygård is a manor house and estate located four kilometres northwest of

Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Ka ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Created by

Joachim Castenschiold Lieutenant-General Joachim Melchior Holten von Castenschiold (29 November 1743 – 6 April 1817) was a Danish army officer and landowner who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Castenschiold purchased Borreby Castle in 17 ...

in 1874 from land that had previously belonged to

Antvorskov Abbey Antvorskov Monastery (Danish: ''Antvorskov Kloster'') was the principal Scandinavian monastery of the Catholic Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, located about one kilometer south of the town of Slagelse on Zealand, Denmark. It served as the Scand ...

, the estate was in 1846 acquired by

August Willads Bech August Willads Bech (21 July 1815 - 28 May 1877) was a Danish landowner. He owned Valbygård at Slagelse and Borupgård at Borup. Valbygård is still owned by his descendants. Early life and education Bech was born on 21 July 1815 in Copenhagen ...

and has since then remained in the Bech family. The current,

Renaissance Revival style Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

main building was built for August Willads Bech in 1855. It was listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1996. The estate covers 1,100 hectares of land.

History

Church property and crown land

In the Middle Ages the land belonged to

. The abbey was confiscated by the Crown during the Reformation and Valbygård was then turned into a royal fief. In 1703,

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

converted Antvorskov into a countship for his mistress,

Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg (4 May 1679 – 27 June 1704), Countess of Antvorskov, was Danish noble and lady-in-waiting of German origin. She was the royal mistress of King Frederick IV of Denmark and, later, his first morganatic wife by biga ...

. When she shortly thereafter died in labour, Antvorskov was instead turned into a cavalry district.

Castenschiold and von Stemann

In 1774, the Antvorskov Cavalry District was divided into nine manors and sold in the auction. One of them, Valbygård, which consisted of land from Wiztøgaard as well as 11 former farms in the villages of Store Valby and Vester Valby, was acquired by Joachim Melchior Holten Castenschiold. In 1776, he sold it to his older brother, Jørgen Frederik Castenschiold. He was a captain in the Crown Prince's Regiment but was in 1780 promoted to colonel and chamberlain. Jørgen Frederik Castenschiold ran into a number of obstacles in the management of his estate. In 1781, he struggled with a lack of animal feed and his livestock population was at the same time hit by decease. In 1783, the harvest failed. Poul Christian Stemann

In 1805, Castenschiold sold Valbygård to Poul Christian von Stemann. He had previously owned the small Benzonsdal Manor from 1791 to 1800 and was from 1802 responsible for managing the holdings of

Sorø Academy Sorø Academy ( Danish: ''Sorø Akademi'') is a boarding school and gymnasium located in the small town of Sorø, Denmark. It traces its history back to the 12th century when Bishop Absalon founded a monastery at the site, which was confiscated by ...

. He had served as ''

amtmand __NOTOC__ The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most sen ...

'' (prefect) of

Sorø County Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality on the island of Zealand in east Denmark with a population of 8,433 (2025).Frederick VI. He took a profound interest in the management of his estates as well as the living conditions for the peasants on them. He collaborated with the owner of Bøstrup on draining Bild Lake, thereby increasing the area of his estate. In 1827, Stemann was appointed President of Danish Chancellery (Home Office) and Minister of Juridical Affairs-

The Bech family

In 1846, Poul Christian von Stemann sold Valbygård to

. In 1855, he also acquired Brorupgaard. Bech was married to Margrethe Rothe (1823–86), a daughter of

counter admiral Counter admiral is a military rank used for high-ranking officers in several navies around the world, though the rank is not used in the English-speaking world, where its equivalent rank is rear admiral. The term derives from the French . Dependi ...

and former governor of the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

Carl Adolph Rothe Counter-Admiral Carl Adolph Rothe (8 December 1767 – 12 July 1834) was a Danish naval officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor-General of the Danish West Indies from 1820 to 1822. Biography Rothe was born on 8 Decemb ...

. The old, half-timbered main building was very neglected and Bech, therefore, chose to replace it with a new main building in 1853–1855. The new building was designed by his cousin and close friend, Albert Winstrup (1815–89), who was an architect. Valbygaard IllT1860

He was like his predecessor also interested and agriculture and also improved the management of the estate. His initiatives included the planting of conifer, beech and oak plantations. In 1866, he arranged two

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...

s in

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in east Denmark with a population of 8,433 (2025).

and

Præstø Præstø () is a town with a population of 3,880 (1 January 2024) in Vordingborg Municipality in Region Sjælland on the east coast of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland''). The islands of Maderne, Storeholm, and Lilleholm are ...

which raised 55.000

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were of ...

for wounded soldiers and those left behind by fallen soldiers of the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...

. He created an extensive collection of antiquities from the area and was also the owner of a significant collection of Italian paintings and sculptures. August Willads Bech's eldest son, Jørgen Peter Bech, inherited Valbygård after his father's death in 1877. His mother, Margrethe Bech, kept Borupgård until her death in 1886. Jørgen Peter Bech was married to Caroline Charlotte Suhr, a daughter of Ole Berendt Suhr and thus a cousin on his mother's side. Bech was director of Den Suhrske Stiftelse from 1893 to 1908. Jørgen Peter Bech died in 1909 and Valbygård then passed to their son August Villads Bech. August Villads Bech seceded his father as director of Den Suhrske Stiftelse and was also chairman of Sparekassen for Slagelse og Omegn. Valbygård was after August Villads Bech's death passed to his son, Jørgen Peter Bech. August Villads Bech's widow remained on the estate until her death

Architecture

The two-storey main building is built of building with

Dutch gable A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and which has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the terminat ...

s, bay windows and verandas. The bricks were manufactured in the estate's own

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

from 1847. A library extension was constructed for Jørgen Peter Bech in 1884 at the western gable.

Cultural references

Valbygaard has been used as a location in the film '' Slægten'' (1978) and ''

Sort høst ''Black Harvest'' () is a 1993 Danish drama film directed by Anders Refn. The film was selected as the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Acade ...

'' (1993).

List of owners

* ( –1774) The Crown * (1774–1776) Joachim Melchior Holten Castenschiold * (1776–1805) Jørgen Frederik Castenschiold * (1805–1846) Poul Christian von Stemann * (1846–1877)

* (1877–1909) Jørgen Peter Bech * (1909–1940) August Villads Bech * (1940–1972) Jørgen Peter Bech * (1972–2007) August Villads Bech * (2007–present) Jørgen Peter Bech

References

{{Slagelse Municipality Manor houses in Slagelse Municipality Listed castles and manor houses in Denmark Buildings and structures of the Castenschiold family Houses completed in 1855