Name: Egeskov Castle (Egeskov Slot in Danish).

Location: Funen, Denmark.

Map: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Locatio...

Built: in 1405.

Current building: built in 1554.

Visitors: 200 000 visitors/year.

Famous for: The castle is Europe's best preserved Renaissance water castle.

 

History, architecture, castle contents, gardens and lands

Egeskov's history dates to the early 15th century. The castle structure was erected by Frands Brockenhuus in 1554. Due to the troubles caused by the civil war known as the Count's Feud, general civil unrest, and a civil war introducing the Protestant Reformation, most Danish noblemen built their homes as fortifications. The castle is constructed on oaken piles and located in a small lake with a maximum depth of 5 metres (16 ft). Originally, the only access was by means of a drawbridge. According to legend, it took an entire forest of oak trees to build the foundation, hence the name Egeskov (oak forest).

 

The castle consists of two long buildings connected by a thick double wall, allowing defenders to abandon one house and continue fighting from the other. The double wall is over one meter (3 ft) thick and contains secret staircases and a well. Defenders were able to attack an enemy's flanks from the two round corner towers. Other medieval defences include artillery ports, scalding holes and arrow slits. The bricks composing the castle are of an oversized medieval type sometimes called "monks bricks". The conical towers are constructed in a series of separate panels.

 

The architecture includes depressed and round-arched windows, round-arched blank arcading within the gables, and a double string course between the high cellar and the ground floor. The structure contains some of the early indoor plumbing design first used in Europe with vertical shafts for waste. The thick double wall also contains a water well which is accessed from the servants kitchen in the east house. Several of the large rooms have massive parallel exposed beams with some end carving.

 

Contents of the castle include a massive iron chest from at least as early as the 16th century, which derived from Hvedholm Castle, a property earlier owned by the Egeskov estate about ten kilometers (six miles) to the west. Numerous oil paintings are found within the castle including a large painting in the great hall on the first floor of Niels Juel, who defeated the Swedish force in the Battle of Koge Bay in the year 1677.

 

Other buildings belonging to Egeskov include Ladegarden, a thatched half-timbered building which is now part of the museum. Other buildings are used by the museum and for farming. Surrounding the castle is an old park, covering 20 hectares (49 acres) of land.

 

The park is divided into a number of gardens. The renaissance garden features fountains, a gravel path and topiary figures. The fuchsia garden, one of the largest in Europe, contains 104 different species. Other gardens near the castle include an English garden, a water garden, an herb garden, a vegetable garden, and a peasant's garden.

 

The gardens also feature four hedge mazes. The oldest is a beech maze several hundreds of years old. The newest maze is the world's largest bamboo maze. It features a Chinese tower in the centre, and a bridge from the tower provides the exit from the maze. The parks feature a three-meter-tall sundial designed by Danish poet and mathematician, Piet Hein.

 

The estate includes an additional eight square kilometres; 2.5 square kilometres (0.97 sq mi) is forest, with the rest being farmland. The estate has belonged to the Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille family since 1784. In 1986, a full-sized replica of the castle was built in Hokkaidō, Japan, to hold an aquarium. This was constructed with the permission of the Egeskov's owners at the time, Count Claus and Countess Louisa Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille.

 

Most of the castle is open to the public, except for the areas used by current owners Count Michael and Countess Caroline Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille.

 

Owners:

1405 AD - Lydike Skinkel and Jorgen Skinkel

1470 - Johan Skinkel

1516 - Otto Skinkel and Poul Skinkel

1518-1533 - Laurids Skinkel

1533-1536 - Hilleborg Pedersdatter Bille and her daughters Anne, Hilleborg and Rigborg

1536-1545 - Anne, Hilleborg and Rigborg

1545-1569 - Frands Brockenhuus

1569-1604 - Laurids Brockenhuus

1604-1615 - Laurids Brockenhuus's heirs

1615-1615 - Hans Pogwish

1616-1630 - Jakob Ulfeldt

1630-1640 - Ebbe Jakobsen Ulfeldt, Corfitz Ulfeldt and Laurids Ulfeldt

1640-1648 - Laurids Ulfeldt

1648-1656 - Oluf Parsberg

1656-1666 - Otto Krag

1666-1688 - Anne Rosenkrantz

1688-1713 - Niels Krag the Elder

1713-1722 - The widow of Niels Krag

1722-1740 - Niels Krag the Younger

1740-1784 - Sofie Juel

1784-1789 - Henrik Bille-Brahe

1789-1810 - Caroline Agnese Raben, married Bille-Brahe

1810-1857 - Preben Bille-Brahe

1857-1871 - Frederik Siegfried Bille-Brahe

1871-1882 - Frantz Preben Bille-Brahe

1882-1912 - Count Julius Ludvig Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille

1912-1919 - Baroness Camille Jessy Bille-Brahe, married Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille

1919-1946 - Count Preben Frederik Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille

1946-1985 - Count Preben Julius Gregers Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille and Nonni Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille

1985-1994 - Count Claus Christian Preben Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille and Louisa Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille

1994-today - Count Michael Preben Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille and Caroline Soeborg Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille

.

 

Ahlefeldt (noble family)

Ahlefeldt is a Danish and German family of high nobility. The earliest known ancestor is one Benedict Ahlefeldt, (d c 1340), whose son and grandsons served Valdemar IV, King of Denmark in 1340-1375, and received significant pawn fiefs and properties in Denmark.

 

In Slesvig the family inherited estates Sogard, Nor, Konigsforde-Lindau, Sakstorp and Gelting. In Holstein, Bossee, Lehmkulen, Wittmold, Deutsch-Nienhof, Emkendorf, Kl. Nordsee, Haseldorf and Fresenburg. High royal councillor Burchard Ahlefeldt of Eskilsmark received in 1672 letters patent as Danish count.

 

His kinsman Frederik Ahlefeldt (d. 1686), was erected in 1665 to Heiliger Romischer Reichsgraf, ie German count in immediate vassalage to the emperor. He further received in the same year as his kinsman, in 1672 the Danish title of count. One of his grandsons, count Christian Ahlefeldt inherited the county of Laurvig in Norway. In 1785 he received the royal licence to himself and his descendants to bear the name Ahlefeldt-Laurvig.

 

Bille (noble family)

Bille is a Danish noble family, part of the ancient Danish nobility from Scania in southern Sweden.

Its members have played a prominent role in Danish politics and society since the mid 13th century. The family includes the comital branches Bille-Brahe and Bille-Brahe-Selby.

 

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Sources:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egeskov_Castle

da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egeskov_Slot

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlefeldt_(noble_family)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bille_(noble_family)

The owner of the image above is Malene Thyssen. Links:

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Malene

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Egeskov_Slot_spejling_Edit_2.jpg

The image above is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. Link: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en

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