Holsteinborg Slot, Slagelse Kommune, Southwest Zealand

 Church and Manor

The stone bridge and the gate to the castle yard, flanked by the headless shield carriers.(GB)

in the castle yeard/ photo:gb

The large estate Holsteinborg Slot is situated in the southwestern part of Zealand about 13 km east of the town Skælskør. It was built by the Trolle family between 1598-1651, but was from 1707 in the ownership of the Holstein family during 12 generations. The impressive main building consists of four coherent two storey-wings surrounded by moats. By the castle is a large park with a hilly terrain which to the south slopes down to Holsteinborg with a view across the bay (Smålandshavet), Storebælt and the idyllic little islands Glænø and Ormø. 

photo GB

Holsteinborg is marked by both Renaissance and Classisistic style and in the middle of the 1800s the buildings were subjected to a restoration which made an attempt to correct the style confusion.  In 1949-1955 the various building periods and style expressions of Holsteinborg were retrieved in a thorough restoration.

Holsteinborg 1860, wikipedia.

In 1778 a church was inaugurated at the west wing and this church is today the parish church of Holsteinborg parish. The church covers two storeys in the northern section of the west wing. The entrance is via the gate. The interior  is completely marked by the Baroque period. The altarpiece with a painting by Hendrik Krock covers the northern wall of the church room

Holsteinborg ( Google Earth)

At the moat, (photo gb)

The moat system is preserved on the northside and at the farm building. A stone-lined bridge leads to the gateway which is flanked by two strange headless skjoldbærere (shield carriers) who symbolize the headless troll in the Trolle-family's coat of arms. Two lions - also carrying a shield - flank the west gate of the castle yard. In the yard is a prehistoric stone (with hollows)  and a vildtbanepæl from the 1700s with king Frederik 5.'s initials  (poles like this marked the king's hunting territory, and it meant death if someone violated that law)

The park is open to the public. The Baroque garden was laid out in 1725. One of the pretty avenues with trees is a 2 km long lime avenue stretching from the center of the main building. The southern section of the park is a landscape garden.  In the summer season are guided tours on Wednesdays and Sundays
 

The Poet H.C.Andersen was a frequent guest at Holsteinborg estate, in total 17 visits of various lenghts, from a few hours till several weeks. His first visit was in 1856 after many invitations from grev Ludvig Holstein and grevinde Mimi Holstein. He was received with great cordiality and hospitality, and he found  much inspiration for his stories and fairy tales at Holsteinborg..







History

Ulrich Adolph Holstein

about 1870 (wikipedia)

The history of Holsteinborg goes back to about 1200 where the place was a fortification as a protection of the nearby navy point Bisserup havn. With the later name Braade it was known as an estate under Roskilde bishopric up till 1536, where the Crown took over. The oldest preserved information in the Jordebøger (land registers)  are from 1290 and 1370. King Frederik 2. tried to create royal precincts in North Zealand and this brought on much exchange of estate, among others with Niels Trolle (the elder) of Torupgaard, who in 1562 instead got the estate of Braade, which he gave the name Trolholm. The present name Holsteinborg arose in connection to the new owners from 1707, the family Holstein. The large estate has three belonging manor farms Fuirendal, Snedinge and Kulgravgaard. Holsteinborg was from 1708 the main quarter of the grevskab (county) Holsteinborg and the homestead of the family Holstein Holsteinborg.

Herluf Trolle

Niels Trolle (the elder) was the brother of the wellknown Danish naval hero Herluf Trolle who also made some exchange business with the king (Herlufsholm(Frederikssborg). In 1565, in the Seven Year War, Niels Trolle lead the the warship "Danske Christoffer" in the battle at Femern, where Herluf Trolle was killed, while Niels Trolle in a later battle at Bornholm had both his legs shot off and went down with his ship. His son, Børge Trolle, bought out his siblings and became the owner of Trolholm. He followed in his father's footsteps and was the chief of a flotilla, which accompanied Christian 4. on his North Pole journey in 1599, described by the Danish author Thorkild Hansen in "Jens Munk".

 Ghosts
 Holsteinborg is the homestead of many ghosts. A man in a Renaissance costume has often been seen and was described by H.C.Andersen in a letter he wrote during one of his stays. Furthermore a male ghost with big boots, and a flying ghost haunting the east wing - and there is some rustle in the library in the south wing.  .

Holsteinborg (from Google Earth)

Owners of Holsteinborg

• (1357-1536) Roskilde Bishopric
• (1536-1562) The Crown
• (1562-1570) Niels Trolle
• (1570-1582) Jakob Nielsen Trolle / Børge Nielsen Trolle / Anne Nielsdatter Trolle
• (1582-1610) Børge Nielsen Trolle
• (1610-1615) Anna Povlsdatter Munk , married Trolle
• (1615-1667) Niels Børgesen Trolle
• (1667-1676) Børge Nielsen Trolle
• (1676-1707) Anders Nielsen Trolle
• (1707-1737) Ulrich Adolph lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1737-1749) Frederik Conrad lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1749-1759) Christoph Conrad lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1759-1760) Cay Joachim Detlev lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1760-1796) Heinrich lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1796-1836) Frederik Adolph lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1836-1892) Ludvig Henrik Carl Herman lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1892-1924) Frederik Conrad Christian Christopher lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1924-1945) Bent lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1945-1965) Erik Frederik Adolf Joachim lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1965-1977) Ib lensgreve Holstein-Holsteinborg
• (1977-) Ulrich greve Holstein-Holsteinborg

Source: 
Danmarks slotte og herregårde, Niels Peter Stilling, 1998, 
Slotte og herregårde i Danmark, Jytte Ortmann, 1994, 
Holsteinborg, wikipedia.   

photo: grethe bachmann
photo: wikipedia and Google earth.

Lundum church, Lundum kirke, Voer herred, Skanderborg amt.

                                                                              












The highplaced church in Lundum has a Romanesque choir and nave with a late Gothic tower to the west and a porch from the 1700s to the south. The Romanesque building is in granite ashlars and several travertines upon a bevel plinth. The rectangular south door is in use, while the bricked north door is vaguely traceable. From original windows - all bricked - is one traceable at the choir and two at the north side of the nave. The choir got inside in late Gothic period a cross vault, while the nave has a curved wooden ceiling from the 1800s. The late Gothic west tower is built in monk bricks and re-used ashlars. Its bottom room, which has an octagonal vault, opens to the nave in a broad pointed arch. The east-west gable has to the east a rich glare-decoration of twin-round arched high glares with a small double round arch glare in the top above savskifter (stone placed diagonally)   The west gable is probably from the 1700s. In a rebuild of the inside the triumph wall got neo-Gothic shapes.




















Altarpiece in Renaissance from the beginning of the 1600s, now cleansed and with a carved (scratched) biblical picture upon wood. Candelabres in Renaissance, ab. 1500-1600s. Romanesque granite font with a smooth profiled basin upon new base. A small crucifix from 1600s. Pulpit in high Renaissance, ab. 1600, with Tuscany corner pillars. A bell without inscription, no date.

A royal vildtbanesten (used as a border stone for the king's hunting ground) with monogram of Chr. VI and the year 1743 stands at Dagmarsgård.

Listed prehistorics: upon  Julianelyst mark (field) is a pretty, square dolmen chamber Gammelmand with a large cover stone; in Julianelyst skov a smaller hill.
Demolished or destroyed: 5 hills. 

At Lundumskov and Ødekirke Huse were found claypot burials from early Roman Iron Age.

Names from the Middle Ages: Lundum (1390 Lundum); Lundumskov (1349 Lundomskouff); Lundum Møllegård (1578 Lundum Mølle): 

Sources: Trap Danmark, Skanderborg amt, 1964.

photo 2003/2011: grethe bachmann

Hundslund church / Hundslund kirke, Hads herred, Aarhus amt.

 

Hundslund churh is a large church, it lies close to the main road of the village. The church has a Romanesque choir and nave with late Gothic additions - a tower to the west and a porch to the south. The Romanesque building is in granite ashlars on a bevel plinth, and the original wall-openings are exceptionally well preserved: the round-arched south door with profiled kragsten is in use, while the similar door to the north is bricked-up. On the southside of the choir was in 1931 re-opened a priest's door, which tympanum has a deep half circular field, above with a deep band. The choir has to the east one and to the north two round-arched windows, the nave's three windows are all in use, while two similar bricked-up windows are traceable upon the south wall of the nave.

   The broad coir arch stands  inside with profiled kragbånd. In the late Gothic period were built two cross-vaults in the choir,while the nave kept its beamed ceiling. At the same time the heavy tower was built to the west in monk bricks and re-used ashlars. The bottom room with an eight-ribbed vault opens towards the nave in a pointed tower arch. The step-gables of the tower have narrow, close-placed  glares, which upper finish are re-walled in recent times. The walls of the porch are also late Gothic, mainly in monk bricks, but the gable was re-walled in the late 1700s with roof-corniches.

Romanesque gravestone in wall

The altarpiece is a carved work in Renaissance from 1613, according to inscription on the backside made by Mikkel Snedker in Vrold and Laurids Andersen Riber, who painted the crucifixion-painting, which after a restoration was replaced in the large field, while the former altar-painting from 1891 by Chr. Dalsgaard hangs above the door of the porch. The panelwork and the sidepanels of the communion table were about 1700 painted with large apostel-figures, brought to light in 1924. The balustershaped altar candelabres are late Renaissance. A Romanesque granite font in Horsenstype with lions and foliage. A silver bowl after a drawing by Lorenz Frølich, given as a memory about the politician dr. Geert Winther. The former baptismal bowl, south German from ab. 1550, is placed in the choir arch. A very fine late Gothic choir-arch crucifix. A pulpit in simple high Renaissance, made in the year 1600, and given by Esben Jørgensen in Tendrup. Threemaster church ship "Samsø", from 1908-09.

Romanesque gravestone in wall

A large richly carved epitaph in bruskbarok from ab. 1670, set up by Morten Mikkelsen Haderup. In the porch two Romanesque granite gravestones with the names Eline and Martin, and a similar stone inserted in the north wall of the tower. At the church a worn-out priest-gravestone from the 1600s-1700s, and a large stone with Baroque flowers from the 1700s, both inreadable.

At the gate of the churchyard stand four vildtbanesten from 1757 from Åkær manor. (stones used for marking game hunting area). 

Hundslund church was by bishop Tyge in Århus laid out to the canons in Århus after the church warden had killed the dean Ugot and thereby forfeited his jus patronus, which was confirmed in 1284 by the archbishop of Lund.

A place on a field, Søderup, in Hundslund parish is called Kirkegården. Here was once a church, Oldrup church, probably a Romanesque granite-ashlar church. In 1808 were still rests of the building, but there are no visible traces today.

Skablund was in 1542 owned by Rasmus Skade, who still lived in 1547. It was later owned by his son-in-law Niels Madsen  (+ 1566), whose son Mads Nielsen (Skade) in 1585 exchanged S. with mill to the Crown, which at once divided it in two farms and laid it under Åkær manor, from where it in 1661 was laid out to the heirs of Joachim Gersdorff.

Ovdrup was earlier a village of 3 farms and a water mill, Tuemølle. From 1772 a manor with various owners, in 1963 owned by M.P. and K.P. Overgaard.

On the east side of Sondrup Bavn was a sacred spring, which was said to lose its power when a man bathed his sick horse in it.  

A village, Møldrup (1384 Møllerup). disappeared in the Middle Ages.

 
Upon the hillside from Hundslund village, stretching to the east towards the Åkær-valley, lies by the country road Kærsgård Voldsted, a foursided, about 3,5 m high castle bank, which side at the foot of the hill measures about 25 m, on the top ab. 11 m, surrounded by a moat and a weak outer bank or dam, which is hidden to the south under the road dam. The moat is about 10 m broad, but more narrow to the east,where the outer dam is missing. At this side the farm building was possibly placed upon an rectangular flat place surounded by moats. Here are rests of monk bricks. The whole setion of this plan is disturbed by the country road. A spring did put the moats under water, they are now just swamps.

In 1947 Odder Museum started an examination of the top area of the castle bank, and in 1949 it was finished in co-operation with the National Museum. It was noted that a square halftimbered building had been placed on the top area , 6 x 6 m. Some kampestenssyldsten ( loose granite boulder foundation) were preserved, and it was obvious that the building had been destroyed by fire. Among some findings were ten coins, of which the earliest were from Christoffer II's rule. It is probable that the destruction of the castle must be connected to unrests before 1332.

Under the castle bank was a heavy stenkastning (a construction of loose stones)  and traces of pole holes down through the bank might suggest that the stones had supported the original wooden building of the bank, where the supporting poles continued up through the castle bank. This first wooden building was later replaced by the building, which rested upon the foundation of granite boulder stones.


There are no listed prehistorics in the parish, but there were 5 stone graves and 8 hills, of which two contained Stone Age's single graves with war axes.

Claypot graves from early Roman Iron Age were found at Oldrup and Østre Skovgård, the first contained one spur and a gold ring, another a bronze casserole.

Names from the Middle Ages: Hundslund (1264 Hunfund, 1285 Hunzlund); Oldrup (1384 Vldrup, 1408 Oldrup, 1488 Aldrup ); Hadrup (1488 Hardrup); Sødrup (1425 Søderup, 1534 Sødrup); Kærsgårde (1398 Kærsgard); Torup (1462 or 1472 Thoerup); Trustrup (1426 Thrudstrup); Svinballe (1398 Swinebaligh); Sondrup (1384 Sondrup); Tendrup (1534 Tærndrvp, Terustrup); Skablund (1438 Skoblingh); Ovdrup (1489 Ogedrup, 1534 Agdrup); Elkær (1534 Elker).

Source: Trap Danmark, Århus amt, 1963. 


photo Hundslund 2008: grethe bachmann