HISTORY
Egeskov Castle, the house as we see it today, was built by Frands Brockenhuus and was completed in 1554. A few years prior to this, he had married Anne Tinhuus who had taken over the original estate from her parents.
In those days, political unrest, the Reformation and the Counts' Feud caused many landowners to build their houses as well-protected castles, and Frands Brockenhuus was no exception. He built his castle in the middle of a lake on a foundation of oak pilings, according to legend, in such quantities that "it took an oak forest to do it".
The building, which looks so peaceful and idyllic to today's visitors was built for defence purposes. It consists of two long houses connected by a thick double wall - the first house could be abandoned and the fight continued from the second house. The double wall is so thick, it contains hidden stairs and a well to secure a water supply during a siege. The outer walls have machicolations for dropping solids or liquids on the enemy and embrasures, and the enemy's flank could be shot at from the towers. In addition, the only access to the house was across the drawbridge.
In the more than 400 years that have passed since it was built, various families have lived in the castle. In 1784, Egeskov was sold to Henrik Bille whose descendants have owned the castle ever since. In 1883, Julius Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille moved into Egeskov and, during his time at the castle, it was restored by Helgo Zettervall, a Swedish architect, who also made the tower roofs higher, re-established the corbie gables and built the gatehouse you pass through when visiting the castle.
Gardens and lands
Other buildings belonging to Egeskov include Ladegården, 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 (bondehave). The gardens also feature four hedge mazes. The oldest is a beech maze several hundreds of years old. This garden is trimmed every year to prevent the trees from dying. 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. 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.
During this period, the castle was developed into an up-to-date model farm with its own dairy, power station and railway track to Kværndrup, and this formed the economic basis for the large, modern farm that Egeskov is to this day.
The park has been open to the public for several generations and has remained unchanged since 1959 when restoration of the historic grounds commenced.
ARCHITECTURE
Outside, the castle is a Late Gothic building. Inside the original elements already show Renaissance design.
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 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.
FACTS ABOUT EGESKOV
Egeskov Estate: 1,150 ha.
Castle and park: 20 ha.
Number of rooms in the castle: 66
Number of windows in the castle: 200
Number of panes of glass in the castle: 2,062
Number of bathrooms in the castle: 6
Number of doors in the castle: 171
The depth of the moat max.: 5 metres
Number of mazes: 2
The age of the hedges max.: 280 years
The height of the hedges max.: 8 metres
Fuchsia, number of varieties in the garden: 1.375
Tree Top Walking, length: 100 metres
Tree Top Walking, height: 15 metres
Number of employees on the estate in season: 120
Veteran Car Museum, large effects: 350
Museum exhibition area: 10,000 m2
Museum, elevation to ceiling max.: 20 metres
CURRENT SITUATION
Egeskov is home to the following museums.
- A vintage automobile collection
- A vintage motorcycle collection
- A collection describing the history of agriculture
- A collection of flying vehicles
- A collection of Falck and other emergency vehicles
Most of the castle is open to the public, except for the areas used by Count Michael and Countess Caroline Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille. The museum of agriculture and the horse wagon collection is located in the building Ladegård mentioned previously.
Three large modern buildings are occupied by the vintage automobile collection, the vintage motorcycle collection, the Falck collection, and by a collection of airplanes and helicopters. The Falck collection is a collection of vehicles from the Danish rescue company, Falck, emergency vehicles such as fire trucks, ambulances, rescue boats, and other assorted emergency vehicles.
