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Berritzgaard Manor House and Estate
My great-great grandfather, Peder Pedersen, was the Estate Gardner for this very large estate on the island of Lolland in Denmark. The estate can be traced back all the way to 1382, with its first owner, Markvard Pøiske. The present house, seen in the engraving from the 1800's and the photographs below from today, was built in 1586 by the Dutch architect Hans van Steenwinckel the Older and remains intact. The gardens were designed by Johan Christian Boas in the 1790's. Boas was a famous landscape architect, having designed many parks and estates in Denmark. He was employed as the Estate Gardner prior to Peder Pedersen.
In the 1860 Danish Census, Peder Pedersen is listed as living on the estate with his wife, Cecilie Jensen, and their five children. Among those children was the youngest, Peder Henrik Pedersen, who was probably born on the estate. He met his wife Elisabeth Dyrlund at a dance held on the estate. They emigrated to America in 1884 with their 1 year old son Holger, settling in Racine Wisconsin.
The estate has been owned by the Lehn Family since 1729, and is currently owned by Frederik Lensbaron Rosenørn-Lehn.
My great-great grandfather, Peder Pedersen, was the Estate Gardner for this very large estate on the island of Lolland in Denmark. The estate can be traced back all the way to 1382, with its first owner, Markvard Pøiske. The present house, seen in the engraving from the 1800's and the photographs below from today, was built in 1586 by the Dutch architect Hans van Steenwinckel the Older and remains intact. The gardens were designed by Johan Christian Boas in the 1790's. Boas was a famous landscape architect, having designed many parks and estates in Denmark. He was employed as the Estate Gardner prior to Peder Pedersen.
In the 1860 Danish Census, Peder Pedersen is listed as living on the estate with his wife, Cecilie Jensen, and their five children. Among those children was the youngest, Peder Henrik Pedersen, who was probably born on the estate. He met his wife Elisabeth Dyrlund at a dance held on the estate. They emigrated to America in 1884 with their 1 year old son Holger, settling in Racine Wisconsin.
The estate has been owned by the Lehn Family since 1729, and is currently owned by Frederik Lensbaron Rosenørn-Lehn.
Aerial View of the Berritzgaard Estate
The Estate Berritzgaard as it looks today
Back view of Berritzgaard
Side view of Berritzgaard
Detailed History of the Manor House of Berritzgaard
Originally there was a village called Berith situated where the house Berritzgaard now lies, with one farm that had grown large and dominant. A family named Poeiske owned it for generations but in the beginning of the 16th century the farm went through the distaff side to the family Huitfeldt. In the years up to 1586 Jacob Huitfeldt and his wife Lisebeth Friis built the present manor house that was constructed by Hans van Steenwinckel (the older). Lisebeth Friis was widowed before the house was finished in 1586.
The style of building is "Dutch Renaissance" and Berritzgaard is considered to be the most unspoiled example of a manor house from this style period in Denmark.
In 1654 Joachim Gersdorff, the widower after Oellegaard Huitfeldt, sold Berritzgaard to Hans Wilhelm von Harstall, who was "The Chosen Prince Christians" stable master. His son Christian Ulrich von Harstall became King Christian V's Master of the Royal Stables and was due to his good service given additional land for Berritzgaard - this was the only time in the history of Berritzgaard an expansion happened by a royal gift. After having entered widowhood his daughter sold Berritzgaard to Abraham Lehn (the younger) in 1729.
His son Poul A. Lehn erected - after having bought the Oreby estate in 1775 - the barony Guldborgland out of all of his possessions north-northwest of Sakskoebing.
Poul Lehn's only son out of four children lost - according to tradition - his young life when he fell out of a window on Berritzgaard without his nanny being able to prevent it, so Guldborgland later went to a daughter of one of Poul Lehn's daughters. She was Christiane Henriette von Barner, who after a short and very happy but childless marriage was widowed in 1811. In 1820 she remarried colonel Henrik Christian Rosenoern who a year later, due to his marriage to an owner of a barony, was created a baron with the name Rosenoern-Lehn. for him and his descendents to bear.
Originally there was a village called Berith situated where the house Berritzgaard now lies, with one farm that had grown large and dominant. A family named Poeiske owned it for generations but in the beginning of the 16th century the farm went through the distaff side to the family Huitfeldt. In the years up to 1586 Jacob Huitfeldt and his wife Lisebeth Friis built the present manor house that was constructed by Hans van Steenwinckel (the older). Lisebeth Friis was widowed before the house was finished in 1586.
The style of building is "Dutch Renaissance" and Berritzgaard is considered to be the most unspoiled example of a manor house from this style period in Denmark.
In 1654 Joachim Gersdorff, the widower after Oellegaard Huitfeldt, sold Berritzgaard to Hans Wilhelm von Harstall, who was "The Chosen Prince Christians" stable master. His son Christian Ulrich von Harstall became King Christian V's Master of the Royal Stables and was due to his good service given additional land for Berritzgaard - this was the only time in the history of Berritzgaard an expansion happened by a royal gift. After having entered widowhood his daughter sold Berritzgaard to Abraham Lehn (the younger) in 1729.
His son Poul A. Lehn erected - after having bought the Oreby estate in 1775 - the barony Guldborgland out of all of his possessions north-northwest of Sakskoebing.
Poul Lehn's only son out of four children lost - according to tradition - his young life when he fell out of a window on Berritzgaard without his nanny being able to prevent it, so Guldborgland later went to a daughter of one of Poul Lehn's daughters. She was Christiane Henriette von Barner, who after a short and very happy but childless marriage was widowed in 1811. In 1820 she remarried colonel Henrik Christian Rosenoern who a year later, due to his marriage to an owner of a barony, was created a baron with the name Rosenoern-Lehn. for him and his descendents to bear.
Actually the house had not been completely unused during all 160 years as it was taken out of its idleness during the wars. Such as in 1864 it was used as a hospital during the Danish-Prussian War, and just after the First World War its was used as refugee camp. In 1940-43 the Danish army had a garrison there that was taken over by the German occupation forces 1943-45 and from 1945 to 1949 the house and gardens was used as a big refugee camp for East German refugees. In the 1950's, a small carpet factory was opened.
One of the larger known renovations of Berritzgaard was in the 1890's where the existing leaded lights "a la Rosenborg Castle" (Copenhagen) originate from and where the windows on the first floor were shortened so they would "stand" on the decorative limestone border which is set into the redbrick wall all around the house. On this occasion it seems as several blinded windows were re-established.
In the 1950's the public road "Kogangen" was moved from its immediate position north of the house to its present southern between the house and the farm-building complex thus combining the gardens north and south of the house in complete privacy.
At the same occasion the fragmented moat system was cleaned up - and extended - when a new moat was dug where the public road had run, thus combining the fragments.
In the same period the old baroque garden north of the house was cleared of younger avenues and a fruit garden thus making room for the original double driveway avenue of lime trees planted sometimes in mid-18th century. This avenue frames the garden room beautifully and by making a "false" perspective gives an impression of a far view in an otherwise completely flat landscape.
The tiled roof was restored in the middle of the 1970's and in the past 30 years the house has been fully restored all in respect of the national listing that the house is placed under.
Taken from the archived website www.berritzgaard.dk - archived at http://web.archive.org
The Oreby Estate on the bay
Christiane Henriette had previously decided to move the headquarters of the barony to the more beautifully situated Oreby and to restore the rather run down castle there. To carry this out Poul Lehn's will, in which he had set a considerable sum of money aside to restore Berritzgaard's big detached wing, had to be changed. This was successful and Berritzgaard was abandoned in 1810 as living quarters for its owners and was - so to say - "put into mothballs" for the next 160 years. The house was left only partly furnished, now and then occupied by staff in the lower part of the house. The run down wing that was supposed to be restored was instead demolished altogether, and Hans van Steenwinckel's fine house was allowed to stand untouched by changing architectural fashions, only kept in repair on "the climate shield" until 1970 where Christiane Henriette's great great grandchild (the present owner) made the house to his private home and a general restoring and refurnishing of the house took its start.