Visit Harridslevgaard Castle

Harritslevgaard or Harridslevgaard? The castle name is spelled in different ways, but it is pronounced the same way. We spell it the Funen way, so we say Harridslevgaard. The castle was once a manor house, which with the name Hareslæf in the Danish Census Book in 1231 was recorded as being part of the king's property. Haræslef belonged to the Crown until 1560 - with a few exceptions - so Denmark's old kings and queens have also been able to live here. We know the old Viking hero Palnatoke lived here in the 10th century. However, the old medieval castle is no longer here. It was demolished when the king's adviser Breide Rantzau bought the manor in 1589, he built the beautiful Renaissance castle which you can see today. The current building is from 1606.

Breide Rantzau's son Cai inherited Harritslevgård, and after Cai Rantzau's death, his widow Anne Lykke was the owner of the manor. She had a relationship with a prince - the eldest son of King Christian the 4th. The king was not thrilled about that - Anne Lykke was, among other things. accused of being in contact with a witch and imprisoned. However, she escaped, married a new husband and lived here for years. Harritslevgaard had different owners, before Christiane Hoppe in 1740 inherited the castle from her husband and built Denmark's largest stud farm, a dairy, a beautiful garden and a very successful farm. After Christiane's time, however, things went worse for the changing owners, who sold more and more parts of the land. In 1829, the manor was placed under the Gyldensteen Estate. The estate later sold the castle itself, but still owns land and some of the buildings. The castle is owned by the Schimko family today.