Dragsholm Castle

The Dragsholm Castle (Danish: drag spar slot) is a castle in the Danish municipality Odsherred municipality on the island of Zealand.

Location

The of a small forest and a park surrounded palace complex lies south of the town Vindekilde, east of the Kattegat bay belonging Nekselø Bugt at the address Dragsholm Allé, 4534 Hørve. South of the palace runs the drag spar channel. The castle is now used as a hotel, restaurant and farm shop. In addition, located on the site of a horse-drawn carriage museum.

History

The plant originated from the period around 1200 as a fortress of the Bishop of Roskilde Peter Sunesen. This makes it the oldest secular building in Denmark. In the Middle Ages the fortress was the strongest in the country and also served as a prison. Celebrity prisoner was the Jarl of Bothwell, the mentally ill, died in the castle in 1578 after five years of captivity. The fort was located in the region of the isthmus, over which the Odsherreds peninsula could be achieved. With the draining of Lammefjord in the 19th century, this isthmus no longer exists today, however. The isthmus was called Draget. The name of the castle means as much as the spar on Draget.

From the castle with military importance, the system developed to the existing baroque palace today.

The diplomat and statesman Friedrich Christian Ferdinand of Pechlin (1789-1863) died in the castle.