Kalø Castle

Kalø Castle
	Kalø Slotsruin
Creation time :	1313
Castle type :	Niederungsburg
Conservation status:	ruin
Standing position :	High nobility
Place:	Syddjurs
Geographical location	56 ° 16 '28 " N , 10 ° 28' 2" E Coordinates: 56 ° 16 '28 " N , 10 ° 28' 2" E

Kalø Castle ( Danish : Kalø Slot or Kalø Slotsruin ) is the ruin of a medieval castle on the Danish island of Kalø .

In the summer of 2015, the nature authority rebuilt the castle ruins for visitors by adding a staircase to a lookout point in the tower of the complex. All fixtures were made in such a way that the original condition can be restored without any problems.

geography

The castle is located in Kalø Vig , about two kilometers from Rønde in the municipality of Syddjurs in the Midtjylland region , on the island of Kalø, which is connected to the mainland by a dam .

history

The construction of the castle was started in 1313 by King Erik IV Menved as one of at least four castles on Jutland, which should fortify and demonstrate the newly strengthened royal power after the fall of revolts. His successor Christoph II. Had in his hand festivals promise to tear down the castle, but they rebuilt it. Christoph pledged large parts of his empire to Gert von Holstein , who passed Kalø on to his henchman Claus Limbek. The castle remained pledge for various lenders until Queen Margaret I redeemed it in 1407. In the following centuries Kalø remained in the possession of the crown and was given as a fief to important nobles, mostly from the Rosenkrantz family .

In 1518 King Christian II had six Swedish hostages held here by the feudal man Erik Eriksen Banner (1484–1554), who had to be brought to him by the Swedish ruler Sten Sture the Younger , including the later King Gustav I Wasa . Gustav Wasa managed to escape to Lübeck in 1519 . Banner later belonged to the nobles who in 1534 voted for the evangelical Duke Christian III. supported the Danish king and stood on his side in the count feud . In 1574 Holger Rosenkrantz was born on Kalø Slot as the son of the then liege lord Jørgen Ottesen Rosenkrantz. Later only his son-in-law, Chancellor Christen Thomesen Sehested (1590–1657) and, until 1661, his sons Gunde and Erik were feudal lords on Kalø.

In 1661 Ulrich Friedrich Gyldenlöwe (1638–1704) received the castle and land as a wedding present when he married Marie Grubbe (1643–1717). After their divorce in 1670, both fell back to the crown. In 1690 Conrad von Reventlow (1644–1708) received the fief, whose descendants kept the castle and land until 1800. In 1800 the merchant Morten Friderich Leemeyer bought it. The facility was becoming increasingly dilapidated. In 1828 the Hamburg merchant Martin Johann Jenisch the Younger (1793–1857) bought her from Leemeyer's widowed daughter-in-law. Like all German landowners in Denmark, the Jenisch family was expropriated in 1945. The castle has belonged to the Danish state since then and is open to visitors.

In addition to the ruins of the castle - essentially the foundations as well as some higher walls and the remainder of a main tower - the ramparts on the island of Kalø are clearly visible.