About Rosenholm Castle and the Rosenkrantz family

Rosenholm Castle is one of the most magnificent and picturesque Danish manor houses. Since its foundation in 1559, Rosenholm has been in the possession of the noble family Rosenkrantz, making it Denmark's oldest family manor.

Read about the construction of the castle, the Rosenkrantz family and more

Rosenholm Castle is built in an early Renaissance style (Gothic Renaissance), the years of construction are 1559 - ca. 1610. Jørgen Rosenkrantz starts by digging the moat and building the east wing. The castle is built in several stages in a trapezoidal shape. The distinctive gables help to give the buildings a uniform look. The east wing is the first to be built. It is the tallest of the four wings and is flanked by two dome-shaped towers. The remarkable thing about this wing is that it was originally built with an open loggia (colonnade) facing the courtyard. However, it was quickly bricked up - probably after the first cold Danish winter. Still, you have to admire that the architect was able to sell the idea of an open loggia to Danish knight Jørgen. Standing in the courtyard, you can still clearly see where the openings used to be.

The west wing is inspired by French Renaissance architecture with a strong articulation of the house. The pavilions use the same type of gables as the east wing, which helps to tie the house together. Later, the north wing was built and towards the courtyard, the master builder gave it a special touch - a masonry band in a pattern similar to herringbone. With the construction of the south wing in around 1610, the castle was complete. Rosenholm Castle Chapel is a private church located at Rosenholm Castle. The church was decorated in 1604 by the scholar Holger Rosenkrantz. It was one of the earliest private house chapels in Denmark, otherwise only seen in royal castles.

Knight Erik of Hevringholm is said to have travelled to Rome around 1350 and received the rosary from the Pope, which later gave the family its name. (The rosary is not depicted in the coat of arms itself, but is placed as a wreath in the horns of the helmet that is often shown in connection with the coat of arms.) However, the family name only became common in 1524, following Frederik I's decree to adopt fixed family names.
From the end of the 15th century, the family was an integral part of the political elite in Denmark and is one of the families that has supplied the most members to the Danish Parliament and other leading positions in political life. From the early childhood of Christian IV until he came of age, it was Jørgen Rosenkrantz (1523-1596) who, along with two other noble families, played a crucial role in the governance of Denmark.
Jørgen Rosenkrantz was the person who started the establishment of Rosenholm in 1559. His son Holger (1572 - 1642), also known as "learned Holger", is probably one of the most famous members of the family. In addition to being prime minister for a time, a leading cultural personality, he educated the sons of other noble families at his small university in the park called "Pirkentavl". The small pavilion is considered the first university in Jutland. It is difficult to describe the development of the family throughout history in a few words, but it is characteristic that the Rosenkrantzes continued to hold important and political offices right up until the last century. The last important position was held by county baron, chamberlain, master hunter Hans Carl Oluf Rosenkrantz (1870 - 1936), who served as director of the National Bank.

Some Danes may have wondered why Shakespeare in Hamlet mainly uses Greek names such as Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia etc. since the play is set in Denmark. However, two Danish noble families have crept into the cast: Rosencrantz and Gyldenstierne, which has made these two family names internationally famous.
According to the family chronicle, this is because the two young gentlemen were on a study tour in England when Shakespeare wrote his famous tragedy. Here they met the great author at an inn, and after many filled goblets had been duly emptied, Shakespeare had the idea to move the story from Greece to the strange and apparently rather gloomy Denmark.

The Gyldenstiernes room, which used to be Rosenholm's most stately guest room, got its name because the Gyldenstiernes, from the neighbouring estate Møllerup, stayed here when they spent the night at Rosenholm. (It is also the room that is most visited by ghosts. In the old days, unwanted guests were often put in this room to make sure they got rid of them. They always left the next day).

Throughout the more than 400 years the castle has existed and housed many generations of characters, it has also been surrounded by legends and old tales of hauntings.

An old prediction
According to a prophecy, the Rosenkrantz family will never die out. It was predicted that the castle's ancestor, Privy Councillor Jørgen Rosenkrantz, that if he erected his castle in the swamp where it now stands, his family would endure forever. Throughout the more than 400 years the castle has existed and housed many generations of destinies, it has also been surrounded by legends and old tales of hauntings. The Gyldenstiernes room, which in the old days was Rosenholm's most stately guest room, got its name because the Gyldenstiernes, from the neighbouring estate Møllerup, stayed here when they spent the night at Rosenholm. This room is also the most visited by ghosts.
In the old days, unwanted guests were put in this room and if it wasn't a Guildenstian, they always left the next day.

The white lady
During Hans Henrik Rosenkrantz's time, many of the rooms at Rosenholm were renovated. Among them was the Tower Room, where a gruesome discovery was made during the renovation. To the north, there is an old window niche in the wall. The bricked-up window can still be seen from the outside. During the renovation, it was discovered that the closing of the window had been done rather carelessly, so it was decided to demolish it and then brick it up again. It turned out that there was a narrow cavity in the wall that contained a female skeleton. This part of the story is actually quite true. But who this woman was who met such an unfortunate end is not known for sure. But the following legends are associated with it.
According to tradition, the story dates back to the 18th century. The main features of the story are also known from legends at other manor houses, and you could almost call it a classic. A Baroness Rosenkrantz had fallen in love with the steward over at the barnyard, and that sort of thing couldn't be helped.

...and the headless knight
The passion turned out to be mutual. The relationship was kept hidden for a long time, but when the young baroness accidentally became pregnant, the father couldn't help but realise the mistake. He was furious and made short work of it. The steward had to be beheaded, but before that he had to be knighted, because you couldn't have a man outside the ranks as the father of a noblewoman's child. The baron wanted to conduct the knighting himself and the ceremony was held in the castle courtyard. Three times the lord touched the steward's shoulder with a large two-handed sword. As the steward was now a huge man, the lord resolutely cut off his head. The unfortunate baroness did not have a milder fate. She was walled up alive in the old window niche of the tower room, where she suffered a horrible death by starvation (this was a common sanction at the time for young noblewomen who had had lewd relations with the opposite sex).
It is said that the Baroness returns at nightfall. At midnight, the tapestry on the north wall begins to flicker. From here she steps out of the wall and moves towards the door to the White Hallway. In the middle of the corridor she meets the headless knight, the steward she couldn't get.