Vallø Castle
Danish manor house, home for noble women since 1737.
Vallø Castle, a manor house on the Danish island of Zealand, sits about 7 kilometers south of Køge in Køge Municipality. Today, it functions as a residence for the Vallø Foundation, which provides a home for women of noble birth who are unmarried, widowed, or divorced.
The estate’s history goes back to the 1300s. Between 1554 and 1651, it was split into two separate properties: Vallø and Lellingegård. King Frederick IV bought Vallø in 1708 and gave it to Anne Sophie Reventlow in 1712. Later, in 1731, King Christian VI passed it to Queen Sophia Magdalene, who in 1737 established the Noble Vallø Foundation for Unmarried Noblewomen.
The castle is made up of four wings with sturdy towers, all surrounded by a moat. Mette Rosenkrantz, one of Denmark’s wealthiest women at the time, built the south wing and the southern part of the west wing between 1580 and 1586, complete with robust corner towers. During Christen Skeel’s ownership (1638–1659), the castle was raised to three stories and the west wing was lengthened. Johan Cornelius Krieger added the north wing in 1721. In the courtyard, Lauritz de Thurah designed a three-winged building constructed from 1735 to 1738. The surviving central wing was given an extra floor by Georg David Anthon in 1765. A fire devastated the castle in 1893, but it was largely restored to its original design by Hans Jørgen Holm between 1893 and 1904.
The park was transformed into a Romantic landscape garden in 1830, though it still keeps features from the earlier French gardens of the 1720s. A large flower park was started in 1960 but later removed. Next to the castle and its park, a cluster of historic houses lines a street called Vallø Castle Street. The Vallø Castle Inn received a royal privilege in 1784. The estate also owns various other houses scattered across the surrounding countryside.
The Vallø Foundation still owns the estate, which covers 4,109 hectares, including 1,860 hectares of woodland. Income comes from agriculture, forestry, house rentals, the inn, a campground near Køge, and leasing hunting areas. The castle continues to house women of the Danish nobility, and since 1976, admission has been open to widows and divorced women as well as unmarried ones.
The foundation has its own churchyard.
Quick Facts
- Location
- Stevns Municipality
- Location Country
- Denmark
- Construction Start Date
- 1579
- Completion Date
- 1904
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Vallø traces its history back to the 14th century. From 1554 to 1651 it was divided into two separate estates, Vallø and Lellingegård. In 1708 Vallø was acquired by King Frederick IV who gave it to Anne Sophie Reventlow in 1712. In 1731 King Christian VI passed the property on to Queen Sophia Magdalene who in 1737 founded the Noble Vallø Foundation for Unmarried Noblewomen.
The building consists of four wings with robust towers and is surrounded by a moat. The south wing, with its robust corner towers, and the south end of the west wing were built from 1580 to 1586 by Mette Rosenkrantz.
Reader's Guide
Vallø Castle is significant as a historic manor house that has continuously served as a residence for women of the Danish nobility since the founding of the Noble Vallø Foundation in 1737. Originally established for unmarried daughters, the foundation expanded in 1976 to also admit widows and divorced women. The castle's architecture reflects several centuries of building and renovation, including work by notable Danish architects such as Johan Cornelius Krieger, Lauritz de Thurah, and Hans Jørgen Holm. The estate covers over 4,100 hectares and generates revenue from agriculture, forestry, house rental, an inn, a campground, and hunting areas. Vallø has also been used as a filming location for several Danish films and television series, including the 1965 drama 'Gertrud' and the TV2 series 'Badehotellet'. Its churchyard contains burials of several notable figures, including a Danish princess and various writers and politicians.
Did You Know?
- Vallø was divided into two separate estates, West Vallø and East Vallø, from 1554 to 1651.
- The castle was devastated by fire in 1893 but restored largely to its old design between 1893 and 1904.
- Since 1976, admission to the residences is not restricted to unmarried women but also covers widows and divorced women.
- Vallø was used as a location in the 1965 drama film 'Gertrud' and the 1978 Olsen-banden film 'The Olsen Gang Sees Red'.
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