Gjedsergaard

History

Gjedsergaard came into being in 1766, when King Christian VII auctioned off most of the crown’s holdings on Falster to help pay down Denmark’s national debt. The estate went to Gustav Frederik Holck-Winterfeldt, whose parents were Count Christian Christopher Holck and Ermegaard Sophie von Winterfeldt. He was also brother to Conrad Holck, a favorite of the king, as well as Margrethe Holck and Flemming Holck. Holck tried but failed to enlarge the property by buying more land.

When his older brother Flemming died without children in 1772, Holck inherited the Barony of Vintersborg on Lolland, leading him to sell Gedsergård the next year. The buyer was Niels Frederiksen Amager, the local pastor of Skelby parish. Amager passed away in 1781, and his heirs sold the estate in 1784 to Jakob Melsing and Johan Christian Friis; at the same time, some tenant farms were sold off to the farmers who worked them. After Melsing died in 1789, Friis became the sole owner.

Friis family

He built Friisenfeldt on the land, bought the farm Nøjsomhed, and gradually combined the remaining tenant farms into larger units. In 1811, Friis sold Gjedsergaard and its associated farms to his son Christian Frederik Friis. Christian Frederik Friis died in 1845, and his widow sold the estate in 1847 to Edward Tesdorpf of Orupgård. Tesdorpf upgraded the dairy and started the drainage of Bøtø Nor.

Tesdorpf family

Following his death in 1889, Gedsergaard and Pandebjerg went to his son Adolph Valdemar Tesdorpf, who had been running the sugar refinery in Nykøbing Falster since 1884. He also inherited an estate in East Prussia, owned Rudbjerggård on Lolland for a time, and later acquired Bonderup in 1900, Ny Kirstinebjerg in 1908, and Gjorslev in 1925. After Adolph Valdemar Tesdorpf died in 1929, his widow sold Gjedsergaard along with Friisenfeldt and Ludvigsgave to his son Axel Tesdorpf. When Axel died in 1964, his daughter Ida Merete Emmy Tesdorpf took over the estate.

Architecture

The main building was built by Gustav Frederik Holck-Winterfeldt in 1767. It is a relatively modest, single-storey structure with a cellar. A two-storey, canted projection containing the main entrance was added in the late 18th century, and a gabled dormer overlooking the garden was added on the rear side. These alterations accentuate the building's asymmetry, which also follows from the window placement.

The main building was refurbished and partly adapted in 1872, and again in 1944 under architect C. F. Dam. A parallel building called Kavalerfløjen stands across the courtyard. The main wing may originally have been intended as part of a larger three-winged complex whose main wing was never built, though the two-parallel-building layout is also known from other contemporary houses. Tesdorpf constructed a new farm building complex northwest of Kavalerfløjen between 1872 and 1883. Two buildings flanking the avenue approach, built as staff residences, date from the late 19th century.

Did You Know?

• The estate covers 888 hectares, of which 404 hectares belong to Gjedsergaard.
• The current owner is Iver Alex Tesdorpf Unsgaard.