Kjærstrup

History

Kjærstrup is among the oldest manors on Lolland, originally situated in a village of the same name that vanished early in the Middle Ages. The earliest recorded owner was Anders Siundesen Mule in 1368. For many generations the estate belonged to the Gøye family; the last of that line was Henning Gøye, who had studied abroad for eight years, including in Wittenberg, and married Anne Skram, daughter of Peder Skram.

The couple had no children, so upon Gøye's death in 1617 the property passed to his sister-in-law, Karen Skram, widow of Laurids Brockenhuus of Bramstrup and Egeskov. Subsequent owners included Palle Rosenkrantz and Christen Skeel. In 1720 Frederick IV acquired Kjærstrup and incorporated it into the Lolland Cavalry District. When the cavalry district was dissolved in 1725, the land was divided and sold at public auction.

Raben family

Emerentia Raben, née von Levetzau, widow of Johan Otto Raben, purchased Kjærstrup, Aalholm and Bremersvold. She immediately transferred Kjærstrup and Bremersvold to her son-in-law Niels Rosenkrantz Schack, with the condition that the estates would revert to the Raben family if his marriage to Sophie Hedewig Raben produced no children. Upon her death in 1746, Kjærstrup and Bremersvold went to her son Christian Frederik Raben, who built a new main building on the foundations of the Gøye family's structures.

Sophus Frederik Raben-Levetzau inherited the estates in 1820 but died eight years later. His widow, Charlotte Emerentia Rosenkrantz-Huitfeldt, managed them with help from her nephew, baron Gottlob Rosenkrantz. Her wish to endow the estates to the nephew sparked a legal dispute with the Raben family that remained unresolved at her death in 1843. Two Supreme Court rulings in 1844 and 1850 awarded both estates to the Raben family.

Later history

In 1852 Kjærstrup was again sold at public auction, this time to a consortium that sold it the following year to David Peter Friderichsen after first selling the copyholds to the copyholders. Friderichsen managed the estate skillfully. His son Mathias Wilhjelm Friderichsen sold the estate in 1851 to Lennart Wilhelm Sponneck, who in 1972 sold it to Esper Boel.

Did You Know?

• The vaulted cellars date from circa 1540.
• The tower on the facade was built under supervision of architect Ove Petersen.
• The home farm and bridge across the eastern moat were built circa 1910.