Katholm Castle

Katholm Castle is a manor house located on the Djursland peninsula, six km south of Grenaa, in western Denmark. Built in the Renaissance style from 1588 to 1591 and expanded in 1622, it is set on a castle bank in the middle of an artificial lake in a forested area. Wilhelm Dinesen, father of writer Karen Blixen, spent his childhood years at Katholm.

History

Katholm traces its history as a farm back to the 15th century and was in 1545 turned into a manor house by Christian Fasti. His son, Thomas Fasti, began the construction of today's castle with the completion of the east wing in 1588 and the north wing in 1591. Thomas Fasti died in 1600 but his widow Christence Bryske continued to live at Katholm until her own death in 1611. They are buried in a chapel at the local Alsø church.

Changing owners

Christence Bryske's brother inherited the estate after his sister but when he died a few years later it was passed on to his two sons, Gert and Truid. However, they encountered economic difficulties and in 1616 sold Katholm to Albret Skeel who was appointed Admiral of the Realm and admitted into the Privy Council that same year. He expanded the complex with a low west wing (1622) as well as a large farm south of the house. The estate remained in the possession of the Skeel family for the next few generations but in 1681 Albret Skeel's granddaughter married Jens Maltesen Sehested and when she died in 1684 he bought out his mother in law as well as his brother in law, Christian Reedtz.

In 1690, Katholm was acquired by Palle Krag who had recently married Helle Nielsdatter Trolle, a wealthy widow. A skilled soldier, Krag had distinguished himself in the Scanian War and would later do so again in the Great Northern War.

Palle Krag and Helle Trolle had no children and when Krag died in 1723, one year after his wife, Katholm was sold to Major-General Poul Rosenørn. After his death in 1737, Katholm was passed on to his widow, Mette, née Benzon, and their son Peder Rosenørn. The last Rosenørn to own Katholm...