Historic Scope, Elegance and Comfort

To anyone with but a stitch of interest in history or a weakness for romantic nostalgia a visit to Broholm Manor is a captivating odyssey through almost 700 years of Danish history during which 29 kings and one reigning queen were actors or supernumeraries in the lineage saga of the Ulfeldts, Skeels and Sehesteds. Unlike large castles, Broholm is pleasingly uncompli­cated, and in the halls and lounges, which are all different and authen­tically furnished, guests will promptly feel at ease.

With 1,500 acres of land, the manor is still a private farming and forestry estate, but the main building and the quaint museum containing some 60,000 prehistoric flints are open to the public during guided tours or serve either as beautiful and romantic banquet rooms or distinguished and inspiring meeting facilities.

After a quiescent century following the loss of peerage rights, Broholm was thoroughly restored and modernized in 2002 for the purpose of accommodating guests seeking choice facilities for private parties, man­agement and board meetings, brainstorm­ing sessions or a quiet country retreat stay.

Picturesquely surrounded by park, lake and twin moats, Broholm is located on the island of Fyn (Funen) immediately to the west of the Nyborg-Svendborg high­way (#163) between the villages of Hesselager and Oure. Chamberlain N.F.B. Sehested’s prehistoric museum stands next to the lake. Recently, it was donated to the local District Museum.

The history of Broholm is documented from 1326 when a great grandchild of the brother of Copenhagen’s founder, a noble­man named Absalon Johnsen. of the ancient Ulfeldt clan, moved into Broholm. His descendants kept it till 1473. During Denmark’s last civil war, 1533-36, known as the Count's Feud, many old castles were demolished, but thanks to its wide twin moats Broholm escapes this fate and, in 1641, is purchased by another peer, Otte Skeel, incidentally, the only time it has ever been traded. With this takeover Broholm’s mediaeval era is over as Lord Skeel tears down the dilapidated castle and builds the present manor as one of Den­mark’s few Late-Gothic buildings. however endowed with typical Renaissance characte­ristics such as, for example, the staircase tower and the symmetrically placed windows. In 1730 the Sehested family takes over when lieutenant colonel Niels Sehested marries the widowed Elisabeth Skeel — and the 13th generation of his descendants is still here.

Broholm’s Interior

Each and every room at Broholm tells its own story through countless family portraits on the walls — painted between 1600 and mid 1900 — of members of the Skeel and Sehested families. The furnishings, the floors and the paneling also speak clearly of centuries of manor life — in war and peace — with agriculture, industry, politics and community development. With names such as the Well Hall, the Fireplace Hall, the Piano Parlour, the Chamberlain’s Office, Her Ladyship’s Cabinet, the Chinese Dining Room, and the Thorvaldsen Hall there is plenty of food for thought in a home that over the years contributed generously to the development of the world’s oldest kingdom.

The Chamberlain’s Stone Age Museum

The Gudme district surrounding Broholm is thought to be the cradle of Denmark, and Broholm’s land has willingly surrendered thousands of prehistoric finds. Chamberlain Niels Frederik Bernhard Sehested who owned Broholm from 1839-82, had a lifelong interest in prehistoric times, but it was not until late in life that he found adequate time for his hobby.  When he finally did he excavated with an almost manic fervor and, as a conclusion, he also designed and built a private museum — the first Danish building constructed for museum purposes - to house his prehistoric collection. The quaint construction still stands next to the moat and holds some 60,000 meticulously arranged tools from the Stone Age. The museum is open to the public at certain times the year or upon appointment.