Posted by On the eastern end of Møn you find an old castle called Liselund. The island of Møn used to belong to the king including all the farms and the land on the island. But in 1777 a French-Dutch Huguenots family de la Calmette managed to purchase a manor house called Marienborg. Marienborg didn’t actually have any significant house on the building so one needed to be made.
The Calmette family bought a small forest in the area as well and decided to make a romantic castle as a country estate. The old castle at the estate is actually quite small – not much different from a large ordinary old farm house. But in addition to the old castle is several small pleasure buildings spread across a large park area.
It is easy to see how the family would enjoy the large garden and the many small buildings spread around the garden. The small castle is located at the southern end of the park area on a little hill which gives it a great view of the park.
The castle was used by the original owner and his son and wife for a while during this period the family had some of the most important cultural personalities visiting the castle. The guest included Adams Oehlenshläger a famous poet, the sculptor Thorvaldsen who got a museum in Copenhagen and Hans Christian Andersen. Unfortunately the family could keep the castle since the son went bankrupt and the castle was sold to a friend of the family. The new owners realized the small castle was impractical so they decided to build a new large castle on the land.
After a couple of more generation it turned out the upkeep of the castle was too expensive for the family who gave up the castle and donated it to a foundation which would give access to the castle. The foundation had the responsibility for the maintenance of the castle and park for the next 60 years – but in the end they couldn’t fund the large cost of maintenance. The castle was given to the National Museum of Denmark who now has the responsibility of maintaining the park and the buildings. This is fortunate since it secures public free access to the garden so you can enjoy walking around the area.
If you want a closer look at the park you can actually spend a night at the Liselund new castle since it has been transformed into a hotel.
FrejaTravels 