Gammelhaven – home of an old castle

In the middle of the lake Fussing Sø in East Jutland you find a little peninsula. The peninsula used to be the home of the castle Fussingø which were constructed in 1555 by Albert Skeel to be a safe home to his family. During this period of the Danish history there was a lot of unrest and frequent wars so the family needed a place they could defend in case of war or a rebellion by their peasants.

The location was ideal – back when the castle was originally build it was located on a small island inside the lake – hence it was difficult for anybody to attack the castle and the family would have a safe haven during times of unrest.

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Times changed after a while and Denmark became a safer place for the rich families. The Skeel family decided to take advantage of this a move the location of the estate from this small island to a location a bit further inland. The old castle was torn down and forgotten but the foundation was left behind. Over time the foundation was hidden by the dirt and forgotten – but eventually it was decided to do some excavation to rediscover the foundation so today you can see it in the middle of the peninsula.

The peninsula used to have a little park around the castle and fortunately parts of the old park has survived so there are long stretched of old trees on the peninsula in what used to be a park. Other people seem to take advantage of the park as well – there is a couple who have decided to use the area for their wedding ceremony – fortunately for them the unpredictable Danish weather was nice and sunny today.

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The park is open to the public since the family who used to own the castle married a German family and the owners of the castle lived in Holstein in Germany. In 1947 a law had been passed which confiscated property owned by Germans and Japanese. The family lost the castle and it has remained the property of the Danish government ever since then.