Egeskov Castle

On Saturday, Mary and I took the train, with our bicycles, to Egeskov Castle.  It is about a 30 minute  train ride, with a 1 1/2 mile bicycle ride from the train station to the castle.

It was the perfect day for the trip, blue skies, sunny and cool.

First, the history lesson.

The castle was first built in 1554, by Count Frands Brockenhuus.  It consists of two longhouses joined by a meter thick double wall.

In 1884 Egeskov was altered to its present form.  The castle was opened to the public in 1960 to raise funds for its upkeep.  Count Claus Ahlefeld-Laurvig-Bille and his family have lived there since 1986.

There is a moat surrounding the castle, like any self respecting castle should have!

Believe it or not, the castle's foundation is oak poles! Egeskov is Danish for "Oak Wood".  Recently, the water level of the moat was going down, threatening to expose the wood, but it is back up to normal now.

This is going to be a two part Blog.  The castle and gardens were incredible.  This first entry will focus on that.  The second entry, next week, will focus on the car and motorcycle collection housed on the grounds of Egeskov.  Yes, cars and motorcycles!!

Mary and I caught the train in Odense that would take us to Kværdrup, the closest town to the Castle.

Speeding to our destination!

Kværdrup

Mary getting off the train

There is a special car for people with bicycles

The train station

2 Kilometers to the Castle from the train station

The entrance House to the Castle

Egeskov Castle

Baby Carriages "waiting" outside the Castle.  There were no babies in these!

In front of the castle

We went inside the castle and started our tour with the "Hunting Room"  There were Lions and Tigers and Bears,  Well, not really, but there were Lions and Water Buffaloes and Impalas, the list went on and on.  Big game hunting in Africa was the thing to do in the 1800's

This was interesting.  All of these animals had been shot with a Bow and Arrow.  Each had an arrow thru it on the wall

This Water Buffalo was shot in Kenya in 1937

The walls of the castle are over a meter thick

All castles need suits of Armour!

Living quarters

Heating each room was done with ornate wood stoves

The music room

All the beds in the castle showed how short people were in the 1800s

There was a giant doll house called "Queen Titania's Palace", built for the daughter of the Count.  She told him she saw fairies in the forest and they needed a home.  This "Palace" took 15 years to build and decorate.  Queen Titania is from "A Midsummer night Dream"

These two people had been waiting in this room for the next tour for a very long time

Even Royalty has family snapshots

In the attic of the castle was a collection of tin toys from the 1890s to 1940s

And a train set from 1912.  Chip, you would have loved this

This was very interesting.  The legend has it that this wooden doll must not ever be moved.  If it is, the castle will fall into the moat on the next Christmas

And of course, every castle must have a draw bridge

Once we finished our tour of the castle, we walked in the gardens that surround it

There were topiary shaped like squirrels

Mazes

Beautiful lawns

And all kinds of flowers.  This is an Artichoke, believe it or not

Check out the bee in the flower.  at 11 o'clock

There was also a "Tree Walk" in the tops of the trees.  55 steps up, 55 steps down.  Mary counted them

Mary crossing one of the bridges

It was a beautiful day

This is a photo of all the other buildings with Cars and Motorcycles.  Next week!!