Constantinsborg | |
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General information | |
Architectural style | Neoclassical |
Location | Aarhus Municipality, Denmark |
Completed | 1842 |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 3 |
Brabrand Lake| Constantinsborg is a manor in Aarhus Municipality, Denmark which has existed since at least 1400. The manor is situated at the southern shore of Årslev Engsø; a newly created nature site and shallow lake extension of the Brabrand Lake, in Viby J 10 km. south-west of Aarhus. The manor and estate is today privately owned and operated as a farm. Constantinsborg was originally known as Stadsgaard but was later renamed for Constantin Marselis who owned the estate in the 1600s. In the 1800s the Pontoppidan-family owned the estate and came to have a large impact on Danish agriculture and the transformation of the moors in Jutland to agricultural land. The main manor building was constructed in the early 1800s while adjoining farm buildings date back to 1870 and the 20th century.
Present day Constantinsborg was constructed around 1400 when it was owned by Erik Jensen Munk and known as Stadsgaard. In 1210 a forest named Stad in the area is mentioned in the records of the Ancient See of Aarhus who owned the forest at the time so it's possible the original farm dates back further. When Erik Jensen Mun died his son Peder Lykke inherited the estate and managed it until his death in 1464. The manor stayed in the Lykke family family until 1583 when Valdemar Parsberg traded the manor to King Frederik II.
King Frederik II obtained the manor in order to expand his hunting grounds around Skanderborg Palace. When Constantinsborg became crown land it was made a part of Havreballegård Fief. In 1661 the Fief - and Constantinsborg - was given to the Dutch merchant Gabriel Marselis as part of payments for debts incurred by the Danish state during the Second Northern War. In 1667 Gabriel Marselis' son Constantin Marselis moved to Denmark to manage his father's many new estates. He moved into Constantinsborg which he had named after himself. In 1683 Constantinsborg was officially recognized as a manor with privileges which indicates it was a substantial estate at the time.