Castle Map

Castle

Ellinge Castle

Sweden · 12th century

Founded
c. 1150
Location
Eslöv Municipality
Coordinates
55.8117°, 13.2875°
Links
Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Ellinge Castle in Sweden
Photo: jorchr · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Ellinge Castle (Swedish: Ellinge slott) is a castle in Eslöv Municipality, Scania, southern Sweden.

The castle dates from the 12th century. It has whitewashed walls with 12 overnight rooms and a capacity for 24 overnight guests. The castle is surrounded by a square moat.

A description of the castle published in 1859 describes the castle as "Ellinge: Farm seat in Sallerups parish and Harjagers district of Malmo County, among one of Scania's oldest farms, has always been in the possession of high-born men."

The history of the estate can be traced at least as far as the 11th century. One of the first families known to have owned Ellinge was named Kvite. The estate then passed to the house of Galen in the early 13th century, when it was found to be a defensible manor adapted both for agriculture and had ability to house many people. It next went to the Erlandsen family.

In 1371 the estate was taken over by Peder Axelsson Thott. It remained in his family, operating as a cattle ranch until 1395, when Niels Svendsen Chevron took possession of Ellinge . The estate was then in the Sparres family's possession until 1505. Ellinge was given to the Danish crown in 1505, and was then sold in 1511 to the Norwegian-Danish Councilor Henry Krummedige. Ellinge is mentioned in connection with one of the many Danish-Swedish battles that took place during this time. A farm steward writes in a letter to his master about the looting of Ellinge by Søren Norby in the Scanian rebellion taking place at the time. Walnut trees are described as growing on the estate at this time; walnut trees can still be seen on the estate in modern times.

Christoffer Walkendorff, who was Ellinge's Manager from 1640 to 1690, describes the property in a written report as having a courtyard with a four-winged house group, a barn and being surrounded by a moat. From images of the estate at the time, it appears to have had a garden consisting of an embroidery parterre. It is also very likely that there was a vegetable garden somewhere inside or outside the moat.

Around 1650–1730, not much was done with the property due to the many wars in southern Sweden. In 1690, Hans Walkendorff took over the estate from his father; he was an alcoholic and did not look after the estate.

Text adapted from “Ellinge Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Ellinge Castle ranks #4,843 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #127 of the 212 mapped in Sweden. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 80% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 810 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. 15 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Malmö, 31 km away. See how Sweden compares in the castle statistics.

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