Sweden · 17th century
Gripenberg Castle ranks #4,130 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #116 of the 209 mapped in Sweden. Founded c. 1660, it is older than 24% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 710 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,547 times in the last 60 days, more than 63% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Linköping, 63 km away. See how Sweden compares in the castle statistics.
Gripenberg Castle (Swedish: Gripenbergs slott) is a wooden manor house near Tranås in Småland, Sweden. It is considered to be the biggest wooden castle in Sweden and one of the oldest that remain today as well.
Gripenberg was built in 1663 as a hunting seat for the field marshal Carl Gustaf Wrangel (1613-1676).
Its architect is unknown, but there is some reason to believe that it might have been Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. It is presumed that the castle's name is derived from the name of Wrangel's mother, Margareta Grip, and that Wrangel might have chosen it to commemorate her. By the end of the 18th century the manor was bought by Samuel von Söderling and today remains in the possession of members of his family.
The manor consists of a wide main length and tower buildings in the four corners. It was originally red in color with gray pilasters and shingles. Just before 1780, the red-colored main building was fitted with a board panel that was painted yellow. The facility includes eight one-story wings that house residences, warehouses and storerooms. The west wing with a manor roof was originally the main building on Mörbylund's manor but was moved here after the west wing burned down in the early 18th century and Mörbylund became a barn under Gripenberg.
Text adapted from “Gripenberg Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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