Sophienholm
Encyclopedia
Sophienholm is a former country house and exhibition venue located north on the shore of Lake Bagsværd in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen
, Denmark
.
The building was originally a country house built by Johan Theodor Holmskiold in 1769. Constantin Brun
, its next owner, had it completely rebuilt at the turn of the century into its present appearance, and it became a lively cultural venue during the Danish Golden Age when his wife, the writer and salonist Friederike Brun
, played host to many prominent Danish and foreign cultural figures of the time.
The new owner of Sophienholm was the merchant Constantin Brun
. Originally from Germany
, he had come to Denmark as royal administrator of trade in the Danish West Indies
and made a fortune on trade during the early Napoleonic Wars
, profiting from Denmark's neutrality. At the turn of the century, he commissioned Joseph-Jacques Ramée
to expand and completely redesign the building. Completed in 1805, Ramée's project also redesigned the park and added several smaller buildings to the site, including a Norwegian house, a Chinese pavilion, a Swiss cottage and a gate house. Later two lateral wings were added to the main building.
s. An inspiration for this activity was Madame de Staël, a close friend from her travels who was famous for her salons at Château de Coppet
. Frederikke Brun's salons attracted a colourful mix of celebrated poets and poor and unknown students, composers, foreign diplomats, foreign artists of any kind, and even members of the royal family.
Among the most frequent guests were Jens Baggesen, Oehlenschläger
, Schack von Staffeldt, a young Johan Ludvig Heiberg
, J. M. Thiele
and B. S. Ingemann
.
Contemporary memoires and letter literature provide a detailed image of how the salon life at Sophienhom unfolded. In the day time, the park was a popular venue for the house guests who would have tea or hot chocolate in the Norwegian House in the afternoon, sometimes also in the evening. Imported donkeys were used for excursions in the surrounding countryside. At dinner time, the guests were treated with food and wine "in abundance" and afterwards coffee was served in the Picture Room, located on the ground floor, facing the forest. Constantin Brun, who did not share Frederikke's cultural inclination, would usually retire early, either to his private chambers or to a quiet corner to play cards and complain about his wife's extravagance.
Besides general conversation, the entertainment included various literary and musical activities. Frederikke often read aloud letters from her many famous friends abroad, and guests entertained with recitations of poetry or musical performances.
A central part of the salon life was Ida Brun, Constantin and Friederike Brun's oldest daughter. She had many prominent admirers both among the guests at Sophienholm and the prominent personages she met on travels with her parents around Europe, including Bertel Thorvaldsen
in Rome
. She performed at her mother's soirés both with singing and attitudes, a cross between postures, dance and acting,which she had learned directly from their inventor, Lady Hamilton
in Naples
. When Ida Brun married Louis Philippe de Bombelles, the Austria
n Ambassador to Denmark, and left the country, the salons at Sophienholm faded out.
, founder of Carl Allers Etablissement, a fast expanding publishing house. Sophienholm stayed in hands of the Aller family until it was bought by Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in 1963. They renovated the building and opened it to the public as an exhibition building.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
The building was originally a country house built by Johan Theodor Holmskiold in 1769. Constantin Brun
Constantin Brun
Johan Christian Constantin Brun was a German-Danish. Born in Germany, came to Denmark as Royal administrator of the trade on the Danish West Indies and in the same time built a successful private trading empire during the early Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th century, profiting on Denmark's...
, its next owner, had it completely rebuilt at the turn of the century into its present appearance, and it became a lively cultural venue during the Danish Golden Age when his wife, the writer and salonist Friederike Brun
Friederike Brun
Friederike Brun, née Münther , was a Danish author and salonist.She was married to the affluent merchant Constantin Brun and during the Danish Golden Age of the first half of the 19th century she arranged literary salons at Sophienholm, their summer retreat north of Copenhagen.-Early...
, played host to many prominent Danish and foreign cultural figures of the time.
Early history
Sophienholm was built from 1767 to 1768 as a country retreat for Johan Theodor Holmskiold. Originally a medical doctor and naturalist, he had just begun a successful career at the Royal Court in Copenhagen and as a director for several prominent state enterprises. He named the house after his wife Sophie Holmskjold., and owned the property until 1790 when he built himself a new and larger country home nearby.The new owner of Sophienholm was the merchant Constantin Brun
Constantin Brun
Johan Christian Constantin Brun was a German-Danish. Born in Germany, came to Denmark as Royal administrator of the trade on the Danish West Indies and in the same time built a successful private trading empire during the early Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th century, profiting on Denmark's...
. Originally from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, he had come to Denmark as royal administrator of trade in the Danish West Indies
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies or "Danish Antilles", were a colony of Denmark-Norway and later Denmark in the Caribbean. They were sold to the United States in 1916 in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies and became the United States Virgin Islands in 1917...
and made a fortune on trade during the early Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, profiting from Denmark's neutrality. At the turn of the century, he commissioned Joseph-Jacques Ramée
Joseph-Jacques Ramée
Joseph-Jacques Ramée var a French architect, interior designer, and landscape architect working within the neoclassicist idiom. In his lifetime, he worked in France, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, and the USA...
to expand and completely redesign the building. Completed in 1805, Ramée's project also redesigned the park and added several smaller buildings to the site, including a Norwegian house, a Chinese pavilion, a Swiss cottage and a gate house. Later two lateral wings were added to the main building.
Golden Age venue
While the Bruns resided at Sophienholm, the estate developed into a lively cultural venue when the culturally inclined Frederikke used it for salonSalon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
s. An inspiration for this activity was Madame de Staël, a close friend from her travels who was famous for her salons at Château de Coppet
Coppet
Coppet is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-History:Coppet is first mentioned in 1294 as Copetum. In 1347 it was mentioned as Copet.-Geography:...
. Frederikke Brun's salons attracted a colourful mix of celebrated poets and poor and unknown students, composers, foreign diplomats, foreign artists of any kind, and even members of the royal family.
Among the most frequent guests were Jens Baggesen, Oehlenschläger
Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger
Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature.-Biography:He was born in Vesterbro, then a suburb of Copenhagen, on 14 November 1779...
, Schack von Staffeldt, a young Johan Ludvig Heiberg
Johan Ludvig Heiberg
Johan Ludvig Heiberg may refer to:* Johan Ludvig Heiberg , Danish poet and dramatist, husband of Johanne Luise Heiberg* Johan Ludvig Heiberg , Danish philologist and historian of mathematics...
, J. M. Thiele
Just Mathias Thiele
Just Mathias Thiele was a Danish writer and art historian. A central personage during the Danish Golden Age in the first half of the 18th century, he contributed to Danish cultural life in a number of capacities...
and B. S. Ingemann
Bernhard Severin Ingemann
Bernhard Severin Ingemann was a Danish novelist and poet.Ingemann was born in Thorkildstrup, on the island of Falster, Denmark. The son of a vicar, he was left fatherless in his youth. While a student at the University of Copenhagen he published his first collection of poems Bernhard Severin...
.
Contemporary memoires and letter literature provide a detailed image of how the salon life at Sophienhom unfolded. In the day time, the park was a popular venue for the house guests who would have tea or hot chocolate in the Norwegian House in the afternoon, sometimes also in the evening. Imported donkeys were used for excursions in the surrounding countryside. At dinner time, the guests were treated with food and wine "in abundance" and afterwards coffee was served in the Picture Room, located on the ground floor, facing the forest. Constantin Brun, who did not share Frederikke's cultural inclination, would usually retire early, either to his private chambers or to a quiet corner to play cards and complain about his wife's extravagance.
Besides general conversation, the entertainment included various literary and musical activities. Frederikke often read aloud letters from her many famous friends abroad, and guests entertained with recitations of poetry or musical performances.
A central part of the salon life was Ida Brun, Constantin and Friederike Brun's oldest daughter. She had many prominent admirers both among the guests at Sophienholm and the prominent personages she met on travels with her parents around Europe, including Bertel Thorvaldsen
Bertel Thorvaldsen
Bertel Thorvaldsen was a Danish-Icelandic sculptor of international fame, who spent most of his life in Italy . Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a Danish/Icelandic family of humble means, and was accepted to the Royal Academy of Arts when he was eleven years old...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. She performed at her mother's soirés both with singing and attitudes, a cross between postures, dance and acting,which she had learned directly from their inventor, Lady Hamilton
Emma, Lady Hamilton
Emma, Lady Hamilton is best remembered as the mistress of Lord Nelson and as the muse of George Romney. She was born Amy Lyon in Ness near Neston, Cheshire, England, the daughter of a blacksmith, Henry Lyon, who died when she was two months old...
in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. When Ida Brun married Louis Philippe de Bombelles, the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Ambassador to Denmark, and left the country, the salons at Sophienholm faded out.
After the Brun era
The Brun era ended in 1836 when Constantin and Friederikke Brun died within a few month of each other. Ida Brun inherited Sophienholm but immediately sold it. In 1882, the estate was bought by Carl AllerCarl Aller
Carl Julius Aller was a Danish publisher of the late 19th and early 20th century and founder of Aller Media, the largest publisher of weekly magazines in the Nordic Countries and still controlled by the Aller family....
, founder of Carl Allers Etablissement, a fast expanding publishing house. Sophienholm stayed in hands of the Aller family until it was bought by Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in 1963. They renovated the building and opened it to the public as an exhibition building.
List of former owners
| From | To | Owners |
|---|---|---|
| 1767 | 1790 | Johan Theodor Holmskiold |
| 1790 | 1820 | Constantin Brun Constantin Brun Johan Christian Constantin Brun was a German-Danish. Born in Germany, came to Denmark as Royal administrator of the trade on the Danish West Indies and in the same time built a successful private trading empire during the early Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th century, profiting on Denmark's... |
| 1880 | 1835 | Friederike Brun Friederike Brun Friederike Brun, née Münther , was a Danish author and salonist.She was married to the affluent merchant Constantin Brun and during the Danish Golden Age of the first half of the 19th century she arranged literary salons at Sophienholm, their summer retreat north of Copenhagen.-Early... |
| 1835 | 1836 | Ida Constantinsdatter Brun |
| 1836 | 1842 | Ph. Jul. Knudsen |
| 1842 | 1853 | Count Siegfred Raben |
| 1853 | 1863 | Claus Moltzen |
| 1863 | 1882 | Rogert Fønss |
| 1882 | 1926 | Carl Aller Carl Aller Carl Julius Aller was a Danish publisher of the late 19th and early 20th century and founder of Aller Media, the largest publisher of weekly magazines in the Nordic Countries and still controlled by the Aller family.... |
| 1926 | 1943 | Axel Aller / Valdemar Aller / Rigmor Rand née Aller / Ragna Aller |
| 1943 | 1953 | Valdemar Aller / Rigmor Rand née Aller / Ragna Aller |
| 11953 | 1963 | Rigmor Rand née Aller / Ragna Aller |
| 1963 | Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality |