Ulstrup Castle is a manor house

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

 located at the small town of Ulstrup, 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) southwest of Randers

Randers

Randers is a city in Randers municipality on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 60,656 . Randers city is the main town of the municipality and the site of its municipal council.-Overview:Randers municipality has 94,750 inhabitants...

, in western 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...

.

History

Ulstrup Castle traces its history back to the end of the 14th century when it was owned by Jens Brandsen. Later owners include Queen Margaret I

Margaret I of Denmark

Margaret I was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century. Although she acted as queen regnant, the laws of contemporary Danish succession denied her formal queenship. Her title in Denmark was derived from her...

 but the original house later disappeared and Ulstrup continued to exist as a village. It was acquired by privy councilor Christen Skeel in 1579 and dissolved to make way for his new manor house which was built in 1591. The building was expanded between 1615 and 1617 by his son, Jørgen Skeel, and an agricultural building (avlsgården) was built in 1668.

The estate remained in the possession of the Skeel/Scheel family until 1809. Later in the century, Ulstrup reappeared as a railway town

Railway town

A railway town is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of a railway station or junction at its site.In Victorian Britain, the spread of railways greatly affected the fate of many small towns...

located on the Langå-Viborg railway line which opened in 1863.

In the 1920s, Ulstrup was dissolved and most of the land sold in parcels. From 1951 the remaining grounds housed an amusement park and zoo.

Architecture

The north wing of the complex incorporates Christen Skeel's original house from 1591. His son's expansion added a south and a west wing. The complex was later closed with the construction of a lower gate wing to the east. The gate wing is flanked by two octagonal corner pavilions and its central section, above the gate, is topped by a small tower with a lantern. The west wing was demolished in 1755.

Ulstrup Castle today

Since 1980, Ulstrup Castle has been reestablished as a manor house after much of the land was reacquired and the buildings thoroughly restored.