Hans Christian Andersen & Broholm Castle
The fairy tale poet Hans Christian Andersen was a frequent guest at Funen castles and manors. Here he found inspiration for the stories that can still give us answers to life's biggest questions. In 1836, the poet first made his way to Broholm Castle. In the novel Only a Fiddler from 1837, the stay at Broholm Castle the year before left its mark: "They walked quickly towards Manor House Broholm. The leaves of the forest were transparent, the violets grew in whole bushes, the forest marks stood in flowers, and between the trees they looked out over the belt and Langeland, which faded high with its forests and windmills." At Broholm Castle he met the then owner Edel Marie Sehested, on whom he built the character "The Old Baroness" in Hans Christian Andersen's novel The Two Baronesses (from 1848). During his first stay at Broholm, he wrote a poem to Mrs. Edel Marie Sehested:
When Forest and Beach separate us,
As the Bridge of Mind, this Leaf stands,
May in time it pass,
The memory has wings on!
Everything fleeting is on the Island of Life,
See the splendor of the flower, soon it must die!
For merry along the Stream of Life!
remember, Joy is a delicious - Dream!
kindly Reminder
Hans Christian Andersen
Broholm the 3rd of August 1836.Below is an excerpt from historian Jens Jørgensen's book on Hans Christian Andersen. The book gave rise to the greatest literary feud of this century and created renewed awareness around Hans Christian Andersen and his adventures.
There are features in Hans Christian Andersen's memories that may point to Broholm Castle as his birthplace. As previously mentioned, Hans Christian Andersen a longer period of his life on Broholm - without mentioning it in a word in "My Life's Adventure". The lady at Broholm Castle was named in 1812 Edele Marie Sehested. She was the daughter of a clerk from Marslev - precisely from the home where Anne Marie Andersdatter served for several years. As I have previously shown, there is demonstrably a connection, even a good relationship, between Hans Christian Andersen's mother and Edele Marie Sehested. In addition, there is close contact between the genus Ahlefeldt-Laurvig and the genus Sehested. It is therefore absolutely reasonable that the family from Tranekær in Langeland let their daughter Elise give birth to her child on Broholm in Funen. And there is a connection in the fact that the child is left to Broholm's good acquaintances, the maid Anne Marie Andersdaughter. Some people have approached me on this occasion. Two of them have direct family relations to the circle at Broholm Castle. Elise Ahlefeldt-Laurvig's name is not mentioned in their accounts. On the other hand, they tell very precisely that, according to oral tradition, a boy was born at Broholm Castle in 1805, to whom the later King Christian the 8th was the father.
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By Jens Jørgensen, author of Hans Christian Andersen - a true myth and Hans Christian Andersen's "Memories".
In the foodsteps of Hans Christian Andersen
Download Hans Christian Andersen Trail app and see Funen through the poet's eyes. As many as 15 Funen manors and castles have a special Hans Christian Andersen's story to tell. See more about the Hans Christian Andersen Trail in the danish site here.