Førslevgaard


Førslevgaard is a manor house and estate located close to Fuglebjerg, Næstved Municipality, approximately 90 kilometres southwest of Copenhagen, Denmark. It has since 1803 been owned by members of the de Neergaard family. The three-winged, Baroque-style main building was built for Carl Adolph von Plessen in 1726. It was listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1827.
Nearby Førslev Church belonged to Gørslevgaard from 1544 to 1914. A number of former owners from the influential Beck family, who owned the manor from 1495 to 1659, are buried in the church.

History

Early history

Førslevgaard takes its name after the village of Førslev where it was located. It is first mentioned in 1347 when it was acquired by Jep Andersen Halvegge. He was succeeded by his son, Evert Jepsen Halvegge, whose daughter and only heir married Peder Mogensen.

Peder Mogensen's daughter, Margrethe, brought Gørslevgaard into her marriage with Lasse Beck. Their son, Joachim Beck. expanded the estate with more land and tenant farms. In 1544, the estate was granted the status of birk. It remained in the hands of the Beck family for 150 years. It passed out of the family when Lauge Beck's widow, Margrethe Grubbe, married Steen Hohendorff and he bought out Beck's other heirs.
Hohendorffs sold Førslevgaard to Hans Bøfke in 1685. He placed more land directly under the manor by dissolving five tenant fames. The estate then changed hands several times over the next centuries. None of the owners lived on the estate and the buildings gradually fell into neglect.

The Plessen family

In 1723, Førslevgaard was acquired by Carl Adolph von Plessen. He constructed a new main building, purchased more land and dissolved the remaining eight tenant farms in the village of Førslev.
Carl Adolph von Plessen was the owner of seven estates at the time of his death. He had never marriage and therefore established a fideikommis under the name "De Plessiske Fidei-Commis-Godser" and left it to his brother's sons and their sons. A dispute arose over the distribution of the inheritance and a final settlement was not reached until 1778. The result was that Førslevgaard, Fuglebjergggard and Fodbygaard went to Christian Frederik von Plessen. His mother was entitled to three rooms at Førslevgaard as well as a pension for her maintenance. In 1789, he ceded Hørslevgaard and the other estates to his brother, Carl Adolph. He commenced the implementation of the agricultural reform programme of the time, for instance by discontinuing corvée on his estates and by granting the copyholders a right to pass their farms on to their children.

The de Neergaard family

In 1802, Det Plessenske Fideicommis was converted into capital. This enabled Carl Adolph von Plessen to sell Førslevgaard to Peter Johansen Neergaard the following year.

Today

The current owner is Johan Nicolaj Flach de Neergaard.

List of owners