The first known reference to Hald is from 1328 when it was owned by Rigsmarsk Ludvig Albertsen Eberstein. Then known as Brattingsborg, was located to the east of the current main building. Niels Bugge acquired Hald in 1346 and built a new main building where he took up residence. He was active in the uprising against King Valdemar IV and was later killed on the way back from failed peace negotiations at Slagelse. Bugge's son-in-law Skarpenberg took over Hald but soon had to sell it to Queen Margaret I who later gave the estate to the Bishop Seat in Viborg in 1383.
The third Hald was built in 1528 for Jørgen Friis, Bishop of Viborg, on a small peninsula reaching into the lake. Ruins surrounded by tall earthworks can still be seen at the site, although the remains of a tower in masonry are partly a reconstruction. The fourth Hald was completed in 1703 for General Gregers Daa. It was a four-winged half-timbered building located a little south of the current building, in the current park, but nothing remains of it today. The Fifth Hald, was built in 1798 for Ove Høegh-Guldberg, who had served as Prime Minister from 1772 to 1784. Hald Manor is a single storey building with a 3-storey central section, originally built as a gatehouse in 1798. The two pavilions in the park were probably built in 1795.
The Danish Centre for Writers and Translators was founded in 2002. It offers writers, translators and illustrators free stays where they can work in a peaceful environment. The centre also hosts and arranges various public literary events. A barn from the mid-18th century was renovated in 2008 and is now home to an exhibition about the area's geography, nature and history.
References:Linderhof is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.
Ludwig II, who was crowned king in 1864, began his building activities in 1867-1868 by redesigning his rooms in the Munich Residenz and laying the foundation stone of Neuschwanstein Castle. In 1868 he was already making his first plans for Linderhof. However, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by Ludwig II were ever built.
Instead, the new building developed around the forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father.