Næsseslottet is an 18th-century country house and previously a royal farm known as Dronningegård. Dronninggård was built in 1661 to manage the Crown's extensive holdings of farm land in the area. The farm belonged to the powerful Queen Sophie Amalie until her death in 1714, hence the name which translates as Queen's House. After that, the property was sold and changed hands several times but eventually it fell into a state of despair.
The main building stood as a ruin when the estate was acquired by Frédéric de Coninck in 1881. Originally from the Netherlands, he had emigrated to Denmark in 1763 where he had set up a shipping company and made a fortune in foreign trade. He commissioned court architect Andreas Kirkerup to build a new house while the old building was rebuilt and converted into a farm.
Frédéric de Coninck was very fond of the estate and its surroundings. When he acquired the Danneskiold-Laurvig Mansion in Copenhagen (now known as Moltke's Mansion after a later owner) in 1788, to serve as his new residence during the winter season, he commissioned the painter Erik Pauelsen to create two large paintings and three overdoors with motifs of his Dronninggård estate.
After de Coninck's death at Næsseslottet in 1811. both the shipping empire and the Dronninggård estate was passed on to his son but the times were changing. Denmark was experiencing hard times after the state bankruptcy in 1813 and after de Coninck's company went bankrupt in 1821, Dronninggård had to be sold. The following owners generally preferred to reside at Frederikslund while Næsseslottet fell into neglect. In 1898, it was acquired by a consortium and turned into a bathing hotel while most of the land was sold off in lots. However, the venue was no great succes and in 1906 the property was sold to August Bagge, a book publisher.
Later in the century the estate was acquired by Copenhagen Municipality and turned into a medical facility. In 1984 the Danish Red Cross used the building as their first refugee centre in Denmark. In 1986 it once again passed into private ownership and has now been turned into an office hotel.
The manor park has a number of monuments and decorative features. The sculptor Carl Frederik Stanley created several monument for the park, including one to trade and shipping. Johannes Wiedewelt has contributed with an obelisk and ornamental vases. The two pavilions and the stables were designed by Axel Berg and are from about 1900.
References:German crusaders known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword began construction of the Cēsis castle (Wenden) near the hill fort in 1209. When the castle was enlarged and fortified, it served as the residence for the Order's Master from 1237 till 1561, with periodic interruptions. Its ruins are some of the most majestic castle ruins in the Baltic states. Once the most important castle of the Livonian Order, it was the official residence for the masters of the order.
In 1577, during the Livonian War, the garrison destroyed the castle to prevent it from falling into the control of Ivan the Terrible, who was decisively defeated in the Battle of Wenden (1578).
In 1598 it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Wenden Voivodship was created here. In 1620 Wenden was conquered by Sweden. It was rebuilt afterwards, but was destroyed again in 1703 during the Great Northern War by the Russian army and left in a ruined state. Already from the end of the 16th century, the premises of the Order's castle were adjusted to the requirements of the Cēsis Castle estate. When in 1777 the Cēsis Castle estate was obtained by Count Carl Sievers, he had his new residence house built on the site of the eastern block of the castle, joining its end wall with the fortification tower.
Since 1949, the Cēsis History Museum has been located in this New Castle of the Cēsis Castle estate. The front yard of the New Castle is enclosed by a granary and a stable-coach house, which now houses the Exhibition Hall of the Museum. Beside the granary there is the oldest brewery in Latvia, Cēsu alus darītava, which was built in 1878 during the later Count Sievers' time, but its origins date back to the period of the Livonian Order. Further on, the Cēsis Castle park is situated, which was laid out in 1812. The park has the romantic characteristic of that time, with its winding footpaths, exotic plants, and the waters of the pond reflecting the castle's ruins. Nowadays also one of the towers is open for tourists.