Gräfsnäs Castle Ruins, Sollebrunn, Sweden

Gräfsnäs Castle today consists of a heavily restored main building with barred windows and surrounding dry moat. The ruins are remnants of the original palatial fortress built in Swedish-French Renaissance style. The castle, which met with such a tragic fate, was constructed in c. 1571 and belonged to many different owners (like Leijonhufvud, Sparre and Holstein-Augustenburg families) before it was finally abandoned in the late 19th century. The tragic coincidence was that Gräfsnäs was damaged by fire in every one hundred years (1634, 1734 and 1834).

References:

User Reviews

Eric Jeurissen (4 years ago)
Very nice green environment, bbq possibilities and swimming / beach-like area. Nice ancient wooden houses

H Baramakeh (4 years ago)
Swedish historical place, nice place to see

Lars Andersson (4 years ago)
Ubuntu

averno schaller (5 years ago)
A very beautiful castle ruin that is surrounded by a park and forest. If you go to the south of the park you have a magnificent view over the lake Anten. You can walk down to the lake for a swim or just take a nice walk.

Olav van Gerven (8 years ago)
The ancient ruin of the castle in Gräfsnäs, Sollebrunn, is located at the end of a small road. Since we visited the place more then ten years ago for the first time, a local group of people have put a lot of effords to make the ruin accesable to the public. There is sufficient parkingspace close to the area. In close distance to the ruin, there is a swimmingarea and a small restaurant. If you ar not interested in the ruin itself, you can leave your car at the parkinglot and go for a walk or just sit on one of the benches at the lake and enjoy the view.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright CucombreLibre

Historic Site of the week

Gruyères Castle

The Castle of Gruyères is one of the most famous in Switzerland. It was built between 1270 and 1282, following the typical square plan of the fortifications in Savoy. It was the property of the Counts of Gruyères until the bankruptcy of the Count Michel in 1554. His creditors the cantons of Fribourg and Bern shared his earldom. From 1555 to 1798 the castle became residence to the bailiffs and then to the prefects sent by Fribourg.

In 1849 the castle was sold to the Bovy and Balland families, who used the castle as their summer residency and restored it. The castle was then bought back by the canton of Fribourg in 1938, made into a museum and opened to the public. Since 1993, a foundation ensures the conservation as well as the highlighting of the building and the art collection.

The castle is the home of three capes of the Order of the Golden Fleece. They were part of the war booty captured by the Swiss Confederates (which included troops from Gruyères) at the Battle of Morat against Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy in 1476. As Charles the Bold was celebrating the anniversary of his father's death, one of the capes is a black velvet sacerdotal vestment with Philip the Good's emblem sewn into it.

A collection of landscapes by 19th century artists Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Barthélemy Menn and others are on display in the castle.

Do you know an ancient castle or magnificent church near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory.com.

It's absolutely free, easy, and doesn't even need registration!

Upload data

Gräfsnäs Castle Ruins

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Landmarks of Sicily

Rhodes, The Island of Knights

Great Spa Towns of Europe

Historic Site of the week

Gruyères Castle

Looks like you are a history fan!