THE HISTORY OF HVIDKILDE Estate​

Already in 1374 the estate was mentioned as a main farm. In the 1500s Hvidkilde was expanded with land from Sørup and Skovsbo, and later the neighbor main farm of Søbo was included.

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There was around 91 farms in 1660, but the estate was split after the Swedish Wars. A renewed collection of estate began in the 1700s, when the neighboring main farms Nielstrup and Lehnskov was acquired. Early on Hvidkilde got the right of patronage of the parishes of Egense and Sørup. In 1781 the collected estate was given to the barony Lehn, so that the estate became a fideikommis called ”The Barony Lehn” from 1781 until the replacement in 1925.

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In 1725 merchant Johan Lehn acquired Hvidkilde from the crown for the debt which the crown owned him. In 1781 he had acquired so much soil that he could create the barony Lehn with a total of 1074 acres of tenant farms.

The 179 tenant farms were beautifully located around the three main farms of Hvidkilde, Nielstrup and Lehnskov. Throughout the next 150 years the estate was transferred to the women, so that the barony of Lehn belonged to Rantzau-Lehn, Holsten-Lehn-Charisius and Rosenørn-Lehn.

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In 1877 Baroness Anna Lens Rosenørn-Lehn married Count Frederik Ahlefeldt-Laurvig from Tranekær and got the patent of the name Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Lehn in 1904. The center wing of Hvidkilde main building is from around 1550 and was rebuilt after the burnings during the Count feud. From 1725 Johan Lehn executed a refurbishment and expansion of the house with new wings and a mansard roof. Therefore, the main building appeared as a Baroque palace by 1742.

Johan Lehn decorated the inside of the house in Baroque style and among other the stucco, tapestries and floors of the Great Hall was finished through his ownership. Today the family of Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Lehn lives in the main building, which also contains the estate office.