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<\/a><\/p>\nThis original structure of the castle was built from 1540 to 1554.\u00a0 According to legend, it took an entire forest of oak trees to build the foundation, hence the name Egeskov, which means “oak forest”.\u00a0 This is the best preserved Renaissance castle in all of Europe.<\/p>\n
Part of the castle has a museum of famous clothing from various royal families.\u00a0 It wasn’t all that exciting to be honest, but this one dress did stand out, as it was the last dress owned by Queen Marie Antoinette, before she lost her head.\u00a0 It was unfinished for some reason, and was given to a lady’s maid, who kept it until her death.\u00a0 It changed hands several times before ending up here in 1850.<\/p>\n This elaborate trunk for the royal treasure dates to the 16th century.<\/p>\n In the castles “Hunting Hall”, there is this display of poison arrows and two comically tiny bows.\u00a0 The literature in the hallway said the arrow tips are still coated in poison.<\/p>\n There is one large room which has the biggest doll house I’ve ever seen, known as Titania’s Palace.\u00a0 English painter and former army officer Sir Nevile Wilkinson built the miniature palace when his daughter told him she had seen fairies in their garden, and wanted her father to build them a nice house to live in.<\/p>\n It took 15 years to build, and became famous after thousands saw it on display in the UK.<\/p>\n Even the future queen, Princess Elizabeth, visited the display.\u00a0 The doll house went up for auction in 1978, and was purchased by the Lego Foundation.\u00a0 After extensive renovations, Lego loaned it to Egeskov in 2007.\u00a0 As big as it is, I don’t see that loan ever ending.<\/p>\n Hans Christian Andersen visited the castle twice.\u00a0 He was born in 1805 in Odense, about 20 miles north of Egeskov.\u00a0 He apparently was known to cut little paper dresses everywhere he went.<\/p>\n This display, which sits adjacent to Titania’s Palace, shows off some of the many paper dresses he created.\u00a0 I thought he just wrote books!<\/p>\n The top floor of the castle, which is basically the attic, has a display of old Danish toys dating from the early 1900’s.<\/p>\n These included toys made by Lego.\u00a0 Funny, these don’t look like Lego’s to me!<\/p>\n In the attic is this statue called the “Wooden Man”, which is linked to a terrible legend.\u00a0 It is said that if this statue is removed from the cushion, the entire castle will sink into the pond on Christmas night.\u00a0 In 1960, a previous countess agreed to let the National Museum of Denmark borrow the statue for 6 months, but asked for it back after just 14 days since the castle was said to start creaking and groaning, and the walls began to shake.\u00a0 Once the statue was back in place, the castle was at peace.<\/p>\n If you know me, you know how hard it was to not jump over the barrier and move the statue.\u00a0 Just a few feet to the left or right, for the sake of science.<\/p>\n We then ventured out into the extensive gardens spread around the castle.<\/p>\n They even had some topiary figures set up just across from the drawbridge, which was unfortunately under renovation.<\/p>\n The grounds have several museums, including one for classic automobiles.\u00a0 This pink car is actually one of the first electric cars, produced between 1915 and 1923.<\/p>\n Milburn Light Electric made more than 4,000 electric cars, which had a range of 100km and could travel as fast as 50km\/h.<\/p>\n This specific car was one of the very first produced, and it was specifically made for First Lady Edith Wilson, the wife of President Woodrow Wilson.\u00a0 It doesn’t have a steering wheel, opting for a stick to steer it.\u00a0 I honestly had no idea they had electric cars so long ago.<\/p>\n When I was 27 I “almost” bought one of these.\u00a0 I still love the look of the DeLorean!\u00a0 This one was in excellent shape!<\/p>\n Our last stop before departing was this walkway among the trees.\u00a0 This place really has something for everybody!<\/p>\n One last look at the beautiful Egeskov Castle from the tree tops.<\/p>\n On our way out we ran across this group of Peahens and Peacocks, blocking the exit.\u00a0 They certainly aren’t afraid of people!<\/p>\n As stated previously, if you plan to visit, give it at least 5 hours, including lunch.\u00a0 There are several spots to eat on the grounds.\u00a0 We departed Denmark the next morning, and just like our last return flight, we flew right over Greenland, and it was remarkably clear once again!<\/p>\n We really need to move Greenland up on our list of places to travel!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n