Having been restored to medieval Baronial castle style, Spøttrup Castle is now one of the most noteworthy stately homes in Denmark. After centuries of alterations and damage, Spøttrup Castle was extensively renovated around 1940 and is now the best example of a medieval fortress in the country.
In the first quarter of the 16th century, a three-winged fortress - closed off on the fourth side by a barrier wall with a barbican - was built on a westerly hillside sloping down towards Spøttrup Lake on Salling peninsula on a piece of land owned by the see of Viborg since 1404. The fortress walls rose straight out of the surrounding moat. A nine-metre rampart was built around the moat, surrounded by yet another moat. The castle walls were solid, 1?-1? m thick facing the moat, approx. 1 m facing the yard. This sturdy edifice was set ablaze during Grevens Fejde (the civil war in Denmark from 1534-36) but the castle was never captured.
After the Reformation in 1536, Spøttrup was taken over by the Crown. The fortress became private property in 1579 when Frederik II donated it to one of his trusted lieutenants, the Mecklenburg noble Henrik Below. At the time, the estate included 76 farms, four mills and various rights. Henrik Below renovated the Gothic castle into a modern stately home in the style of the era (Renaissance). Two barbicans were built in the castle yard where access to the upper floors had previously been along external wooden footbridges. A beautiful Great Hall was installed in what used to be the granary in the east wing.
Christian IV's ill-fated military campaigns cost the Danish nobles dear and the Below family had to sell Spøttrup in 1648. After that, the fortress was neglected by various owners. It did not get back on its feet until Aksel Rosenkrantz bought Spøttrup in 1702, but the Rosenkrantz family had to dispose of it again at an auction in 1776. The next series of owners badly neglected the buildings, demolished part of the rampart, filled in part of the moats and drained the lake. When the Preservation of Buildings Act was passed in 1918, Spøttrup was placed under a conservation order and the process of decay arrested.
Spøttrup's large home farm burned down in 1937. Minister of the Interior Bertel Dahlgaard contrived to persuade the state to purchase the estate, which was then parcelled out into 28 state smallholdings. The Royal Inspector of Listed State Buildings, Mogens Clemmensen, renovated Spøttrup, restoring it as far as possible to the way it looked during Henrik Below's era. The ramparts and double moat were re-established and the castle was opened to the public. In 1994, Spøttrup Lake was refilled and the area around the castle now looks exactly as did 500 years ago. The Palaces and Properties Agency keeps a rose garden as well as a garden cultivating spices and herbal medicines in the park behind the castle.
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