Krabbe and Kruse

The village of Aastrup is mentioned several times in written records from the Middle Ages. In the early 16th century it was dissolved and its farms merged under a manor with the same name. The first owner of the manor was Erik Krabbe; He was the son of rigsmarsk Tyge Krabbe, a central figure in the uprise against Christian II (1481-1559). Erik Krabbe instigated that Saxo Gramaticus's Danmarkskrønike from the 12th century was republished in 1534.^[1]

Aster Krabbe's death in 1564, Aastrup was passed to his son Glob Krabbe. Glob's brother Christian Krabbe inherited the estate in 1582. He sold it to treasurer Enevold Kruse in circa 1596 when he married Else Marsvin. He constructed a new main building in circa 1613.

Changing owners

The estate remained in the hands of the Kruse family until it was purchased by Jørgen Seefeld in 1641.

Peder Lauridsen Scavenius purchased the estate in 1664. He belonged to the new nobility that was appointed by Frederick III in the early days of the Absolute monarchy. After Scavenius' death, Aastrup was passed on to his son-in-law Niels Benzon Aastrup and then his grandson Peder Benzon. Peder was also the owner of a number of other estates, including Benzonseje, Benzonsdal and Gislingegaard.

Gregers Juel purchased Aastrup in 1714. He was an army officer but left the army when he missed a promotion in 1716.

Eichel family, 1736–1806

Drawing of the Johan Eichel Memorial by Johannes Wiedewelt.

Johannes Eichel purchased Aastrup in 1736 and turned it into a stamhus for his family later that same year. The effect of a stamhus was that the estate could no longer be sold or divided between heirs. A rpadside memorial to Johan Wichel designed by Johannes Wiedewelt was installed at Vester Sæby Hill.

The first holder of the stamhus was Just Valentin Eichel- He was married to Marianne Grove (1705-1833). They only had one child, a daughter, Elisabeth Hedevig Eichel. She was only nine years old when her father died in 1738. In 1744, when she was just 15 years old, she was married to her guardian, Caspar Christopher Bartholin (1700-1765), a Supreme Court justice and 28 years her senior. In 1745, he sold Kås Manor. In 1760, he was appointed as acting justidiarius of the Supreme Court.

Johan Bartholin Eichel Jr.

Caspar Christopher Bartholin was succeeded by their son Johan Bartholin Eichel as holder of Stamhuset Aastrup. He was appointed as judge at Hof- og Stadsretten in 1771 and at the Supreme Court in 1773. He was succeeded by his son of the same name as holder of Stamhuset Aastrup. Johan Bartholin Eichel resided at Aastrup with his wife Charlotte Grothschilling and the estate manager Jens Christian Qwortrup at the time of the 1801 census. Their staff comprised a male servant, a coachman, a housekeeper, a female cook, a maid a "brewery girl" and a "poultry girl". ^[2]

In 1803, the stamhus was dissolved with royal approval. In 1806, was then purchased by Ulrik Christian Von Schmidten In 1809, Johan Bartholin Eichel purchased another manor, Svanholm, but sold it again in 1813.

Ulrik Christian Von Schmidten's interest in Aastrup was purely speculative. He was known as the "manor butcher" (herregårdsslagteren) due to the large number of manors that he bought, alone or with partners, only to divide them into smaller farms and sell them again shortly thereafter.

Jofoed family

Hans Peter Kofoed

Marie Kofoed

In 1810, Ulrik Chr. Von Schmidten sold Aastrup the Copenhagen-based merchant and ship-owner Hans Peder Kofoed.He had already bought another estate in the area, Holbæk Ladegård, which he aold again in 1812. He had also constructed a large townhouse in Christianshavn, now known as the Heering House after a later owner., founder of the company behind Cherry Heering Peter F. Heering.

His widow Marie Kofoed kept it after his death in 1812. She made large donations to charity and created a number of grants for indigent people on the estate. In 1838, Marie Kofoed sold the estate to Siegfred Victor Raben.

Dannemand's foundation

Aastrup depicted by Ferdinand Richardt in 1844

Frederik Vilhelm Dannemand, an illegitimate son of Frederik VI, purchased the estate in 1842. He turned the estate into a stift for unmarried women and widows of his own family. Its official name was Det Grevelige Dannemandske Stift but was also referred to as Aastrup Kloster. The institution struggled with poor economy from the start and in 1884 Frederik Vilhelm Dannemand finally chose to sell Aastrup to Frederik Brockdorff. The sale resulted in a lawsuit and was overruled in 1890. The estate was then placed under administration until the economy had improved enough to revive the stift in 1928. Aastrup Kloster then existed until 1988.