Baroniet Rosendal – the manor from 1665
Baroniet Rosendal – the only barional manor in Norway – is located between fjords and glaciers in Kvinnherad, Sunnhordland, between Bergen and Haugesund, on the south side of the entrance to the beautiful Hardanger fjord.
Here you can find a 300 year old renaissance garden with roses in abundance and a romantic landscaped garden from 1850 with viewpoints overlooking the fjord, mountains and waterfalls. The shaping of the manor and the garden has always been influenced by the owners impulses and impressions from travels abroad.
This unique estate was built in 1663 by the poor, but proud, Danish nobelman Ludvig Rosenkrantz, who married Norway’s wealthiest heir, Karen Mowatt. King Christian V of Denmark-Norway gave the estate status as a barony in 1678. There were more than five hundred farms in its domain. Rosendal was an entailed estate owned by the Rosenkrone family from 1745 to 1927, when it was donated to the University of Oslo. The manor house is surrounded by a beautiful renaissance garden and a park with walking paths and views to the fjord, waterfall and majestic mountains. It offers many kind of experiences: guided tours, concerts, art exhibitions, handicraft demonstrations, etc. Bed & breakfast available at the Home Farm.
A tour at Baroniet Rosendal is a travel through different eras. The rooms are influenced by owners over 250 years, and the manor is preserved as a home – the way it was when the last owners left in 1927. The Library is the only room in Norway kept in its entirety from the 16-hundreds. It is clothed in rich French tapestry from the 1660ies. This tapestry is the only one of its kind still on the original walls.
In the Dining Room you can admire some of the oldest Meissen and Royal Danish china kept in Norway. In the Red Room you will meet the grand and beautiful Norwegian nature, painted by the greatest Norwegian landscape painters from the national romantic period. Here are paintings by J.C. Dahl, H.F. Gude, M. Møller, A. Askevold and others. There is also a female portrait painted in the 1880ies by Edvard Munch. The Yellow Room has a norwegian empire-style interior, including some of the most precious empire furniture in the country. The furnitur was made by Abraham Bøe from Bergen around 1820.
The tennant’s farm Treo gives an impression of everyday life with farm animals and activities. Kitchen & Herbgarden with herbs, flowers, vegetables and fruits. The Chef at Rosendal serves dinners with ingredients from the garden in The Blue Room at the Manor, or in Storakjøkenet at Avlsgården. From July lunch is served in the Kitchen & Herbgarden café. The B&B at Avlsgård & Fruehus dates back to 1850.
The estate is open to the public from May – September
To learn more, visit Baroniet.no
