Dragsholm Castle

The name means the islet by the drag, and the drag is where Vikings hauled their ships overland.

Before the Lammefjord was reclaimed, Odsherred was joined to the rest of Zealand by a narrow neck of land east of the castle, where the mill Dragsmølle stands today. Vikings dragged their ships across that strip and sailed on to Roskilde, avoiding the dangerous water north of Zealand. Dragsholm Castle sits on an islet ringed by lakes and meadows just south of the terminal moraine that ends at Vejrhøj, 123 metres up to the north.

There has been a building on this islet for about 800 years, and it is one of the oldest secular buildings in Denmark. The Bishop of Roskilde built the original around 1215, and through the Middle Ages it was rebuilt from a palace into a fortified castle. It was strong enough that during the Count's Feud of 1534 to 1536 it was the only castle on Zealand to hold out against the armies of Count Christoffer.

The Reformation put it in the hands of the Crown along with everything else the Catholic church owned, and from 1536 to 1664 it served as a prison for noble and ecclesiastical prisoners. Cells were built into the big tower at the northeast corner, fitted with toilets and windows or not depending on the prisoner's crimes, behaviour and how seriously he had insulted the King. The best known inmates were Joachim Rønnow, the last Catholic Bishop of Roskilde and a former owner of the place; the 4th Earl of Bothwell, third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots; and a squire named Ejler Brockenhuus, described as seemingly raving mad.

During the wars against Charles X Gustav of Sweden somebody tried to blow the castle up, and it stayed a ruin until the King handed it to his treasurer Heinrich Müller against outstanding debts. Frederik Christian Adeler bought it in 1694 and rebuilt it in the baroque style it still wears.

It is a hotel and restaurant now.