Karlsladen
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| Karlsladen | |
|---|---|
 Karlsladen in 2016 | |
  Karlsladen in Denmark, Northern Europe | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Low German house |
| Location | Syddjurs Municipality, Denmark |
| Coordinates | 56°10′35″N 10°29′33″E / 56.17639°N 10.49250°E |
| Completed | 1727 |
| Owner | Skov- og Naturstyrelsen |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Thatched-roofed and timber-framed |
Karlsladen is a historical barn and visitor centre for the Mols Bjerge National Park in Syddjurs Municipality, Denmark. It is located close to Kalø Castle Ruin and the town Rønde. The thatched and timber-framed building covers 1,000 square meters, and was originally constructed in 1727.[1] It was extensively renovated in 2013 when in was converted into a visitor centre.
The barn was constructed in 1727 to store farm crops from the Kalø Estate.[2] Until 1945, the Kalø Estate, was privately owned by the German Jenisch family from Holstein.[3] After World War II, the Danish State confiscated the Kalø Estate, including Karlsladen, as part of war compensation. Today, the estate is owned by the Danish Nature Agency.
The nearly 300-year-old barn is built in the Holstein style with timbered walls, a wide building, with a pitched and thatched roof. It has been said that the massive inner oak timber might originate from stranded ships in Køge Bay on the east coast of the island Zealand, south of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Others are of the opinion that the timber might have been reused from a barn that was part of Kalø Castle. A barn supposedly located north of the existing Kalø Caste Ruin on the Kalø peninsula 3 kilometers from Karlsladen. Kalø Castle was abandoned in 1660, but the barn by the castle might still have been there as late as in 1722, five years prior to completion of Karlsladen in the nearby hills.[3]
Restoration
A colonnade of heavy load bearing oak timber pillars and a visible upper oak-construction inside Karlsladen defines the architecture of the single inner room. As part of the restoration the elongated lofty building was cleared of the remnants of prior use, including the use of part of the barn as a pig stable for some years, and the division of part of it into a number of floors for storage of grain and sheaves. The result is that the original heavy timber construction all the way up to the thatched roof is visible today. During the restoration it was necessary to replace the first meter of the lower part of many of the load bearing oak pillars due to rot and wear. This was a task that demanded specialized carpentry, giving back the original strength to the construction without compromising the way it was built and looked in 1727.[3]
As part of the renovation in 2013, the building was given a thatched roof in line with its original roofing. It had been given a tile roof in 1941, which was removed as part of the 2013 renovation.[3]
Karsladen was converted to a visitors centre as part of a 40 million kroner (£4.78 million) project, "Ferieoplevelser i Nationalpark Mols Bjerge" - Vacation Experience in Mols Bjerge National Park. The National Park was established in 2009 and covers 180 km2. The funding included establishing another visitors centre in the National Park at Øvre Strandkær and other new facilities in the park. These included 6 kayak campsites along the coast of southern Djursland, two horse trailer parking sites, a number of bicycle trails and signposts in the park plus park-folders.[2] The project spanned 4 years. The 40 million kroner came from three public and semipublic sources. Arbejsmarkedets Feriefond provided two thirds of the funding. The state department, Naturstyrelsen, together with Syddjurs Municipality provided the remaining third.[2]
