One of the Nations Largest Estates
From Jytte Brock and Jørgen Skeel’s takeover of Gammel Estrup in 1625 until 1926, the estate remained in the hands of the Scheel family.
The Scheels were among Denmark’s wealthiest families in the 17th and 18th centuries. Jørgen Skeel’s son Christen (1623–1688), nicknamed ‘the Wealthy,’ was said to be able to ride from Grenaa to Viborg across his own lands. This was an exaggeration, but the family’s wealth was indeed immense. In 1725, the family established the County of Scheel, with the estate Sostrup near Grenaa as its centre. Gammel Estrup was not part of the county, as it had previously been made into an entailed estate. An entailed estate had to be inherited intact by the eldest son and was exempt from taxation, but it could not be sold.
The family never again reached the same influence on national politics as under Lord Marshal Jørgen Skeel. However, Chief Equerry Jørgen Scheel (1718–1786), who administered the courts of Dowager Queen Juliane Marie and Hereditary Prince Frederik for a period, and his son Christen Scheel (1743–1771), who served as envoy to Russia from 1765 to 1771, both played significant roles in Denmark’s history.
