Built between 1694 and 1698, Steninge Palace, overlooking Lake Mälaren outside of Stockholm, is a Baroque treasure, directly inspired by the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte in France. What most people do not know is that the palace for centuries has been associated with power struggles, scandals, and even criminal activities. The estate dates back to the 13th century, but its most interesting chapter came with the arrival of Carl Gyllenstierna in the 17th century.
Hanging on to the estate, the wealthy nobleman commissioned the construction of the palace from the legendary architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger. The palace was completed in 1705. However, it is not the beautiful structure that makes the palace stand out. It is the colorful history that unfolds ever since.
Carl Gyllenstierna married and gifted the palace as a wedding gift to his bride, Anna Soop. But the palace, the estate, and the family were to see dark days ahead.
The Fersen family, a notorious name in Swedish history, bought Steninge in 1735. One of the owners, Axel von Fersen, was involved in a murder and a scandalous political plot. He was murdered in 1747, and his brother Fabian Reinhold von Fersen inherited the estate. Fabian's son, Axel von Fersen (1798–1838), continued the family’s ownership of Steninge. But when he died in 1838, the von Fersen family line ended, culminating in the estate being inherited by his sister, Louise von Fersen, and her spouse, Carl August Gyldenstolpe. However, they lost the estate during their famous bankruptcy in 1867.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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