Anneli & Fredrik
June 10, 2006
[History] [Legends] [Buildings]
The dinner, party and Sunday brunch will take place at Rockelstad Palace
Rockelstad is situated by the same lake as Helgesta church (the lake Båven) and is an estate with a history that can be traced back to the 14th century when a Bishop buys the estate from a local priest and starts to build new houses more consistent with the Bishop's position in society.
In the early 16th century, the ownership is transferred from the
church to the state in a reform carried out
by king Gustav Wasa. The ownership is then (in 1579) handed over to
the high ranking officer Hans Stuart, originating from a branch of the Scottish
royal family who had made a career in the
armies of the quite aggressive sons of Gustav Wasa.
After the death of Hans Stuart, his son David Stuart inherits the estate. At the time it is possible for a nobleman to make one of his estates the official family estate and therefore be declared exempt from tax. In order to achieve this the estate needs to be rebuilt and maintained in order with the regulations decided upon by the King. Because of this, David demolishes the buildings from the middle ages and builds a new mansion in the 1640's. The new mansion constitutes the foundation of the current palace.
The estate has a long documented history between the 17th and 19th century, however the most interesting is perhaps the 20th century.
In 1899 count Carl Gustaf von Rosen buys Rockelstad. Just a year later he decides to move to another palace and gives Rockelstad to his son, count Eric von Rosen (21 years old at the time). Eric has great plans for the estate and luckily also has a lot of money and decides to complete the transformation of the mansion to a miniature palace in 16th century style (the way it is today). Eric is an adventurer and travels across the world in his quests for discoveries. In 1911 he makes an expedition across Africa (from south to north) hoping to find a previously undiscovered tribe. The trip takes a year but he is successful and he actually discovers the Batwa tribe (a swamp tribe in inner Kongo). He brings back a lot of trophies and shrunk pygmy heads. The big hall is transformed into a museum and becomes a popular place to visit. According to the von Rosen family, they have over 100 000 visitors between the two world wars.
Eric is very interested in aviation and in 1920, through his interest, he bumps into a former German fighter pilot Herman Göring. On a visit to Rockelstad Eric's sister-in-law, Carin von Kantzow, enters the room. Herman and Carin (who is married at the time) fall in love and soon starts an affair. They move to Munich a couple of months later. In 1922, the former war hero Herman Göring is introduced to Adolf Hitler and eventually becomes the head of the German Air Force, Luftwaffe. Carin dies in 1931 but throughout the 30's Herman Göring frequently visits his relatives by marriage at Rockelstad
In 1973, the current owners Helene and Christer von Post acquires Rockelstad. Many similar estates had been victims of the spirit of the times which advocated demolishing old buildings which were hard and expensive to maintain in favour of modern and practical buildings. Fortunately, the von Posts like the idea of preserving the old buildings and have renovated the place in order to make it possible to host dinners and large parties as well as offering accommodation for guests within the premises.
One of Rockelstad's neighbours is Oppeby farm where the Groom's father (and grandfather) is born and was brought up. The farm is now run by the Groom's uncle, Magnus Henriksson.
