 The main building | |
 | |
| Established | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Location | Rungsted,Copenhagen |
| Coordinates | 55°53′0″N12°32′36″E / 55.88333°N 12.54333°E /55.88333; 12.54333 |
| Director | Tore V. Dinesen |
| Public transit access | Rungsted Kyst Station |
| Website | www.karen-blixen.dk |
Rungstedlund, also known as theKaren Blixen Museum, is acountry house inRungsted on theØresund coast just north ofCopenhagen,Denmark, notable for its association with the authorKaren Blixen, who lived there for most of her life. She was born on the estate in 1885, and returned there after her years inKenya, chronicled in her 1937 bookOut of Africa, to do most of her writings. The property is today managed by the Rungstedlund Foundation as awriter's house museum.
The property traces its history back to 1520 when it was owned by the Crown. The oldest part of the current house dates from about 1680 when it was a combined inn and agricultural estate. Notable guests who stayed at the inn includeLudvig Holberg andJohannes Ewald. Ewald lived there from 1773 to 1775 and wrote many of his poems, includingThe Delights Of Rungsted. An Ode. The locale also inspired him forThe ´Fishermen, asingspiele remembered forKong Christian stod ved højen mast, the Danishroyal anthem.[1]
The inn closed in 1803. Aron David, who owned it from 1821 to 1868, merged it with the adjoining propertiesRungstedgaard, Sømandshvile og Folehavegaard.[2]
In 1879 the estate was purchased by Wilhelm Dinesen, father ofKaren Blixen, and after his marriage to Ingeborg Westenholz in 1881 they took up residence there. At that time the estate consisted of four wings but two burned in 1898 and were never rebuilt.
Karen Blixen spent her childhood at Rungstedlund and took up residency there again after she returned fromAfrica in 1931. She lived there until her death in 1962 and did most of her writings in the Ewald Room. She is interred in the park.
In 1958 Karen Blixen and her siblings founded the Rungstedlund Foundation which was to own and manage the estate after her death. The Karen Blixen Museum was founded in 1991.
Karen Blixen's home has been preserved largely unchanged with its original furniture, decor and book. The museum also features a complete collection of her oil paintings. The museum also hosts special exhibitions about the author's life and writings.In 2013 the Karen Blixen Museum joined the Nordic museum portalCultureNordic.com.
Rungstedlund is also the home ofDanish Academy, which Karen Blixen co-founded in 1960 together with other Danish intellectuals. The house also hosts the award ceremony of the annualRungstedlund Award on Karen Blixen's birthday. The grounds are used for a traditional DanishSaint John's Eve event with a bonfire and speeches.
The park covers an area of 16.6 hectares. Most of the grounds have been laid out as a bird sanctuary. There are also flower gardens where every day during the summer season fresh flowers are cut for decorating the house.
Karen Blixen's grave is located at the foot of Ewald's Mound.
