Sweden · Still standing
Hörningsholm Castle
Hörningsholms slott
Hörningsholm Castle is a manor house and former castle on a rocky cliff by an inlet of the Baltic Sea in Sweden. The present visible building was rebuilt in a Rococo-inspired design by Carl Hårleman after the medieval structure was destroyed and has remained a private estate of the Bonde family since the mid-18th century.
Its prime
1752
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1752
What Hörningsholm Castle looked like in its prime.
A long, rectangular three-storey main block of smooth pale-yellow plaster sits directly atop exposed granite bedrock and medieval white stone ramparts; the façade is strictly symmetrical with three rows of evenly spaced multi-pane windows and a red-painted base. A low red-tiled mansard roof with dormer windows and several black chimney stacks crowns the block. Hårleman’s reconstruction includes two low, square one-storey wings and a terrace formed from former ramparts, all set on a cliff above an inlet.
Its story
The story of Hörningsholm Castle.
Hörningsholm Castle stands on a cliff above an inlet of the Baltic Sea some kilometres from Södertälje. In the 15th century the land was held by Erengisle Nilsson (died 1469), whose widow sold it to Nils Bosson Sture, most probably the builder of the castle at the end of that century. The Stures expanded it into an unusually large late-medieval and Renaissance castle of two stone buildings linked by towered walls, comparable in size and importance to royal castles, and held it until 1616.
The castle was burnt to the ground by Russian troops in 1719. Reconstruction began only in 1746, when it was sold to Nils Bonde af Björnö, himself once taken prisoner by the Russians at the Surrender at Perevolochna. The architect Carl Hårleman retained little of the medieval superstructure, building a symmetrical house in the spirit of French Rococo with two square one-storey wings; Ivar Tengbom renovated it in 1919–20.
Of the medieval castle, ramparts and cellars remain, in 1824 a dungeon was discovered beneath a basement floor, its use as a prison confirmed by the semi-decomposed human remains inside. The house holds the Bonde family's art collection, fine cocklestoves and a large private library, and has stayed with the Bondes since 1746; as of 2014 it was owned by Carl Bonde.
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1752.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Hörningsholm Castle, including 5 interiors: basement cellars and medieval foundations, subterranean dungeon under the basement, family art gallery / collection room and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Hörningsholm Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1752, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Hörningsholm Castle.
The families that held Hörningsholm Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Sture
Built by Nils Bosson Sture in the late 15th century; the Stures held it until 1616.
Bonde
Bought by Nils Bonde af Björnö in 1746 and held by the Bonde family ever since.
Nearby
