Johan Bülow's Romantic Gardens

From 1793 to 1828, Johan Bülow established the unique gardens with canals, islands, memorials and buildings at the Sanderumgaard Estate, near Odense.

From 1773 to 1793, Johan Bülow was a member of the court of then Crown Prince Frederik, where Bülow rose through the ranks from groom of the chamber to lord chamberlain. When the crown prince came to power in 1784, as absolute ruler of Denmark on behalf of his mentally ill father, Bülow was next to the centre of power.

Johan Bülow was given many positions of trust, including privy counsellor and secretary for the Royal Collection of Art. Through the positions Bülow gained close contact with the elite within art and history.

In 1793, Bülow was dismissed from the court, after which he withdrew to his estate in Funen. Bülow felt his dismissal was highly unjust and was almost in a state of shock when he arrived at Sanderumgaard. But he quickly set to work on the comprehensive task of buildings, farming and copyhold property and, not least, establishing the romantic gardens of princely dimensions. The laying out of the gardens became a personal development project that satisfied the romantic trends of the age and Bülow's own Masonic ideals.

Bülow's interest in art and his contacts with the artists of the time did not cease, even though he had moved to the country. The important poets and painters of the age spent summer holidays at Sanderumgaard and immortalised the gardens in words and pictures that can be seen and experienced at the exhibition.