Dragsholm Slot

Why it is renowned

Dragsholm Slot is a member of Relais & Châteaux, and its restaurant, Dragsholm Slot Gourmet, held a Michelin star in 2025.¹² It is also in the Michelin Nordic Guide, and draws guests from abroad to one of the oldest secular buildings in Denmark.³⁴

The story

The Bishop of Roskilde built the first castle on the site around 1215.⁴ After the Reformation it passed to the Crown and served as a prison for nobles and churchmen from 1536 to 1664; the best-known prisoner was the Earl of Bothwell, third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots.⁴ Frederik Christian Adeler bought it in 1694 and rebuilt it as the baroque castle that stands today.⁴ Johan Frederik Bøttger bought it in 1936, his family still runs it, and the castle has been open to the public as a hotel and restaurant since 1937.⁴³ It lies in the UNESCO Global Geopark Odsherred, about an hour from Copenhagen, and its kitchen uses produce from the surrounding fields, woods and coast.³²

What to know it by

• Dragsholm Slot GourmetRestaurant with a Michelin star in 2025
• The castle1694Frederik Christian AdelerBaroque rebuilding of the medieval castle
• Bothwell's prisonTower cells of the Crown prison, 1536 to 1664