Mogeltonder

Mogeltonder is essentially one street, Slotsgaden, running from the church to the gates of Schackenborg Castle, lined with lime trees and with low thatched and tiled houses on both sides, built to a common pattern in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the estate controlled the village, which is why it is so uniform. It is regularly described as one of the most beautiful streets in Denmark. The church at the western end is medieval with an unusually rich painted interior, a Renaissance gallery, a painted ceiling and one of the oldest working organs in the country. Schackenborg at the other end was a royal residence until 2014 and is now run as a hotel and estate, with the garden open in season.

History

Schackenborg, at the end of the village street, began as Møgeltønderhus, a stronghold of the Catholic bishops of Ribe that guarded against the Frisians to the south and watched the waterway from the Vidå to Tønder. At the Reformation the crown confiscated it, and King Frederick III gave it to Count Hans von Schack, a Schleswig nobleman and soldier, in gratitude for his service; Schack demolished most of the dilapidated house in 1661 and built the Baroque Schackenborg Castle. In 1680 a street was laid out from the manor house towards the church, the street that is now the heart of Møgeltønder. The von Schack family held the castle for eleven generations until it passed back to the royal family in 1978; from 1993 it was the residence of Prince Joachim, and since 2014 it has belonged to a foundation (Wikipedia, Schackenborg Castle).

What's there

• Slotsgaden - one lime-lined street of uniform thatched houses.
• The painted church interior - galleries, ceiling and a very old organ.
• Schackenborg gates - the castle closing the eastern end of the street.
• The marsh setting - flat reclaimed land around the village.

When to go

May to September; the church is open daily and the castle garden has a season. Two hours. Summer weekends bring day visitors. The street is at its best in the evening when the lime shade is long.

Practical notes

It is one street and takes half an hour to walk. The castle is now a hotel and the interior is not open to non-guests. Parking is limited and the street is residential. There is little else in the village.

Nearby

Tonder is east; the Wadden Sea and Mando lie west.

Key facts