Vognserup smallholder colony

Facts

Smallholders and manor owners

By Per Grau Møller, Lektor, lic. phil. Syddansk Universitet (8 stories)

In western Zealand, between the villages of Kundby and Vognserup, are two different examples of smallholder colonies. Closest to Kundby is Kolonihusene, a collection of 18 smallholdings, set up in 1783. Each smallholder was given a small rectangular plot measuring three 'tønder' (about 1.5 hectares) with a house at the corner. The small farms were a necessary supplement to smallholders' income as day labourers. The houses were simple half-timbered homes consisting of a main building and a shed used as a barn. Some 150 years later, in 1922, 13 state smallholdings" with slightly larger plots were established near Vognserup. "

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Story written by Per Grau Møller

Time / Periode 1783 1922

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In 1768, Vognserup became a part of the manor that was taken over by the Baron of Løvenborg in 1773. Løvenborg owned the majority of farms in the area and was responsible for redistributing village land. But population was growing, and the forward-thinking manor owner was able to see that there was no future in forcing peasants into labour. Instead, he built Kolonihusene near Vognserup as a way to ensure that tenants were always on hand. Løvenborg also set one last fingerprint on the land when the manor was forced by the State Land Law Committee to transfer 115 acres of land to farmers as part of the conversion of the barony's property to freely held land. Within a very short distance, it was now possible to see how living conditions for the lower classes had changed over a 150-year period.