Knutstorp Castle in Sweden - Birthplace of Tycho Brahe

Knutstorp Castle in Kagerod, Sweden may not look all that grand upon first glance, but it is well worth a visit if you find yourself in the Skane area of Sweden. Located in what is now Svalov Kommun, Knutstorp's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of renowned astronomer Tycho Brahe.

As near as anyone can tell, Knutstorp was once a huge and very grand castle. This is back in the 1300s, when the Skane area still belonged to Denmark. Tycho's dad, Otto Brahe, was pretty high up the ladder in the Danish line of noblemen... much as his son would grow up to be. It is unclear exactly what happened to the original structure, but it was surprisingly not one of King Valdemar's destructions. He leveled a lot of places, but not this one. Whatever happened to it, Tycho was born here in 1546 and then Otto built the structure you see today in 1551. A bit later after much blood shed, Skane became part of Sweden. So even though Tycho was born in what is now Sweden, he is Danish. Ya follow that?

If you are not into astronomy then you may be wondering just who the hell is this Tycho Brahe person anyway. So I'll tell you a bit about him. Tycho was a renowned astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist back in the day.

On 11th November 1572 he observed a new brilliant star in the constellation of Cassiopeia. Tycho's measurements showed that it really was a distant star and not any local phenomena. This was very intriguing at that time, since the sphere of the stars was considered to be divine and perfect, hence no changes ought to take place there. Tycho observed its brightness evolve until it faded away the next year. He reported the event in his book "De stella nova", which made him famous all over Europe. ~ http://www.tychobrahe.com

He was so important in the 1500s that the Danish King gave him his own Island, now called Ven. You can visit the Tycho Brahe museum there and learn more about this controversial dude.

So yes, the fact that Tycho Brahe was born at Knutstorp Castle makes the property worth a stop and look-see. But that is not all you can see here. As I said, this castle is a shell of its former self. All the wings were destroyed in a fire in 1956 and never rebuilt, which is just a crying shame. The only structure left is the one building Otto had put up after Tycho's birth. But surrounding it is one of Sweden's most famous race tracks. Oh yes. Sometimes referred to as the 'Swedish Nurburgring,' Europeans come from all over to race their cars at Knutstorp. The first race was run on this track on the 9th of June in 1962 and is a very active track today. So if you're into racing, Knutstorp is the hot spot.

Knutstorp Castle itself is privately owned by the Wachtmeister family, but you can walk around to your heart's content. They frequently have events other than racing here, too. Art shows and stuff like that. Schedules are available all over the Internet so just do a quick google before your trip and you'll be all set.

So yeah. Whether you are into racing, history, architecture, art shows, or Tycho Brahe, then a stop in to Knutstorp Castle in Sweden is worth your while.