The old palace

Bjärka Säby is a manor deriving its origin from the 14th century. In that time and in Sweden ever greatest landowner, one of the personalities of medieval Sweden, Bo Jonsson Grip, bought the farm Bjärka in 1367. He built up the castle Bjärkaholm on an islet in Lake Regnen. In 1371 the farm was added to the village Säby tp allow room for the manor Bjärka Säby. Bo Grip used Bjärkaholm as an administrative centre for his big empire of manors and estates. His empire included also all lands of Finland. Soon after his death, Queen Margareta laid the castle in ruins in connection with her struggle against the nobility. Bo Jonsson Grip was buried in 1386 in Vadstena monastery church. After a while the family Natt och Dag (Night and Day) bought the manor. This family was the owners in six generations. In the 15th century Säby was titled manor and Bjärka classed as meadowland under Säby manor. The under-secretary Per Nilsson of the family Natt och Dag, built up the old palace which you can see on the picture above. His widow, Christina Sofia Stenbock, completed that construction.

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The new palace

Under the 17th century, the manor came into the family Cederhielms hands because of marriage. The new palace was built up by Germund Ludvig Cederhielm who was an officer and a courtier in the King Gustav III' court. The palace in neo-classicism was completed in the end of 1790th. The exterior was remade in the end of the 19th century. That palace can you see above.

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Bjärka Säby

Bjärka Säby became an large manor, which dominate a big area of lands. There were a lot of farms and crofts under the manor. In 1872 consul Oscar Ekman bought the manor. He and his son Oscar, developed the manor to a model farm. In 1882 the agricultural college of Östergötland was housed in the old palace.

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Cottage round the manor

The family Ekman was built an elementary school, home for old people, cottage hospital and workmen's dwellings. Their interests of the district's history was big and very much of the older settlements is handed down to posterity.

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A view towards lake Regnen

The family Ekman has donated the new palace and the ornamental]park round the palace to Linköping Sionförsamling (a church). A public palace-kafé is housed in the palace. There are programs worked out to carry the Christian values and the traditions of the culture forward.

To the page of my ancestors parishes