The history of Gl. Estrup can be traced back to the 14th century and two noble families are attached to place, Brok and Scheel. The last owner of the family was Count Christian Scheel, who died in 1926. The heirs of which there were 11, saw no other solution than first to sell the furniture and then the manor itself. A couple of years later the count’s son-in-law, Valdemar Uttendal, bought the manor house and the garden, and it is his merit that the place to-day acts as a museum.

8 tapestries hang in the banqueting hall at Gl. Estrup, they are thought to have been made in the 1690-ies. Each of them show a manor house and the name of the house is on the top border. The tapestries were ordered by the owner of Gl. Estrup at that time, Jørgen Scheel, and they show his property at exactly that time. The four big manors were : Gl. Estrup, Ulstrup, Sostrup and Krenkerup, as well as four smaller properties : Skærvad, Ørbæk, Rosenlund and Nørregård. About 1720 his son Cristen Scheel increased the series with two more properties, Karmark and Skjern, they have to share a single picture and this was painted on canvas as a copy of the tapestries.

The tapestries are thought to be Flemish, but not necessarily woven in Flanders. A Flemish weaver Berend van der Eichen had at that time established himself in Denmark and the tapestries might originate from his workshop in Copenhagen.

The tapestries appear to be very well-preserved, but there is a great difference between the picture itself showing the manors and the border. The middle part is weaker in its colours, but also in its expression, whereas the border stands with a far more sense of style. Maybe a local artist without the great experience has made the pattern for the weavings of the manors and the workshop has made the pattern for the border. The manors appear a little stiff, but there are many fine details in the pictures, showing life at the manors : a woman feeding hens, a farmer ploughing, a squire supervising and two cows grazing in front of Gl. Estrup. The manors appear to be on large lands. There is a saying from Djursland - The Scheels’ could ride from Grenå to Viborg on their own land. This might not be quite true, but at one time the family ruled over an area at the size of Falster.

The border is more abundant, parrots, cherubs and ornaments appear here.

The tapestries at Gl. Estrup are interesting because they are the only known tapestries to depict known, Danish manors and so they have also value as a source to building history