Art treasures missing from wenngarn

The castle of Wenngarn, together with its estates, was declared a national monument in 1935. The castles exterior was extremely well preserved as well as the staircase and several interior parts – amongst them Disasalen (The Hall of Disa) – which is of the highest art and cultural historical value. Especially the chapel within the castle is unique because of its pristine 17th-century decor.

The art objects would in time prove to be a problem. When Wenngarn in 1983 became a privately owned estate it also lost its status as a national monument.

The philanthropic foundation of Lewi Pethrus was forced into bankruptcy in 1997 and the company Nordic Travel Group, later Wenngarn AB with its parent company in Switzerland, took over the castle. The people at National museum were concerned about the government’s art that still could be found at the castle and in the summer of 1998 they paid a visit and confiscated paintings and other art objects. The county council were indignant as they considered that some of the confiscated objects belonged to the fixed decor of Wenngarn and hence part of the building monumental prevention regulations – things that therefore were not allowed to be altered.

The holding company also accused Nationalmuseum of collecting art that the company had been told belonged to the estates when acquired. The National Office then referred to the inventory that existed when the state sold the castle, but still the affair resulted in several trials.

The attorney finally declared that the Nationalmuseum had not been acting wrongly apart from the insufficient documentation of the process of decision that led to the confiscating of the art. Today the chapel’s inventory has been appropriated and the brick walls are distinctly bare in Disasalen (Hall of Disa) now the 17th-century paintings have been removed. Hopefully the paintings will one day return to the Hall of Disa, to the walls they once graced.

Very few displays for the public have taken place since the latest ownership. But now Wenngarn is again open to the public.