The Lady’s rescue

It was by good fortune that Lady Olga Sponneck passed the decaying Ørslev Kloster as she was riding her bicycle in the summer of 1928. She sat down by the side of the road, ate her lunch, and was instantly captured by the place and the buildings and decided to try to save them. In 1934, she bought Ørslev Kloster for the money she had inherited from her father, and she started an extensive restoration, which lasted the next 30 years. She lived in the nunnery herself from 1934 to her death in 1964.

Retreat

After the death of Lady Olga, the nunnery was passed on to Lady Olga Sponneck’s Trust. Its task is to preserve the nunnery as a Baroque manor for the future and to make sure that it has a cultural function. In the first many years, the writer Peter Seeberg was the driving force behind the establishment of the Trust and the conversion of the buildings into a retreat in 1969.

The retreat could celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2009, and the number of writers, composers, and other artists who benefit from the inspiring tranquillity of the nunnery is increasing. Apart from the eight rooms the residents of the retreat have the beautiful Baroque rooms in the east wing of the nunnery at their disposal. These include the room with the large fire place, the library, and the sunroom from which there is direct access to the terrace and the garden.

Meet the administrator of the nunnery

The participants in the Limfjord Tale will be given a guided tour by Janne Fruergaard Keyes, the administrator of the nunnery. She will tell you about the nuns back then, and how the old nunnery has changed through its 800-year history. It is indeed a unique opportunity to get inside the old walls of the nunnery.