page_title: Valbygård
section_title: The Bech family
hierarchical_section_title: Valbygård / History / The Bech family
caption_attribution_description: Dansk: Valbygaard ved Slagelse (Sjælland, Denmark), blev oprettet til hovedgård ved Antvorskov rytterdistrikts salg i året 1774, men gården nævnes i 1310, da den var ejet af Antvorskov Kloster.
context_page_description: Valbygård is a manor house and estate located four kilometres northwest of Slagelse, Denmark. The estate was created from land that had previously belonged to Antvorskov Abbey by Joachim Castenschiold in 1874 and it has since 1846 been owned by members of the Bech family. The current, Renaissance Revival style main building was built for August Willads Bech in 1855. It was listed on the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1996. The estate covers 1,100 hectares of land.
context_section_description: In 1846, Poul Christian von Stemann sold Valbygård to August Willads Bech. In 1855, he also acquired Brorupgaard. Bech was married to Margrethe Rothe (1823–86), a daughter of counter admiral and former governor of the Danish West Indies Carl Adolph Rothe. The old, half-timbered main building was very neglected and Bech, therefore, chose to replace it with a new main building in 1853-1855. The new building was designed by his cousin and close friend,   Albert Winstrup (1815–89), who was an architect.
  He was like his predecessor also interested and agriculture and also improved the management of the estate. His initiatives included the planting of conifer, beech and oak plantations. In 1866, he arranged two agricultural shows in Sorø and Præstø which raised 55.000 Danish rigsdaler for wounded soldiers and those left behind by fallen soldiers of the Second Schleswig War. He created an extensive collection of antiquities from the area and was also the owner of a significant collection of Italian paintings and sculptures.
   
  August Willads Bech's eldest son, Jørgen Peter Bech, inherited Valbygård after his father's death in 1877. His mother, Margrethe Bech, kept Borupgård until her death in 1886.Jørgen Peter Bech was married to Caroline Charlotte Suhr, a daughter of Ole Berendt Suhr and thus a cousin on his mother's side. Bech was director of Den Suhrske Stiftelse from 1893 to 1908.
  Jørgen Peter Bech passed away in 1909 and Valbygård then passed to their son August Villads Bech. August Villads Bech seceded his father as director of Den Suhrske Stiftelse and was also chairman of Sparekassen for Slagelse og Omegn. Valbygård was after August Villads Bech's death passed to his son, Jørgen Peter Bech. August Villads Bech's widow remained on the estate until her death
caption: The new main building in 1860
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