Egeskov Castle Egeskov Castle ( ) is located in the south of the island of Funen , Denmark . The castle is Europe ' s best preserved Renaissance water castle . History . Egeskov ' s history dates to the 14th century . The castle structure was erected by Frands Brockenhuus in 1554 . Due to the troubles caused by the civil war known as the " Count ' s Feud " ( Danish : " Grevens fejde " ) , general civil unrest , and a civil war introducing the Protestant Reformation , most Danish noblemen built their homes as fortifications . The castle is constructed on oaken piles and located in a small lake with a maximum depth of . Originally , the only access was by means of a drawbridge . According to legend , it took an entire forest of oak trees to build the foundation , hence the name " Egeskov " ( “ oak forest ” ) . Castle architecture . The castle consists of two long buildings connected by a thick double wall , allowing defenders to abandon one house and continue fighting from the other . The double wall is over one meter thick and contains secret staircases and a well . Defenders were able to attack an enemy ' s flanks from the two round corner towers . Other medieval defences include artillery ports , scalding holes and arrow slit s . The bricks composing the castle are of an oversized medieval type sometimes called " monks bricks " . The conical towers are constructed in a series of separate panels . The architecture includes depressed and round - arched windows , round - arched blank arcading within the gable s , and a double string course between the high basementcellar and the ground floor . The structure contains some of the early indoor plumbing design first used in Europe with vertical shafts for waste . The thick double wall also contains a water well which is accessed from the servants kitchen in the east house . Several of the large rooms have massive parallel exposed beams with some end carving . Castle contents . Contents of the castle include a massive iron chest from at least as early as the 16th century , which derived from Hvedholm Castle , a property earlier owned by the Egeskov estate about ten kilometers to the west . Numerous oil paintings are found within the castle including a large painting in the great hall on the first floor of Niels Juel , who defeated the Swedish force in the Battle of Køge Bay in the year 1677 . Gardens and lands . Other buildings belonging to Egeskov include " Ladegården " , a thatched half - timbered building which is now part of the museum . Other buildings are used by the museum and for farming . Surrounding the castle is an old park , covering 20 hectares ( 49 acres ) of land . The park is divided into a number of gardens . The renaissance garden features fountain s , a gravel path and topiary figures . The fuchsia garden , one of the largest in Europe , contains 104 different species . Other gardens near the castle include an English garden , a water garden , an herb garden , a vegetable garden , and a peasant ' s garden ( " bondehave " ) . The gardens also feature four hedge maze s . The oldest is a beech maze several hundreds of years old . This garden is trimmed every year to prevent the trees from dying . The newest maze is the world ' s largest bamboo maze . It features a Chinese tower in the centre , and a bridge from the tower provides the exit from the maze . The parks feature a three - meter - tall sundial designed by Danish poet and mathematician , Piet Hein . The estate includes an additional eight square kilometres ; is forest , with the rest being farmland . The estate has belonged to the Ahlefeldt - Laurvig - Bille family since 1784 . In 1986 , a full - sized replica of the castle was built in Hokkaidō , Japan , to hold an aquarium . This was constructed with the permission of the Egeskov ' s owners at the time , Count Claus and Countess Louisa Ahlefeldt - Laurvig - Bille . Museums . Egeskov is home to the following museums . Most of the castle is open to the public , except for the areas used by Count Michael and Countess Caroline Ahlefeldt - Laurvig - Bille . The museum of agriculture and the horse wagon collection is located in the building Ladegård mentioned previously . Three large modern buildings are occupied by the vintage automobile collection , the vintage motorcycle collection , the Falck collection , and by a collection of airplanes and helicopter s . The Falck collection is a collection of vehicles from the Danish rescue company , " Falck " , emergency vehicles such as fire trucks , ambulances , rescue boats , and other assorted emergency vehicle s .