The Karen Blixen House-Museum

Author of Out of Africa and Babette’s Feast, both brilliantly adapted for the screen, Karen Blixen is an iconic figure in Danish literature and a world-renowned writer. A true artist at heart, she was equally passionate about literature, cooking, floral design, and the natural world that surrounded her.

Apart from the seventeen years she spent in Kenya, Blixen lived her entire life in her house at Rungstedlund — a beautiful 17th-century home on the seafront, between Copenhagen and Elsinore. It was there she was born, raised, and where she wrote the entirety of her work.

The creaking floorboards, bright and airy Nordic-style rooms, furnished and decorated just as they were during her lifetime, evoke the quiet elegance and spirit of the author. Personal items — whether family heirlooms or artefacts brought back from her African farm — her own paintings, and grand bouquets inspired by her bold and original floral compositions, all contribute to the house’s unique atmosphere: vibrant, graceful, and serene.

We will also explore the grounds — her beloved flower garden, planted for making her signature arrangements, and the 15-hectare bird sanctuary she established in 1958, located at the back of the estate.

Karen Blixen expressed her deep love of nature not only in her writing but also in the creation of this refuge, now home to a wide variety of birds, including the nightingale.

At the far end of the park, beneath a great oak tree, lies her final resting place.