Arresødal was created as a manor in 1773 by Major General Johan Frederik Classen. He ordered the building of the main house in 1786-1788. Upon his death, Classen bequeathed Arresødal to Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel, who owned the property until Crown Prince Frederik (later King Frederick VI of Denmark) bought the property in 1804. The main building was rebuilt in 1908-1909 and partly in 2004. Two other buildings on the estate are protected.
In 1883 the property was purchased by the Classen Fideicommis. It was then a convalescent home for women until 1944 when it was taken over by first the Germans and then the freedom fighters who used the buildings as a prison. It once again became a convalescent home until 1984 when Arresødal was sold to KMD Kommunedata.
Today Arresødal functions as a private hospital. The park is now open to the public.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.