The Courthouse and Jail

The feudal lord, who lived at the royal castle Lundenæs east of Skjern, collected taxes and enforced the laws for the king. He appointed a district bailiff to hold court, acting as both police chief and judge. At first, court was held at Skjern Brogaard, but was later moved to a newly built courthouse and jail northwest of the farm. The building had two small wings with a stable and a barn. The prison warden lived in one end of the main building, while the courtroom and two cells (plus a loft cell) were in the other. Granite stones now mark the layout of the building.

By the 1880s, the rather primitive building had fallen into disrepair. A new facility with courtroom, cells, and police station was built in 1884 in the railway town a couple of kilometres further north. The judge's office and residence remained at the nearby Judge’s Farm until the 1940s.
After a legal reform in 2007, Skjern lost its status as a court town, and the building now functions as a medical centre.

Pjaltenborg
The small house called Pjaltenborg west of the courthouse served as accommodation for the court’s staff, including Captain Kiær. It was demolished in 1884.

Ane Marie Grønning
One of the last prisoners in the Courthouse and Jail was Ane Marie Grønning, a peasant woman who killed her husband, Casper Hodde, on Dejbjerg Heath on a June day in 1882. She was sentenced to death, later changed to life in prison, after spending 7 months in the Courthouse and Jail.

Captain Kiær
Ludvig Hector Kiær, a war veteran, thus referred to as “Captain Kiær”, became a well-known and respected person in Skjern and had a great impact on the economic development of the town. He began as a court clerk and later started a law firm from his home in an extension to Skjern Brogaard, called “Kiærs Ende. When he realized that Skjern would develop around the new railway station, he moved there to continue his ventures, including founding several banks.