The Judge's Farm

Dommergården (The Judge’s Farm)

Dommergården is the only remaining building from the settlement that used to exist here at the crossing over the Skjern River. In 1804, Peter Christian Petersen sold Skjern Brogaard and instead bought an older farm a little further southwest, which may have served as a toll point on the Medieval Road in earlier times. Here he built a new farm, which he named Petersminde after himself. From 1829 to 1947, Petersminde was the residence of changing district bailiffs and judges, and the property therefore gradually became known as Dommergården (The Judge’s Farm).

In 1884, the courthouse and jail, along with courtroom and police station and later also the judge's office, moved north to the new railway town. However, the district bailiff continued to live at Dommergården, which also served as the official residence of the later judges in the Skjern Court District, a position that replaced the district bailiff after a legal reform.

In 1947, the judge moved to the railway town, and the farm was converted into a youth hostel. During this period, a large park was laid out, including a wide variety of bulb flowers that can still be seen in bloom in the spring. In 1965, Dommergården was taken over by Knud Thorkild Nielsen, who helped found a nearby paper factory that still exists.

Gnags
K. T. Nielsen's two sons were deeply interested in 1960s rock music, and at Dommergården they were given plenty of space to pursue their musical interests. In 1966, they formed a rock band called Gnags, which later became one of Denmark’s most popular bands. In the north wing of the farm, they established a youth club, and on Sunday afternoons in the years 1965-1971, hundreds of local young people gathered here to dance and listen to Gnags and other rock bands.