Palsgaard gets a new owner

Einar Viggo Schou (1866 - 1925), who bought Palsgaard Estate in 1908, was an enterprising gentleman. He had an impressive career as director and co-owner of Otto Mønsted's margarine factories in England, more specifically Godley and Southall, which were the world's largest margarine factories. Schou was also the brains behind a groundbreaking invention: the double cooling drum, which revolutionized the production of margarine.

The dream of Denmark

In 1908, Schou returned to Denmark with his wife Elizabeth and their two children, Herbert and Gertrud. He dreamed of a big, beautiful, old place with lush fields and a large herd – a place where there would be room not only for pleasure, but also for hard work.

The invention of Palsgaard Emulsions Oil

However, life as a landowner was not enough for Schou. In 1913 he established a small experimental laboratory at Palsgaard, where he experimented with mixing liquids that normally cannot be dissolved into each other. Already four years later, in 1917, he presented a revolutionary invention: an emulsion oil that could bind water and oil together.

This invention, which was named Palsgaard Emulsions Olie, became the world's first industrial emulsifier and laid the foundation for two new factories at Palsgaard: Emulsion A/S (now Palsgaard A/S), founded in 1919, and a state-of-the-art margarine factory from 1924 (photo).

You can see more about what Schou's invention could be used for in the film below.