The Baroness sits down in front of the three judges. It is chilly in Kristianstad district court and Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke wears a patterned shawl, white blouse and discreet jacket. It will be a long day of interrogation.
Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke is being pressed hard by the opposing side's lawyer. Twice she loses her temper.
- It's the tone I can't handle. I'm not used to reasoning that way. It's like "the American way", she says afterwards.
It is about Trolle Ljungby fideikommiss in north-eastern Scania. The question is: What did Count Hans-Gabriel Trolle-Wachtmeister really want?
He died in 2023, aged 100. Two noble families are now fighting over the inheritance.
The accusation is heavy. The fideikommisset's formal successor Claës Trolle-Wachtmeister and son Carl-Fredrik Wachtmeister are pushing the line that the von Blixen-Finecke couple together with the estate's hunters must have misled the count - and caused him to write new wills towards the end of his life.
The Wachtmeisters claim that the count was confused, fragile and "cognitively weak", and did not understand what he was doing when he divided the estate. In the last wills, the von Blixen-Finecke spouses received one of the castles, half the land and the estate's operating company. Father and son Wachtmeister want the wills annulled.
When Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke is first questioned by her own lawyers, she talks about her close friendship with the count. After his wife and both siblings passed away, the count was very lonely, says Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke
- He was sometimes in despair when he spoke to us.
When Wachtmeister's lawyer Peter Danowsky takes over the interrogation, the mood is different. Why did she help the Count find a new lawyer? And why has she been in such close contact with the lawyers who drew up the new wills, Danowsky wonders.
- We have seen lots of documents here, where you have been involved, he says.
- Yes, in certain matters, she replies.
- You have repeatedly had telephone conversations, Danowsky continues.
- I don't understand what you mean, says Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke.
She firmly declares that she never thought about what the wills should contain.
Another point that Peter Danowsky spends time on in court is the gift of Trolle Ljungby's operating company. The company is responsible for agriculture, the forest, hunting and the leases on the estate.
How is it that the count, very unexpectedly, donated the entire company to von Blixen-Finecke, wonders Danowsky.
- If you receive a gift, you accept it gratefully. We didn't question it, we were almost shocked, says Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke.
Peter Danowsky does not give up. It appears that the count himself never took out any large amount in dividends from the company - on the other hand, the spouses did, he points out.
- Did you take out nine million the first year, asks Danowsky.
- I don't know how much we took out then.
- We have shown numbers on that.
- Yes, but then maybe we did.
When Danowsky asks what skills the couple had, what they know about agriculture and could bring to the company, Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke gets upset.
- Absolutely nothing! When you ask that way, you get that answer! It's getting too far, she says, and one of the judges steps in and interrupts.
The judge requests that the parties "stop mouthing off".
Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke then says in a calmer tone that they had a lot to contribute to the running of the large estate.
- Well-being among the staff, a sense of calm and perhaps some experience.
Afterwards, when the day is over, Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke describes the questioning of her friendship with the count as unpleasant.
- You tear apart a person's life.
She still wants to try to find out how it really was, she says.
- When you are sued for having committed irregularities, I stand up. I want my honor restored.
The next day, when her husband Hans von Blixen-Finecke is interrogated, the scheme is the same. During the hearing with his own lawyers, he casually talks about his close ties to Trolle Ljungby, where he often stayed as a child when his father was away traveling.
When Peter Danowsky takes over the interrogation, the mood in the room changes again. Several times Hans von Blixen-Finecke has difficulty remembering what it was like. The sudden gift of the estate's operating company comes up again.
Danowsky points out that the couple withdrew 90 million from the company, before handing it over to the trust estate.
- Yes, I think it was, says Hans von Blixen-Finecke.
He explains that neither he nor his wife participated in any discussions about the count's wills.
- Never, he says.
