Moesgård is an old manor. The original estate was burned down during the so-called Swedish Wars in the middle of the 16th century. The original buildings were a little southwest of where they are today. After the fire, the estate was rebuilt by the Dutch wholesale merchant Gabriel Marselis, who never lived there. He also owned the Skumstrup manor. The eldest son Vilhelm Marselis was extremely ambitious and established a baronate under the name Gyldenkrone. Today's main building was built by Christian Frederik Gyldenkrone in 1780-84. Economically, the situation on the estate was not particularly good, but the next Gyldenkrone established a considerable library that contained more than 5,000 books. After Gyldenkrones had to file for bankruptcy, Moesgård was taken over by the Danish state in 1822. In 1838 Torkild Dahl took over the property and he managed to get the farm back on its feet. Dahl was a well-known politician and member of the Danish parliament (Folketing). Here he belonged to the influential National Liberal group. At the same time he was very interested in history and archeology. The library grew to over 18,000 books during his time, making it the largest in Jutland. Dahl was a co-founder of the Jutland Historical-Topgraphic Society and he actively supported the establishment of a historical museum in Århus.
His heirs sold Moesgård to Århus Amt in 1960. Subsequently, Moesgård was opened to the public as a recreational area with forest, coast and beach. Museum Moesgård was set up in the former stable buildings.
Since the completion of the new museum building, the manor buildings have been used by the anthropological and archaeological department of Aarhus University.
Various paths lead from the estate through the forest to the coast and the beach, the former fisherman's house and the former mill.