Ever since moving back to Lolland in the beginning of the year, I haven’t had much time – if any – to explore the island. Instead, I’ve spent my weekends in Berlin, East Jutland and Copenhagen. But last weekend, I finally took the time to go on an adventure around Lolland – and I brought my boyfriend who’d never been to Lolland before along (as well as Kanzi the dog!).
We visited some of Lolland’s highlights, such as the highest point on the island at Birket Bavnehøj, the art installation of Dodekalitten, the passage grave of Glentehøj and the towns of Kragenæs, Maribo and Nysted – the latter of which is my favourite on the island. We also visited a place that was new to me although I’d seen it from afar before. I’m talking about Aalholm, a castle located on a small island in the inlet Nysted Nor. I’d admired it from afar on previous visits to Nysted but never actually taken the walk out there. Well, it turns out it was quite a nice walk which not only offered close-up views of the castle, but also fresh perspectives of beautiful Nysted.
First mentioned in 1329, Aalholm is the oldest castle on Lolland. It was built over several hundred years and completed in 1585, although it has since undergone several renovations and reconstructions primarily in the 18th and 19th centuries. Initially, Aalholm was the seat of the king’s vassal and served as the centre of local government. The castle is thought to have been part of a scheme to build strongholds all over the country in order to strengthen the power of the king and to protect the kingdom from attacks. It’s unknown exactly when Aalholm was founded as there are no written sources from its early years, and any archaeological evidence there may be is hidden beneath the existing building – which means that we’ll probably never know. The oldest part of the existing building is the north wing, thought to date from the early 14th century to the 15th century.
According to a local website, the 19th-century owners of Aalholm were very fond of dogs, as they dedicated a graveyard to their pets and buried each one of them with a gravestone on top – and furthermore, the inner castle walls were adorned with portrait paintings of each dog. A small interesting anecdote that certainly doesn’t make Aalholm less fascinating!
Access to the castle grounds is via a causeway from Slotsgade in Nysted which connects to Ålholm Parkvej where you’ll get some great views of the castle – and don’t forget to look behind you towards Nysted, one of the best preserved medieval towns in Denmark.
At the time of the castle’s presumed foundation, Nysted was home to a Franciscan monastery, built in 1286, the second of its kind on Lolland (after Nakskov). Furthermore, it was an important market town and natural crossroad due to its geographical location on the Baltic Sea. Today, the town is no longer considered “important” in a trade or traffic sense, but it’s certainly an important place historically. It’s also by far the prettiest town on all of Lolland, owing to its well-preserved half-timbered cottages and narrow cobbled streets.
In the 1970s, parts of Aalholm was opened to the public as a manor museum, following the establishing of a vintage car museum showcasing the owner’s private collection – which my dad remembers visiting as a child!
Unfortunately, the museum closed in 2008 and the cars (some of which were very rare) were sold in 2012, and today, the castle is no longer open to the public – although it is possible to get quite close.
Over the next many months, I’m going to continue my explorations of Lolland and the neighbouring islands. I may have spent eight months here already (from late 2020 to the summer of 2021), but there’s still so much I want to see and do. One of those plans is to bike along the southeast coast of Lolland which will include a revisit to Aalholm and Nysted!
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