Nysted and surroundings

Nysted is Denmark’s southernmost town. It is located in Nysted bay which was created during the last ice age as a glacial valley. Despite the rest of Lolland being flat the landscape from Nysted towards the northwest of the island is actually relatively hilly.

During the Middle Ages Nysted was the King’s centre for managing the eastern part of Lolland. Until the middle of the 1700th century, it was only Nakskov that over shined Nysted in size and importance. But as time went by Nysted lost some of its importance, left was a cosy little town with all its pros and cons.

Aalholm Castle is a 1400 century castle majestically set at the foot of the town of Nysted.

Until 1726 it was the centre of royal power on the eastern part of Lolland. This year it was sold to Emerentia von Levetzau, and it stayed in possession of her family until 1995. During this period the castle was rebuild several times, but the original medieval features are still to be seen in its impressive structure.

Unfortunately access to the interior of the castle is no longer possible, but there is access to the surrounding wood and park on bicycle and on foot.

The present building of Nysted Church dates back to approx. 1300. Originally it consisted of a central nave with a three sided apse to the east. 1000 years later an impressive tower was built. In 1643 a spire was added, and in 1935 (renewed in 2018) this was covered by copper.

The Raben-Levtzau family of Aalholm Castle had their own chapel built in 1782. A rumour has it that there is a secret underground passage from the castle to the church. It hasn’t been found though….

The church was thoroughly renovated in 1864.

At the far end of Enghavevej in Frejlev Enghave this big pointed stone is found in the middle of the meadow facing Guldborgsund. According to legend the Broke-back-stone got its name from an incident here back in 1533.

The bailiff of Aalholm Castle tried to prevent the farmers from letting their pigs run freely in their wood. This made the Frejlev farmers so angry that together they caught the bailiff and killed him by breaking his back over the stone. Contemporary documents verify that the murder was committed, but somehow the farmers managed to avoid severe punishment. The story about the Skalkekors tells you how …

On the south side of Enghavevej east of Frejlev village you find a white cross with an inscription and a date, 1533. It was erected by order of the King to commemorate not so much the murder of the bailiff but the cheating farmers, who tried to escape paying the 12 white oxen with red ears they were fined. The oxen were to be driven to Aalholm Castle before a certain date, but the farmers found it impossible to find so many white oxen with red ears. The last two were all white! The creative farmers decided to paint the ears of the last two oxen red, and off they went towards Aalholm. Unfortunately it started to rain on the way, so their cheating was disclosed.

There is a circle of stones around the cross each with the name of a farm in Frejev of that time. Though the farm houses have been rebuilt several times since then, these names can still be found on many of the farms in and around Frejlev.